Artie’s Shore, who was heavily backed to win the feature race on the program, defeated Howard Be Thy Name by half a length with Floral Fever in third place.

Trainer Matthew Williams acknowledged the winning ride by talented jockey Damien Thornton in the 1700-metre race.

“It was a 12-out-of-10 ride by Damien,” Williams said.

“Damien found the right path on the track. I thought we were back on track following his last run at Pakenham.

“He was down in the weights for this race and I don’t think this year’s race was as strong as the last two years.”

Thornton said this year’s Woodford Cup was the right race for the seven-year-old.

“I knew I had to get Artie’s Shore off the fence after drawing barrier one.,” the young jockey said.

“The best going was out wide. I knew the going was better out wide so I just had to find the path out there. I  was in well on the weights and thought with luck he could win.”

Artie’s Shore ran third behind Profit Share in the 2015 Woodford Cup and fourth last year to Lucky Paddy.

Warrnambool trainer Daniel Bowman took the training honours, winning three of the eight races with Robbandtodd, Wessels and Judges while Irish-born Warrnambool-based jockey Declan Bates and Thornton both had winning doubles at the popular meeting.