Sport
11 June, 2025
Faehr out! Veteran hoop wins Coppermarket, Cup
Robert Faehr had a day to remember at the Mount Isa Cup meeting.
The trip from Longreach to Mount Isa was certainly worth it for Robert Faehr, who cleaned up the card with three winners, including the two feature races.
The 42-year-old jockey combined with Barcaldine trainer Bevan “Billy” Johnson for wins in the Coppermarket and Mount Isa Cup, as well as a victory for Julia Creek trainer Tanya Parry.
The highlight was a massive 10-length win in the 1450m Cup, where Faehr, aboard the well-fancied Victory Bay ($3.50) outrode his rivals with a barnstorming run before the home turn, catching the opposition off guard.
The race started with plenty of drama as the Shryn Royes-trained Mr Metrics refused to be loaded into the barriers, putting his Battle of the Bush dreams in jeopardy.
The talented sprinter will now have to regain his barrier certificate before being allowed to race again, meaning Mr Metrics will need to be on his best behaviour in front of the close eye of stewards.
About an hour earlier, there was more drama as Faehr led all of the way aboard $4 elect Soopat to claim Mount Isa Race Club’s prestigious sprint race, the Coppermarket (1100m).
It looked a straightforward win to the naked eye, but there were two protests lodged after the jockeys weighed in.
Both were rightly dismissed, albeit after a long wait, with the second versus first objection bordering on frivolous.
Faehr said it was good to be back riding winners after a leaner-than-usual period in the saddle.
“I’ve been getting a lot of placings lately but when you ride for Billy Johnson in this area he’s always going to be hard to beat,” he said.
“He works his horses on the heavy sands and let me tell you he’s a bloody good trainer.
“(Riding for him) only happened last week when he asked if I could ride here and told me that if he had any spare rides for me he’d put me on; so I’m just lucky.”
Faehr said the fact both of his feature wins were on horses carrying the minimum weight of 56kg made a big difference.
“Billy said he couldn’t remember the last time both of these horses carried 56 kilos and he was at me to make sure I could ride at 56.
“It should be easier for me but I’ve only been back riding for seven weeks – last year at Aramac I had a bad race fall and broke my hand.”
With his sights firmly set on a feed of KFC for the long drive back to Longreach that night, Faehr said he was rapt to be heading home with a Mount Isa Cup win.
“To tell you the truth, I’ve always loved that horse (Victory Bay) and Billy and Mel have been trying to get me on that horse for ages,” he said.
“I won a Longreach open race on him, and then I ran second in the Tree of Knowledge to Cafffrey on him, but he’s been having some niggling problems.”