Embley wins, but only just, at Randwick

At the fourth start of his campaign, Embley has finally jumped out of the gates cleanly with the desired result — a win at Randwick, albeit a close one.

The Bjorn Baker-trained gelding has featured in the stewards’ reports at his past three starts for his slow starts and not so quick finishes.

There were no such problems on Saturday with Embley ($7) jumping in front and holding on at the end of the Jockeys Trust Mile to deny More To Gain ($5.50) by a nose.

“It was close but we’ll take it,” Baker said.

“I asked Kerrin McEvoy before the race how many Group One races he’d won.

“He said 66 so I said I’d just leave it to him how to ride him.

“A lot of things went against him last time so I’m pleased to see him win and we’ll look for a 2000 metre race for him now.”

Amanda Turner, the co-trainer of More To Gain experienced the highs and lows of racing in the seconds it took for the photo finish to be decided.

“At first I thought he’d won and then when I looked a second time I thought he’d been beaten,” she said.

“I was going to take him to Melbourne but he loves the mile so I might keep him here and look at a race like the Villiers here in the summer.”

The race was named for the National Jockeys Trust to coincide with a fundraiser at Randwick to support the families of dead and injured riders.