And the win has the Warrnambool-trained gelding in with an opportunity of taking out the $300,000 Jericho Cup over 4600 m on his home track on Sunday, November 29.
Coming into the event, Supperleggera had recorded three third-place finishes since arriving in Victoria’s south-west in 2019.
Patrick Ryan Jnr has had Supperleggera in his stable for about 12 months after buying the five-year-old through an online auction.
With apprentice jockey Mikaela Lawrence in the saddle, Superleggera took the lead on the first trip around the track and never lost control.
That’s despite a desperate push from Da Deputy and Turf Dragon, who filled the trifecta.
But in the end a bob of the head on the line was enough for a maiden win for Superleggera in what race caller Ric McIntosh described as the “Melbourne Cup consolation”.
“We brought him pretty cheap with an eye on running in the Jericho,” Ryan Jnr said.
“I’m hoping to go one step better this year after being beaten with Golden Flag in 2019.
“Along with the Grand Annual it is one of the three major races in Warrnambool and I would love nothing more then being able to take home the trophy.”
Ryan Jnr said with the Jericho now three weeks away he could look to enter the gelding in a 3800 m race at Moonee Valley on November 16.
“It will all depend on how he pulls up,” he said.
“We’re in the field and that means we’ve got an opportunity to win the race.”
The Jericho Cup is run to honour the Walers servicemen who fought during World War I.
“Approaching the end of the first world war the Australian light horse were planning a major offensive against the Turkish empire,” the race’s official website says.
“In order to lull the enemy into believing nothing unusual was afoot, a race meeting was organised on the eve of the assault.
“The main race was called the Jericho Cup over three miles through the desert sands.
“The winner was Bill the Bastard, probably Australia’s greatest war horse.”
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