Arthur Pace has enjoyed some wonderful moments on racetracks in his long training career, but none were more special than Colsridge's win on Golden Mile day at Bendigo on Saturday.
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A little more than a month ago, Arthur and his daughters, Patrice and Courtney, lost their wife and mother, Helen, when she passed away after a battle with illness.
"It was a hard pill to swallow, but Helen pushed him (Colsridge) home today,'' Pace said.
"I've won good Listed races in Melbourne, but this one means so much to me.
"Courtney has put in so much time with the horse, particularly in the last few months when things weren't good with Helen.
"It was tough times, but Courtney kept her chin up and kept pushing me along. It was a special moment for us today."
Adding to the emotion of Colsridge's victory in the Benchmark 84 1100m event was that the horse was named after the late Colin Browell.
The Bendigo jockey passed away in 2005 at the age of 33 after a battle with leukemia. The last winner he rode was a horse called Pindi Ridge, which was trained by Arthur Pace.
Colin's parents - retired Bendigo trainer Allen Browell and his wife Val - bred Colsridge.
"The Browells have been fantastic,'' Pace said.
"When Allen retired he got on to Courtney and said the horse was there and that we had the option to buy him.
"Col (Browell) was such a colossal friend and such a brilliant rider. It meant a bloody lot to me for the horse to come good given the name of the horse."
Colsridge was first-up from a spell on Saturday and racing out of his grade, but he showed his potential with a brilliant finish from beyond midfield to win by more than a length.
"He trialled about a fortnight ago and trialled brilliantly,'' Pace said.
"Courtney rode him in work on Tuesday and she got off him and said the only thing that will beat him is if he doesn't get a run.
"She said he was absolutely flying and she's a very good judge, so when she said that I was very confident."
The win meant plenty to winning jockey Harry Coffey, who gave an emotional interview to racing.com after the race.
"I don't really worry too much when I win a race because that's what we're expected to do.
"That's our job, but the Pace family, they're rippers. I love riding in their colours and the fact that Arthur lost his wife (Helen) and the whole family lost their mum a couple of months ago - it might have been a month ago now - is shocking.
"But what do you do? You keep getting up out of bed and work your horses and why wouldn't you when you've got one like that that can let rip down the outside.
"It's a massive thrill for me. Their family's watched my career and given me every opportunity that they possibly could my whole riding career and it's because when I was a young boy dad (Austy) trained here at Bendigo and he used to tie up next to Arty.
"It was plain and simply s... when they lost their beautiful mum, so this horse has made some of the hard times a little bit easier today."
Coffey said Colsridge has the ability to win better races.
"It was a good win, I was actually quite taken by it,'' he said.
"I rode him at Wangaratta last prep and he ran enormous. It was probably a little bit hidden because it was just a 64 at Wang, but I was really excited to get on his back today.
"It's quite an awesome trait to be able to sit worse than midfield and let rip down the outside and that's what he's been able to do."
Pace was in no rush to make any big plans with Colsridge.
"We've got a few options, but the first thing we have to do is see how he pulls up."
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