It came down to the final hundred metres on Saturday at the Cootamundra Picnic Races.
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Diamond Charlie led the field home, followed by the Trevor Sutherland-trained Oh What A Thief and Dream On Stan.
With the Cootamundra Picnic Cup in hand, Diamond Charlie’s trainer Neil Osborne is preparing the horse for a spell, before the Picnic Championships at Dubbo in September.
“He’s won his last two at the Crookwell Picnic Cup and the Yass Picnic Cup,” Osborne said.
“I thought he would be hard to beat.
“[Jockey] Billy Owen has ridden him on his last three wins, he [Diamond Charlie] loves 1400 metres.”
Osborne said Owen will ride again during the $50,000 race in Dubbo.
"The Picnic Championships work on a point score, we’ve got to perform at other picnic races to get into the final,” Osborne said.
Last year, Kinda Tangy ran third for Osborne in Dubbo and he’s hoping Diamond Charlie will deliver a win.
Cootamundra Southern District Picnic Race Club president Scott Adams said organsiers and racegoers couldn’t have asked for a better day on Saturday.
“It was a sensational day, people were extremely happy with the way it was run and what happened on the day,” Adams said.
“It was a shame it wasn’t a fairytale ending for Oh What A Thief, but congratulations to Diamond Charlie for winning the Miller and James Cup.”
As well as brilliant weather, Adams said the track had been well prepared.
“Credit goes to the Turf Club for getting the track to the condition it was, especially during this dry spell that we’re having at the minute,” he said.
While entrants were slightly down because the day falls between Easter and the school holidays, Adams said the club was still happy with the turn-out.
“It was down a fraction, but there was still around 900 people there,” he said.
Adams said where the day fell on the calendar could make or break a meeting, but while it may have been between two holidays, punters were spoiled for choice with the Championships running in Randwick.