Hall finds who Dares wins Late change of jockey brings owner joy

Geraldton Cup winning Jockey Peter Hall said the burning desire for both he and trainer Adam Durrant to win a Geraldton Cup helped spur Ora Dare to victory on Sunday afternoon.

Ora Dare completed a mountain of a task to snatch victory from Paseo Del Prado, after being at least two lengths behind at the turn for straight. “We turned at the top of the straight and Paseo Del Prado kicked really well and shot out a few lengths in front of us, so it was always going to be tough work, ” Hall said.

“Ora Dare wouldn’t give in though and fought right to the line, it was quite astonishing and was an unbelievable relief to get the win.”

Hall admitted he thought it would be too far for Ora Dare to come back from, but said the length of the straight at Geraldton always gives you that chance.

It was Hall’s first win at the Cup and one he said he would long cherish.

“I’ve won most of the major races up and down the coast except for Port Hedland and Geraldton, so I’m stoked to tick this one off the list.

The Cup-winning horse’s owner Rod Cosgrove said he was quietly confident going into the race, though a little worried about the three-week gap between meets, after heavy rain before a meeting at the start of the month caused all races to be abandoned.

“We knew the horse was in good nick but the long gap was sitting in the back of my mind, ” he said.

“He was running well, but at the 200-metre mark when we were a few lengths back I probably resigned myself to the fact that we’d take an honourable second.

“Inside a 100 I thought we were half a sniff, then at 50 we were almost home. It was a fantastic finish.”

It was Hall’s first ride on Ora Dare and the late decision to change jockeys paid off.

“He’s a jockey in really good form and we just thought it might give us that edge, ” he said.

“It’s never an easy thing to do; when it comes off it looks like a masterstroke but on the same hand you look like a fool if it doesn’t.

“Fortunately, this time it did.”

Hall said he would be back next year to defend his title, hopefully aboard Ora Dare again.