Tasmania: North-West teenager Jaz Hutchins crosses the line first but does not win the Tom Quilty Gold Cup

TheAdvocate.com.au - Full Article

Andrew Mathieson
October 6 2018

Jaz Hutchins galloped home to cheers, but the tone in the voice of the first to finish the Tom Quilty Gold Cup ride told the true story.

After nine hours, 46 minutes and 27 seconds in the saddle, the junior winner on the course near Scottsdale didn’t hide her understandable disappointment.

“Yes, I was the first – that’s correct,” Hutchins told The Sunday Examiner in the affirmative, “but it’s a bit disappointing that I can’t take the cup home being a junior.

The Sassafras 17-year-old like her contemporaries could not make the mandatory 73kg weight for the cup.

The lesser weight over the 160km journey from darkness to sunrise and sometimes beyond is considered an unfair advantage.

Not exactly tainting the win of top Victorian Kristie Taprell – a junior winner has been ruled ineligible of taking home the trophy before – but Hutchins’ ride 18 minutes and 40 seconds earlier could have caused a stir...

Read more here:
https://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/5687697/teen-cup-win-that-wasnt/?cs=12