Kempsey trainer Barry Ratcliff only had eyes for his hometown cup on November 7 and under-estimated how forward his gelding Butane was easily winning the $20,000 Forster Tuncurry Transmissions Krambach Cup before a good crowd at Taree (1600m) last Friday.

The win by three lengths at Bushland Drive Racecourse will now elevate his six-year-old galloper in the weights to make it harder for him to live his dream of winning the $25,000 Kempsey Cup.

“Before I retire, I want to win the Kempsey Cup and Butane is being set for it, ”Ratcliff said.

But the winning cheque of $11,360 and the 20-1 each-way odds he got were only part of the excitement the Krambach Cup produced for him.

He had promised to give 25-year-old Port Macquarie apprentice jockey Melinda Graham, daughter of Port trainer Jenny Graham, a winning ride and it was her three kilo allowance which helped pave the way for Butane’s win.

It was the jockey’s sixth win and her most notable in a flourishing career.

“The big drop in weight for my horse allowed him to win as he has been carrying up to 63kgs and only had 51kgs today,” said a happy and excited Ratcliff.

He has had two runner-ups and two fourth placing’s in the Kempsey Cup and wants to finally have a winner in Butane which notched its ninth win at its 53rd start.

Experts rated the race as the most open for years and the result emphasised the consensus.

Wyong trainer Damien Lane’s eight-year-old gelding, Attitude Pays (7-1), scratched from Wyong on Sunday to run in the cup, looked the winner halfway down the straight until Butane was set alight from a trailing position.

Taree mare, Lotsa Lobban (8-1), trained by Robert Barnes, was thought to be the leader but settled behind the speed and was a half-head away in third place ahead of Cessnock’s Heaven’s Riches and early leader, Tamworth’s Sambora.

Graham said that when she asked Butane for an effort “he kept finding,” she said.

It was a good meeting for Kempsey trainers as Tony Green’s four-year-old gelding, Harvard Graduate (5-2 to 7-4), was heavily backed and made it two wins in a row in a just under a length win for jockey Glenn Lynch in the XXXX Gold Class 2 Plate over 1250m.

The gelding, bought from an advertisement on the internet, has won three races from 17 starts and led comfortably all the way to beat the fast finishing Wyong mare, Crocea (6-1), a long head in front of Wauchope mare, Moomoomashoo, which was at big odds of 70-1 for Wauchope trainer Michael O’Neill.

Lynch had a winning double, his other winner by 2.5 lengths was the heavily backed five-year-old Taree mare Alma Girl (7-2),trained by Bob Milligan for himself and Gary Kemp,in the All Pro Chemical & Cleaning Supplies Class 3 Handicap over 1600m.

Milligan said Lynch followed his instructions by getting the mare back to second last early before navigating five-wide on the turn to score running away from Port mare Golden Melody, which tried to lead all the way for trainer Margaret De Gonneville.