Punch Lane earns Big Dance qualification by winning the Hawkesbury Gold Cup
Punch Lane, Sydney racing's iron horse, delivered another knockout blow to his chasing rivals at Hawkesbury on Saturday.
Champion jockey Nash Rawiller sent Punch Lane straight to the front early in the Group 3 $250,000 Hawkesbury Gold Cup (1600m) and from that moment their opponents were racing for second prize.
This was Punch Lane's third start in as many weeks and he was backing up after leading throughout to win at Randwick last Saturday.
It was a case of 'rinse and repeat' for the Anthony and Sam Freedman -trained Punch Lane in the feature race at the Hawkesbury stand-alone meeting.
'Tough as nails this horse, it's been a great training effort,'' Rawiller said.
'Three weeks in a row, not many can do that, but he has come here today and was first out of the gates and first onto the bridle.
'You could expect him to half not want to be here but he was better than last week.''
Punch Lane ($2.30 favourite) gave nothing else a chance in the Hawkesbury Gold Cup as he maintained his advantage throughout to win by 1-1/4 lengths from Osipenko ($9) with My Oberon ($14) a half-length away third.
Matcha Latte, winner of the Provincial-Midway Championships Final, was a brave fourth just in front of Tavi Time.
Punch Lane leads all the way in the G3 @hawkesburyrc Gold Cup and wins in style!�
That's also a double to @nashhot ðŸ'° @FreedmanRacing pic.twitter.com/Axz8K4OZIx
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 3, 2025
Rawiller, who rode a brace of winners after scoring earlier on Able Willie, won his second successive Hawkesbury Gold Cup following his win on Just Folk 12 months ago.
In fact, Rawiller has had a lot of success at the Hawkesbury stand-alone meeting over the years having also won three Hawkesbury Crowns on Coco Jamboo (2024), Sweet Deal (2021) and More Strawberries (2012), and two Hawkesbury Guineas on Hawaii Five Oh (2023) and Royal Discretion (2008).
Rawiller predicted the Freedman father and son training partnership will make a huge success of their decision to open a 24-box Sydney satellite stable at Randwick to complement their main stable base at Mornington in Victoria.
'Anthony hasn't been up here for long and is learning the ropes, I guess, in Sydney a little but I'm sure he will get good support, he's a top trainer,'' Rawiller said.
Rawiller's racing colours of royal blue, gold armbands and cap of the William Street Syndicate are also synonymous success.
The ownership group has raced many outstanding gallopers including 1982 Caulfield and Melbourne Cups winner Gurner's Lane, trained by the late Geoff Murphy.
The Freedman family has trained for the syndicate of mainly Melbourne-based businessmen for many years including most notably the outstanding sprinter Santa Ana Lane who Anthony prepared to win five Group 1 races including the 2018 TJ Smith Stakes and Stradbroke Handicap, and 2019 VRC Sprint Classic.
Hall of Famer Lee Freedman trained Paris Lane for the syndicate to win the 1994 Caulfield Cup and Mackinnon Stakes.
Punch Lane's Hawkesbury Gold Cup win ensures the gelding is qualified for the $3 million The Big Dance at Royal Randwick on Melbourne Cup Day in November.
A rising six-year-old by champion racehorse and sire So You Think, Punch Lane scored his eighth win from just 20 starts and took his career earnings to nearly $670,000.
Anthony or Sam Freedman weren't on track for Punch Lane's Hawkesbury Gold Cup win but stable representative Shane Hourigan said the five-year-old was the 'perfect horse' to back up quickly and still perform at his best.
'This wasn't an afterthought to back up from Randwick into the Hawkesbury Gold Cup – and he is probably the right horse to do it with,'' Hourigan said.
'He does his work, eats, sleeps, then goes out in the morning and does it all again.
'We didn't have to do too much with him during the week, he's fit and this was his third week in a row.
'So, we just kept him ticking over during the week, making sure the horse was happy. Fresh is best as they say.''
Hourigan said Rawiller was able to dictate terms to suit on the front-running Punch Lane.
'In his races, this horse makes his own luck,'' he said.
'Nash gave him a great ride, jumped nicely, controlled the pace then kicked and had too much for them.
'He was always doing things on his own terms.''
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