Exchancellor defied Combine, the race favourite, to win by a nose.

The first and second placed horses finished ahead of the rest by six and a half lengths.

Waters was spurred on by a rivalry that blossomed at the Ardlethan Picnic Cup held a week earlier on March 21 where Combine finished first and Exchancellor was runner up.

“I know he got beaten by Combine last week but I thought we could turn the tables,” Waters said.

And they most certainly did, as Exchancellor’s owners took home $3500 courtesy of race sponsors Manildra Meat Company and Thompsons Rural Supplies.  

The track was a rated a good three and it took just one minute and 25 seconds for Exchancellor and his jockey Rickey Blewitt to complete the 1400 metre race.

Blewitt had a successful day, also finishing second in the final race at 4.45pm, riding The Real McCoy, another horse trained by Waters.

It has been less than three months since Exchancellor scored his most significant win to date at the Wagga Race Course taking home the $15,000 Knights Benchmark 55 Handicap, another 1400 metre race, in January.

Waters is among the consortium of owners wrapped with Exchancellor’s track record including Jane Waters, Bill and Catia Lenehan, David and Lizzy Crook, Simon and Caroline Staughton and Rob Shannon.

The eight year-old horse, based at Wantabadgery, has proven to be “a really honest, old horse” having placed 28 times of 58 starts and winning eight races in total.

Waters has modest ambitions for Exchancellor.

“He may go to Hillston for the cup, I won’t be going to Wagga [Gold] Cup Carnival, we’ll do the satellite circuit rather than aim for the stars,” he said.

The Coota Picnic Cup may not have stopped the nation, however it did cause the crowd of 5000 people in attendance to pause and admire the action on the track. 

Many travelled from far and wide to socialise with friends, and a number of Harden-Murrumburrah locals were spotted at the races.

Georgia Phillips from Harden, Nick Duff from Kingsvale, and Jock Cusack from Galong were catching up with Sophie Currenti from Goulburn and Beatrix Faulkiner from Burradoo.