The undisputed king of NSW straight track racing will remain on the throne for a little while longer after Shall Not claimed the second running of the GRNSW Richmond Straight Cup Final on Saturday.
The Darren Sultana-trained speedster jumped as a $1.30 favourite from Box 8 in the final event on the program, but after being slightly slow away, his rivals may have fancied their chances through the first 50m.
The cream of straight track chasing soon rose to the top though as Shall Not edged his way to the front and unleashed from the mid-way point of the race to fend off valiant Queenslander, We’re On One.
Shall Not claiming the $25,000 feature by ¾ of a length in a winning time of 17.30, with Clint Keeping rattling home to run third.
“He did it a little bit tough because he missed the start and I thought “oh, he’s going to be in trouble here” but he started going through the field and he got to the front…luckily the winning post came up at the right time,” a relieved Sultana said post-race.
“At least if he’s on the outside, he’ll give you a run. If Mr. America was on the outside, he’d crash and you’re hoping for pot luck. I’m fortunate to get two good dogs [Shall Not and Mr. America] that go good up the straight. That’s all it comes down too.”
Co-owner George Kairouz was also on hand to witness the win, with the business partner of fellow owner Terry Hill quickly lauding Sultana’s training performance.
“I’m a very proud owner and very proud to have Darren. We’ve given him a couple of tried dogs, we were very lucky with Mr America and Shall Not comes along and I think he’s outdone Mr. America as well,” Kairouz said.
“I think the dogs, they love Darren, he does a lovely job with them…23 out of 25 [wins for this dog at Richmond], it’s enormous.”
The win was Shall Not’s 40th from 60 career starts and takes his lifetime earnings to over $130,000.
