It was the first win for the four-year-old in just his second start. “The first start he had a bit of trouble … he got caught up in traffic,” Mudgee trainer Mack Griffith said. “[But today] he had a trouble-free run and showed us what sort of ability he’s got.”

Free Ticket (Kody Nestor, $7.00) jumped well from barrier four and claimed a spot near the front early alongside Destiny Fields (Ken Dunbar, $101) and Curious As (Anthony Cavallo, $41). He pushed a head in front by the 1100m mark and led by half a length with 800m remaining.

Zelest (Michael Hackett, $17) moved into second as the field entered the home straight, and Trap (Danial Pitomac, $81) made his move.

The six-year-old gelding found some space out wide with just 200m left to run and had the pace to catch Zelest on the line. But he couldn’t catch Free Ticket.

“[Kody Nestor] just sort of jumped to the front and led him all the way and kept him out of trouble,” Griffith said. “That was the plan.”

A pair of jockeys have escaped relatively unscathed from a sickening fall during a race at the Narromine Turf Club on Monday. Kody Nestor and Daniel Northey both had mounts in the Narromine Newsagency Benchmark Handicap (1300 metres), which ended in tragedy.

With just 600m left to run, Northey’s mount Columkille lost his footing and fell, with Nestor’s mount, Lord Burghesh, unable to get out of the way.

Both riders were flung from their horses, with Nestor thrown so high into the air he said he could nearly see his house. Nestor walked away from the incident while Northey was taken to Dubbo Hospital with a concussion and a possible hip injury.

Northey was also recovering well. Columkille came out of the incident relatively unscathed, Nestor said. However Lord Burghesh, trained at Wellington by Karen McCarroll, had to be destroyed.

“It was a very sad day,” McCarroll said.