Australia Weather News

It has taken more than three decades, but racehorse trainer Ross Stitt has finally won the $25,000 Kempsey Cup in northern New South Wales.

"I'd run eight or nine seconds in it and three occasions I got beaten by the barest possible margins, but it's just a race that's alluded me.

"I haven't contested it I suppose in half those number of years.

"I've won every cup along the coast bar Grafton. I've run second in it and up until yesterday it was Kempsey but no, we finally cracked it."

It was the 6-year-old chestnut gelding Single Spirit, ridden to victory by jockey Matthew McGuren, that secured Stitt the title.

"I don't get confident very often but I was pretty confident about his chances yesterday," Mr Stitt said.

The trainer said the gelding had drawn an awkward barrier but won easily.

"He drew two from the outside, which is not the best at Kempsey, but he's got a bit of early gate speed and he got over and he had a beautiful run," he said.

"When they'd gone about 300m it was virtually all over then. The way he was positioned he was just behind the leaders and he hadn't used much petrol to get there and he was travelling beautifully."

Mr Stitt said it was a blessing in disguise that the Kempsey Cup had been postponed from November 6 because of wet weather.

"He would've missed out on the Kempsey Cup on the day that it was scheduled, but at the almost three weeks just made it perfect for him," he said.

With high temperatures forecast for Thursday's cup, Racing NSW stewards invoked level two of the Racing in Hot Weather Policy.

Mr Stitt described the weather for the 1450m race as oppressive.

"If you could stay in the breeze it was quite bearable, but if you were out of the breeze it was stifling," he said.

"It sort of dropped the breeze just before we saddled them up for the cup, and every horse in the tie ups there broke out in a sweat."

Kempsey Cup is Single Spirit's 10th win and adds to 2014 cup wins at Dubbo, Sawtell and Casino.

The racehorse is part of a syndicate with the five owners from Sydney, Newcastle, Queensland and locally, including Stitt himself.

"I know all the owners certainly got a buzz out of it yesterday," Mr Stitt said.

"I bought him as a yearling and gave $50,000 for him, but he's won almost $250,000 now so he's been quite a good buy.

"Hopefully if he doesn't get too much weight we'll go to Inverell on New Year's Day. That was the plan."

ABC