There were euphoric scenes in the Fannie Bay mounting yard on Saturday as history was created by Early Crow, who became the first horse to win three successive $135,000 bet365 Palmerston Sprints.

The 7yo son of Kuroshio and Bo Dee, trained and co-owned by Dick Leech along with prominent racing enthusiast Phil Brittain and his family, had not won a race since scoring in the same event 12 months ago, but it mattered little to his connections when he crossed the line a neck to the good of a brave Bon’s Pride.

And in the process, he ran the fastest time of his three wins in the short-course feature, 1:07.89, compared to his 2023 mark of 1:08.15, and his time last year of 1:08.37.

Ridden by Jason “Hip Hop” Lyon, the once party boy of the jockey’s room but nowadays a non-drinker thanks to a session of hypnosis in February this year, Early Crow began well and settled a lot handier than perhaps had been envisaged.

Flying Annie, Pharoah Magic and Zourata, three-wide, poured on the pressure, with Rising Sphere next alongside Ideas Man and Early Crow on the fence as the field left the back straight.

Approaching the home turn, Lyon asked his mount to improve and angled out a little wider to get into a challenging position and soon after straightening for the run home, he emerged in the centre of the track with all guns blazing.

Bon’s Pride, beautifully ridden by Paul Shiers, was on Early Crow’s inner and came with the champ, while Flying Annie was still clinging to the lead well inside the final 100m and hard up against the inside fence.

But over the final stages Early Crow’s finish was irresistible, and he stuck his head out to deny Bon’s Pride, with Flying Annie the bravest of thirds just three-quarters of a-length away. Hello World, after getting well back in the field, made up many lengths for a fine fourth, with Boldinho, who drew the outside gate and covered plenty of extra ground, an excellent fifth.

An elated Leech was almost speechless: “After the day we’ve had, that is just unbelievable. He’s just a great horse and was given a 10 out of 10 ride – I’m not sure whether to retire him now or take him to Kununurra for the open sprint!

“We might have to come back and try for a fourth,” said Leech.

Lyon, who rode a double on the day and has taken the lead in the Carnival jockeys’ premiership with eight wins prior to Cup Day, was not surprisingly delighted.

“I’m very happy – he jumped super, had his mind on the job and just travelled so well. I wanted to have him in a good rhythm and he was from the start. To do what he’s done today may never be repeated – he deserves it,” said Lyon.

Bon’s Pride’s trainer, Jason Manning, was ecstatic with his charge’s performance.

“When Shiersy (Paul Shiers) angled him out I thought ‘here we go.’ He just ran into a better horse on the day but I couldn’t be happier,” he said.

Flying Annie, in the hands of Aaron Sweeney who rode Early Crow to win his first Palmerston in 2023, turned in a gallant effort after having to repel the challenges on her outer from the start.

Early Crow has now eclipsed the back-to-back winners of the race – Game Warden (1985, 1986), Squire Gray (1991, 1992), Tally Ho (1996, 1997), Jade City (2007, 2008) and Captain Punch (2018, 2019).

And in the process, with 12 wins three seconds and two thirds from his 37 career outings, he has stakes now of $445,582.

Story Courtesy Andrew O’Toole