Moonbi trainer-reinsman Dean Chapple has finally fulfilled his wish to win the Santos Cup.
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After finishing runner-up "a couple of times" Chapple finally broke through for the win he has desired for a while, with Asterism scoring a 4.8m win in the $15,000 feature run as part of Narrabri's Carnival of Cups meeting.
It gave Chapple a feature double for the day after driving Madame Pele to a neck win in the preceding $11,000 John Dean Memorial.
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"I won the first John Dean Memorial a long time ago and have won a couple since then," Chapple reflected.
"John was a great man and he has left a great family - it is always an honour to be in this race, let alone win it."
Madame Pele, a name in the Hawaiian religion, is seen as the goddess of volcanoes and fire and the creator of the Hawaiian Islands.
And the Art Major-Dark Diva four-year-old mare certainly created the "fire" in taking out the Final for Hunter Valley owners Marissa Dimarco and Tim Pratt.
"Both Marissa and Tim put a lot into the sport," Chapple said.
He added: "The plan was to try and lead and if not hopefully to get on the leaders back but we ended up getting the one by one and the rest is history."
With Charmindi (Caitlin McElhinney) leading the field after commencing from the one barrier and Madame Pele as $1.90 race favourite settling into her stride in the one-by-one, Chapple left his race challenge until the final turn with a three wide run.
Madame Pele gained momentum down the long straight to run down Charmindi with Lachies Delight (Jason Hewitt) another neck away third.
It is her second win from 18 race starts, both wins coming under the guidance of Whittingham trainer Aaron Goadsby.
She had won her respective heat on Easter Monday as had Asterism, who Chapple also trains.
Commencing off the second row from the seven barrier Chapple followed race leader Everything Happens from the Richard Williams stable and driven by McElhinney, who had commenced from the one barrier.
"We drew seven and we had to hope and pray it went our way," he said.
"The mid race pressure from Jason Hewitt horse (Ryan's Gangster) really helped us.
"Caitlin wanted to hold the lead and I got such a good trip.
"It was always going to make life good for us and when we got out, I could hear Tom (Ison) coming with I'm Complaint."
"We got around that final turn really good and the race had panned out the way we wanted to and his (Asterism) run was great."
"It was a similar run to last week in the heat - we got a dream run but just a bit better this week."
It was his sixth win with the Four Starzzz Shark-Rutherglen Ruby five-year-old gelding from 14 starts.
"It is the horses biggest win and I think there are a few more in store for him," Chapple said.
"The horse has got some attitude," he added.
"But he also has got plenty of ability."
I'm Compliant (Tom Ison) ran on second with Rocknlachlan (Jemma Coney) a neck away third.
Chapple's attention now turns to Wednesday's Tamworth harness meeting where he will have four runners engaged - Don't Tell Dorothy, Wicklow Warrior, Shannon's Shadow and Rosetta Shannon.
