Cavanoughs celebrate with Chidiac's Country Championships Final success

Brett and Georgie Cavanough's family training operation reached a landmark as Chidiac dominated the Country Championships Final (1400m) held at Royal Randwick this Saturday.

With more than 1100 winners under his belt, Brett Cavanough conveyed the profound sentiment behind the achievement.

"I've got to try and hold it together a bit, very special today to do it with Georgie," Cavanough said.

"She tipped Chidiac all week, she had faith in her."

Having linked up with her dad at the start of this campaign, Georgie Cavanough affirmed the mare as her preferred choice throughout.

"She's been my pick all along, she didn't let us down, she's a very classy mare," she said.

"This is great – I couldn't do it without Mum and Dad, it's all just very exciting."

Zac Purton, the prominent Hong Kong jockey hailing from Coffs Harbour, delighted in the hometown-style conquest.

"I was a country boy my whole childhood, so it's just great to team up with someone from there and win a race as important as this," Purton said.

"She travelled really well, at no stage of the race did she give me any concerns.

"She was straight into the bridle, really happy and comfortable where she was in the going.

"Coming up the rise she was travelling so well but I thought she's been here for a while, is she going to empty out, but she kept going all the way."

Priced at $5.50, Chidiac exploded clear mid-straight and repelled the challenge of $61 shot Graceful Ellen by a length, leaving Micro Mikki ($91) to trail by an additional one-and-a-half lengths for third.

The result enhances Cavanough’s legacy in regional showcase events, building on his 2020 victory in The Kosciuszko courtesy of It's Me.

He disclosed directing Purton to remain composed with the mare.

"Zac just took bad luck out of the equation, he made it his race," he said.

"I just said whatever you do, cuddle her for as long as you can and when you go for her, she is just sharp as."

A five-year-old Better Than Ready mare who launched her racing life in basic races at Quirindi, Chidiac boasts six triumphs in 11 appearances and could chase elevated goals next.

"We might look at the Stradbroke Handicap in Brisbane," Cavanough said.

Owned by Gerry Harvey, the mare contributed to his fine day after Blue Door, trained by John Singleton, secured the Kindergarten Stakes beforehand.

Favourite Considered ($3.60) placed fifth, with Matthew Dunn, her trainer, positing that the filly has likely peaked for her current stint.

"I think she has come to the end of it," Dunn said.

"She won her heat six weeks ago and it's a long time to keep them going. But she won six straight so she has done a wonderful job."

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