Just A Flash lived up to its name with a blistering effort to win the $75,000 Flat Knacker (900m) and post a new track and class record at Albury on Friday.
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It was a Cowra double as jockey Matthew Cahill teamed up with a trainer he's had plenty to do with in Andrew Molloy to storm to victory in the feature by one-and-a-half lengths.
Just A Flash jumped well from barrier five and quickly got to the fence where it held the lead and was never headed in the sprint to the line to post a sublime time of 50.88 seconds.
The Danny Williams-trained Prairie Fire, ridden by Jean Van Overmeire, finished second, while Blaike McDougall piloted Bombdiggity to third for Goulburn's Scott Collings.
Cahill, who rode the winner of last year's Albury Gold Cup, Spunlago, for Albury trainer Ron Stubbs, was rapt with the performance of the horse.
"It's lovely to win for the local guys," Cahill said.
"Growing up I did a lot of work for Andrew and his dad Bill.
"I had a lot of rides for Bill, so it was wonderful to win today."
Cahill knew Just A Flash had the pace, but was unsure how the $13 chance would fare against a field stacked with quality.
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"He's a very quick horse. I had a question mark over whether he'd match the class of some of those horses, but he was out of the gates really quickly and across to the fence," Cahill said.
"The track seems to be a bit leadish today, which might have helped us a little bit, but full credit to the horse, he really knuckled down and ran it right out."
There was plenty of speed around Just A Flash but he didn't succumb to the pressure.
"One of the good traits of the horse is he's nearly always grinning out of the gates and hits top speed after he's run about 10 yards, which most horses don't," Cahill added.
"He's straight into top gear and that helps."
When it was confirmed Just A Flash had broken the class and track record, Cahill wasn't surprised.
"I don't doubt it because we were going quick," he said.
Cahill had a strong day on the track with a second place finish in the Albury Guineas aboard Impressive Lass and was also third on Dissedge for Stubbs in the benchmark 58 handicap.
The 2020 Flat Knacker was won by Mister Mogul for Ballarat trainer Henry Dwyer with a time of 51.87 seconds.
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