Gallery ǀ Not Usual Glorious claims Benalla Gold Cup

In the day’s feature race, six-year-old gelding Not Usual Glorious presented as an overwhelming favourite, paying $2 at the jump to lead a seven-horse field.

And straight away the Travis Doudle-trained galloper showed his class, skipping to the lead and taking command of the race in its early stages.

Sitting in perfect position, Not Usual Glorious controlled the tempo through the middle stages to hit the final straight primed for a shot at victory.

With Neil Farley in the saddle, the favourite then roared to life down the straight, kicking strongly to see off a late charge by Spanish Tides and romp to a 1.5-length triumph.

Speaking post-race associate of the Doudle stable Steve Theodore told Racing.com it was a thrill to come away with victory in the cup.

“Isn’t he a beauty,” Theodore said.

“Travis (Doudle) has done a great job nurturing him and peaking him this time of year with the wet tracks still around.

“We are really thrilled to come here and win, I’ve won myself in 2013, but to help Trav get one on the mantlepiece it is very special.”

This victory at Benalla was the culmination of three months of good form, with the gelding coming off a pair of metro wins in July.

With the spring carnival just around the corner, Theodore said he was in great shape to continue this strong form.

“He knows nothing but to go out there and give it his best, some tracks don’t suit, but when we heard about the amount of rain they had up here, it was just music to our ears,” he said.

“From here we have the Moe Cup planned on October 14, so we’ll freshen him up for that and then see what happens from there.”

Continuing on the local theme of this year’s cup meeting , Benalla trainer Russell Osborne had a number of runners perform admirably on the day.

Beginning with the feature race, Osborne had six-year-old mare Dancing Duck compete for the cup, with the $41 chance running a solid race to finish in sixth place.

But the highlight of the day for Osborne came in race six, where he had four-year-old gelding Noble Nightowl claim a stunning victory in the 1206m Extons BM64 Handicap.

Presenting as an $8 chance, the local galloper stormed into the lead following a quick start and built a sizeable lead through the early stages.

Hitting the final straight a clear leader, he saw off an almighty challenge from the likes of Otelo and Classy Kenny to prevail by 0.5 lengths, much to the delight of the Benalla faithful.

Speaking to Racing.com trackside after the victory, Osborne said it was a wonderful feeling to see Noble Nightowl salute at its home track.

“It was really good,” Osborne said.

“I said to Hannah Edgley (the jockey) you just need to let him roll on, he’s a bit quirky and early days we tried to hold him up, but now we just let him run.

“He’s got a big heart and it takes a bit to run him down.”