Shinn’s belief in Chosen Prayer rewarded

Jockey Blake Shinn has proven his steadfast belief that Chosen Prayer would win another race in Sydney.

Saturday’s Highway Handicap (1100m) at Warwick Farm was the first time since a midweek win at the same track almost two years earlier the horse had won a race in the metropolitan area.

Co-trainer Keith Dryden said Shinn had convinced him to target the race for country-trained horses after two of her three runner-up finishes this preparation came in midweek grade at Canterbury and Warwick Farm.

“He kept saying ‘bring her back mate, she’ll win’,” Dryden said.

“He said ‘I want her to win for you as much as myself’ so it was a great effort.

Shinn was delighted to win the race for Dryden and his training partner Scott Collings.

“Honestly it was never going to get beat,” Shinn said.

“Once I found the back of (Yasnat) I could really just let it ride the race for me and wait as long as I wanted to.”

Chosen Prayer ($3.60) battled Yasnat ($3.40 fav) in the betting ring and the two fought it out in the straight.

Chosen Prayer put the race to bed at the 100m mark, sprinting away to a 1-1/4 length victory with Nicof a further 2-3/4 lengths away third.