Scenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter Lorimer
Scenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter LorimerScenes from the 2024 Newcastle Cup racing meet at Broadmeadow. Picture by Peter Lorimer
If spring racing was a postcard, the photo on the front would have been taken in Newcastle on Friday afternoon as champion jockey steered five-year-old Terra Mater to what seemed like an effortless win in the $250,000 Tibbie Stakes at Broadmeadow.
It was bright, balmy at 23 degrees and blown under a light breeze - perfect conditions - as the classy mare stepped ahead of race leader Overriding and held off Chris Waller's Roots to her best win.
But what was a thrilling finish on the turf proved a hard break for the bookies as the well-backed favourite - paying $3.40 after a similarly stellar finish at Wyong a fortnight ago - paid off for its syndicate of owners and the hungry punters milling about the betting rings.
Veteran bookie Brian Cant, working under the Grant Lynch banner, has been in the business for around 40 years and said that the crowds had, in recent years, shifted from the Newcastle Cup to the region's other marquee race day, The Hunter, Friday's meeting ahead of a weekend of racing was modest but well-patronised.
"It was a good run," Mr Cant said of Terra Mater's win with a wry smile. "But a bad result for us bookies. Once it saw a clear space at the top, it went 'bang' and it was over."
He said the betting going into the $300,000 Newcastle Cup was steady. He tipped the eventual winner, Etna Rosso, who surged home at the death in the last 100 metres, paying $3.10.
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