JASON Deamer was entitled to be “rapt”.
The Newcastle trainer was the first to qualify a horse for the 2025 Provincial-Midway Championships Final when his underrated mare Rapt won the opening heat at Hawkesbury today.
And whilst Deamer wasn’t surprised about the result, he couldn’t believe punters let her run as a $21 outsider in spite of her excellent form this campaign.
Ridden by Tim Clark, Rapt relished a strong pace and stormed down the outside to defeat Wyong trainer Kim Waugh’s Bojangles ($11), who also qualified for the $1m Final (1400m) at Royal Randwick on April 12.
“The Final is still seven weeks away, and the trick now is to get her there in the best possible shape,” Deamer said this evening.
“Obviously she cannot run in another Qualifier, but I wouldn’t be worried if we didn’t start her again until the Final.”
Deamer proved he has the key to the four-year-old mare, who had not raced for nearly seven weeks when she snared today’s PMC Qualifier for both provincial and Midway horses.
He withdrew Rapt from a Royal Randwick engagement last Saturday to wait for the Hawkesbury race, and wasn’t deterred when she drew the outside barrier in a field of 13.
“I can’t believe Rapt was such generous odds,” he said.
“She is flying. Her form has been terrific.
“Rapt won the Grafton Guineas (1600m) in July, and then resumed when fourth in a 1300m Listed race in Brisbane in early December.
She came back home and easily won a Midway Benchmark 72 Handicap (1600m) at Randwick a fortnight later before going back north and finishing seventh at weight-for-age in The Wave (1600m) at the Sunshine Coast on January 4.
“Tim (Clark) said they went too slow in that race, and yet she still came from well back to be beaten just under two lengths.”
Ironically though Rapt started at $21 today, she is now a $15 chance (in from $26) with TAB.com.au for the April 12 Final, with runner-up Bojangles, who was resuming after a let-up, on the second line of betting at $11.
Deamer qualified his now retired good sprinter Bon Amis in 2018 (when the series was for provincial horses only) by finishing second to Princess Posh in a Newcastle heat, and he finished fifth to Serene Miss in the Final.
It could be the biggest few days of former successful jockey Deamer’s training career.
He is off to Melbourne to saddle his very first Group 1 runner Hard To Say, who like Rapt races in the Dynamic Syndications colours, for the $750,000 Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Craig Newitt will ride Hard To Say, who arrived safely in Melbourne this morning.
The latest PMC Final market, with the next Qualifier to be run at Newcastle on Saturday week, is:
8 Well Timed
11 Midnight Opal, Bojangles, Wooloowin
15 Rapt, Alabama State, Rolling Magic, Lord Of Biscay, Flying Bandit, French Ruler, Harlow Mist, Rolling Magic, Overriding, Welcometobarbados, Zoubaby
Story John Curtis, February 20, 2025 - Pics Bradley Photos
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