Winona Costin rode her first winner for the late, great Bede Murray and on Sunday she reached a magical milestone with her 500th career win for his son Paul at Wagga.
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Costin timed two-year-old filly Rebel Rosai's run to perfection, diving over the top of odds-on favourite Pride Of Penraf, both on debut.
The Murray family has a long and fruitful association with the Wagga Cup carnival and it continued on Town Plate Prelude day, in the 1200m Maiden sprint.
"I'm relieved to get it," Costin told Sky Racing after securing the 500th victory.
"My very first winner was at Kembla for Bede Murray and to get a winner on Paul Murray's horse makes it all the more special.
"She got out OK, the speed was good and she travelled really nice, came off the bit a little bit at the 600m but she picked it up again and hit the line really strongly. I think she's a horse with a bright future."
Paul Murray had three horses in the race, with Diamond Flyer third and Talento fifth.
"I thought Rebel Rosai would be there, but I thought Diamond Flyer would be just too slick for her," he said, saying he would now aim Rebel Rosai at a return during the two-day carnival.
It came after Costin rode Murray's Espirito to a convincing seven-length win in Saturday's 1000m at Kembla Grange.
Espirito once looked destined for Hong Kong after winning his first trial, but dominated the sprint trip ahead of Brett Lazzarini's Berenike, which fought back for second.
Robert and Luke Price's Noble Soldier took out the Conditional Benchmark 68 event on the Heavy 10 going.
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Tim Barrow
When it comes to sport - at professional and community level - in the Illawarra, I'm here to provide insight, context and opinion, as well as the latest news you won't find anywhere else.
When it comes to sport - at professional and community level - in the Illawarra, I'm here to provide insight, context and opinion, as well as the latest news you won't find anywhere else.
