MOUNT Gambier-trained galloper Feeling Invincible made a one-act affair of the $40,000 Port Fairy IGA Cup.
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The six-year-old gelding beat Melete by more than two lengths, with Upbeat another length away in third place at Warrnambool yesterday.
Respected trainer Michael O’Leary said he was confident before the 1400-metre race that Feeling Invincible would be hard to beat.
“He’s a very good horse,” he said.
“The sad thing is we will never see the best of him as he’s such a bad traveller. He just rocks and rolls and shivers once we put him on a float.
“We can’t travel with him too far from Mount Gambier.
“The farthest we’ve gone with him is Warrnambool. He’s a Melbourne-class galloper but we can’t get him there. It’s just a shame that he has the problem. But that aside, he’s a good horse and I thought he would be hard to beat.”
Jockey Linda Meech was forced to travel three wide on the home corner before coming away from the minor placegetters.
Meech said O’Leary had the six-year-old in peak condition.
“I was never going to get beaten. Michael turns out his horses in peak condition and Feeling Invincible was no different today,” she said.
“Feeling Invincible holds his form really well and Michael has him going good, so he should be hard to beat at his next start.”
O’Leary, who won his first Warrnambool race at the 1965 May carnival, said Feeling Invincible would have his next start in the $35,000 Woodford Cup at Warrnambool on December 29.
“We’ll just keep on ticking him over until the Woodford Cup. I reckon he’ll really appreciate the 1700m of the Woodford Cup,” O’Leary said.
“They’re offering a really good owners’ bonus for the Port Fairy, Woodford and Koroit cups. We’ll be in there giving it a good shake.”
Warrnambool’s Wilde stable took the training honours, winning three races at yesterday’s meeting, while jockey Jamie Mott rode a double.