The Valley

It was a fork in the road moment for trainer Dwayne Reid last Saturday at The Valley, saddling up his first ever metropolitan winner with the extreme outsider of the field Alluvial in the Rethink Reuse Rhima Handicap. Sent around at cricket score odds of $31 in the small field of 7, Alluvial was able to use barrier 1 to his advantage, and was never headed under a proactive Neil Farley ride. Given his long starting price, opposition jockeys paid little respect to the easy time Farley was getting out in front, and the pair were able to carve out modest mid-race sectionals of 12.90, 13.33 and 12.81 before increasing the tempo close to home to take out the 1600-metre contest. IT WAS A FORK IN THE ROAD MOMENT FOR TRAINER DWAYNE REID LAST SATURDAY AT THE VALLEY, SADDLING UP HIS FIRST EVER METROPOLITAN WINNER WITH THE EXTREME OUTSIDER OF THE FIELD ALLUVIAL IN THE RETHINK REUSE RHIMA HANDICAP. BY BEN CALUZZI The milestone victory for Reid comes just one week after he had Miracle Mel run last beaten 40 lengths at Hanging Rock, a performance that he said post-race made him contemplate giving up on the game for good. “My last runner ran 40 lengths last at Hanging Rock last weekend, so I was pretty much ready to retire, so it’s a nice bounce back”, Reid said on Racing.com. Now 35 years old, Reid has worked in racing since an adolescent and has worked under legendary trainer Bart Cummings, along with another Cox Plate winner Patrick Payne. He was awarded the inaugural winner of the Thoroughbred Employee of the Year Award way back in 2006, which coincidentally also took place at Moonee Valley. PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF AS REID NOTCHES UP FIRST CITY

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