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Weir eyes off Sydney with Humidor after taking the spoils at the Australian Cup

Darren Weir with the 2015 Melbourne Cup (AAP/Julian Smith)
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12th March, 2017
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Darren Weir has added the 2017 Australian Cup to his long list of career achievements after his gelding Humidor snuck past defending Caulfield Cup winner Jameka at the post to win the Australia Cup.

Shuffling into the barriers as equal race favourite in the bookies market with Jameka, jockey Damian Lane rode him to near perfection after a sluggish start out of the gate.

Despite coming around the bend in third last, Humidor kicked on in the final straight, powering home with a dominant finish to jump past his rival in the final hundred metres to take it by a long neck at the post.

The four-year-old wrapped up the near $1 million prize pool, giving Weir plenty to celebrate having only scooped him up last spring, picking him up from New Zealand.

The Australian Cup was a focal point for Weir and his plans with the gelding, stating that he was looking to buy out half the horse with the intentions of running him well at the Cup before looking towards NSW.

“He’s shown good ability. The plan was when we purchased half of the horse was to aim at the Australian Cup and see how far we got… It’s nice that it’s come off,” said Weir.

It wasn’t all plain sailing, though, as controversy hit Flemington the morning of the Group 1 race.

During a standard stable inspection during the early hours of Saturday morning, stewards found a suspicious syringe in the feed bucket of Humidor, prompting a quick pre-race investigation that threatened to derail the day for Weir.

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As it turned out, the substance within the plunger was a digestive aid, a completely legal one at that, and they were once again clear for the race.

The first part of the plan has come through, now it’s onto the stage of which the champion trainer has failed to stand on in the past. Sydney.

The next step for Humidor will be the $1.5 million BMW at Rosehill in two weeks time where he will meet up with already pre-race favourite Jameka, as well as third place-getter at the Australian Cup, Exospheric.

Despite a dominant and wealthy campaign over the past three years in Victoria, Darren Weir has never won in metropolitan NSW.

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