They say 'everyone loves an underdog' and that made Sacred Delago's win in Scone on Tuesday all the more exciting.
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The outsider status was written all over this win and not just in the odds.
Even the Sky Racing commentators were surprised by the "roughie" when the race was run and won.
The six-year-old was a $600 buy, ridden by a jockey in the midst of a comeback, was paying $31 and is under the care of a small-time trainer in the Armidale-based Mark Ostini.
Arnold thought the long odds were "unjustified" and he was proven correct.
From barrier seven, the son of Dissident hit the front early from barrier seven and he kept going.
"I didn't want to bustle him too early but at the same time I didn't want him to be out of his comfort zone," Arnold said.
"I found a spot three wide outside the leaders and just let him be happy and let him run."
At the home turn he went around the field and 200m from the post, Arnold asked him to lift.
He did and extended his lead to beat $2.60 favourite Sardonyx by two lengths.
"I was getting more and more confident through the run for him," Arnold said.
"I was pretty confident when I got into the straight and I hadn't used any petrol."
"But when I did ask him for another effort, he fired and certainly did that.
"He gave me another gear and he kept grinding right to the line."
Two starts ago on January 25, Sacred Delago was narrowly beaten at Tamworth in a Class 1 over 1200m before he struggled in his last start over the same distance in a Benchmark 58.
He led the way in both those races so Ostini made the decision to run him over a shorter distance.
"He ran a good race two starts back and got pipped on the post," he said.
"In the 58, there was a lot of horses in it who had won five races so I dropped him back to his own class again and he has got the biscuits.
"It was a good, solid win."
For Arnold it was a "monkey off the back moment" with his last winner in April 2022.
Since then, he took a break from racing but is on his way back.
He's ridden in only seven races this year and four of them have been for Ostini.
"To do it for Mark, he has been throwing me a few rides since I have come back and it is good to repay him," Arnold said.
"He was pretty excited when I came back in."
It also made the trip from Newcastle to Scone for one ride worth it.
"It is not every day you can walk away from the races with a 100 per cent strike rate," Arnold said.