Kettle Hill gave patient owners, including British trainer William Haggas, an early Christmas present with victory in the 2040m Benchmark 78 at The Valley, the import's first success in 834 days.

Kettle Hill had raced 10 times in Australia for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace without a win but a change of tactics and daring executive from Dylan Browne McMonagle ended the drought.

Much to the relief of Hong Kong-bound Eustace, having been on the receiving end of Haggas' abuse.

Eustace's father James, a retired Newmarket trainer, is close friends with Haggas."A bit of pressure on this horse, if you look at the ownership, a certain William Haggas is in it and I was getting a fair bit abused by him last week," Eustace said.

"Couldn't possibly have left without winning a race for him, I'm glad he kept the faith and Australian Bloodstock, not that we lost faith in any way but it's taken a while to learn how to ride him."

Eustace will finish up with the stable at the end of January to relocate to the Asian racing mecca.

The Melbourne Cup-winner credited Maher with the tactics change to help Kettle Hill succeed.

"Ciaron said to me after Flemington (two starts back) he ran well but didn't finish his race off, so he said let's just ride him dead cold and see how he runs, and he's done that twice," Eustace said.

"He was good at Ballarat but didn't settle quite as well, Dylan got him to relax beautifully, naturally needed luck today, but the horse was brave, the jockey was brave, and he got his head in front."

Browne McMonagle settled last in the run on Kettle Hill and nailed the rail-hugging ride, going around one horse only, leader and third-placed Samedi, to win from Starspangled Baby.

"I had plenty of horse which was a big help, this guy has been a little bit tricky," Browne McMonagle said.

"The key was just getting him to relax in his races and the last time I rode him (Ballarat) he did too much and he got there to win 200m out and he kind of fell apart and got a bit tired.

"I knew today if I could get him to miss the break and get him to relax, ride for luck and keep him covered up as best I could, I knew he would get to the line.

"He stays well but he just needs to help himself a bit early, hopefully he can progress now, he's a horse with a lot of ability."

Browne McMonagle welcomed a change of luck after his first ride on the card, short-priced favourite Dark Halo for Maher and Eustace reared as the barriers opened.

"He was as good as gold up until the second they opened and when they opened he got a bit of a fright and reared up," Browne McMonagle said.

"It was game over from there, you can't give away that much ground, I thought he did OK to get to where he did, his first run back he's going to improve.

"He's a gorgeous big horse, I think he's got a lot of ability as well."

With thanks to Racenet

https://www.racenet.com.au/news/change-of-tactics-and-a-daring-ride-pace-the-way-for-kettle-hill-to-reward-his-patient-owners-with-an-overdue-win-at-the-valley-20231223