Warrnambool trainer Symon Wilde has taken out this year's running of the Colac Cup with his galloper, Aurora's Symphony.
The five-year-old gelding provided Wilde with his fifth Colac Cup, which includes two while training in partnership with his father Bill.
The win came after Aurora's Symphony was beaten on a soft track last time out at Moonee Valley.
“The firmer, the better for him”, said Wilde in a post-race interview on Racing.com, indicating that his galloper appreciated the firmer track for Friday afternoon's event.
Aurora's Symphony, who started favourite for the event, jumped well from the inside gate for jockey Linda Meech who put the galloper in the box seat.
Meech edged away from the inside while nudging second favourite Chantrea out of the way to find clear galloping room rounding the home turn, before hitting the front 200m from home to go on to score a strong victory.
It was Meech's second Colac Cup winner after winning aboard Royal Performance in 2020.
Meech also managed to take out the last event on the card to make it a double for the day aboard the Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained Inner Spirit.
The Warrnambool trained galloper is part-owned by former Victorian Premier Dennis Napthine.
“To come here and win the Colac Cup is just fantastic”, Napthine said when interviewed after the race.
“Twelve months ago, we won a Benchmark 64 here”.
“Credit to Symon and his team, they've really improved the horse”.
Aurora's Symphony scored by three-quarters of a length and started a $2.40 favourite with Sportsbet.