Country cups king Station One wins the Stony Creek Cup
A treble for jockey Jason Maskiell and Station One's 10th country cup what a day of racing it was for the Stony Creek Cup.
TAKING home his tenth country cup, the Liam Howley trained 7-year-old Station One blitzed the field in the 2026 Stony Creek Cup taking an outside run down the home straight to win by a clear margin thrilling racegoers.
Having already amassed over half a million dollars in prizemoney Station One’s $85,000 Stony Creek Cup prize purse would have been more than welcomed by the large syndicate of owners including trainer Liam Howley who is a part-owner himself.
Known for leading or racing close to the pace, particularly over middle-to-long distances Station One ridden by jockey Jason Maskiell was well placed around the first turn to lead from the outside in a thrilling run down the home straight.
The Stony Creek Cup is regarded as one of Victoria’s premier country racing events and capped off a record year for the Stony Creek Racing Club.
“It’s been our best year ever,” said CEO and former Group 1 jockey Jason Benbow.
“With over 1,500 racegoers passing through the gate on Cup Day it’s exceeded all our expectations. We’ve seen record crowds all season,” said Mr Benbow.
“The track is presenting well, and everyone is having a good time.”
Describing the cup field as one of the best the club had seen for years Mr Benbow said programming changes from Racing Victoria had helped with the strength of the field on the day.
“The whole season has been really country focussed,” Mr Benbow said.
He said the club would now dissect the season to prepare for next year.
“I believe there’s room for improvement.”
Hospitality and infrastructure will be looked at with Mr Benbow admitting some areas were a bit outdated and needed a modern touch.
“A permanent marquee will be erected for next season for general racegoers.”
Another area Mr Benbow said he was excited about being a former jockey was an update of the crossing to the course.
“It will be a synthetic crossing to replace the current sand base, to improve the safety of jockeys and horses,” Mr Benbow said.
Mr Benbow thanked the committee for its ongoing support, track manager Michael Templeton and patrons and the local community for their ongoing support.
“Off-season is all about preparing for next year,” he said.
“This season was based on the same strategy as last year. We worked really hard to create marketing opportunities and ideas that proved very successful.”
Mr Benbow said the club was looking forward to the 40th anniversary of the Triple Dead Heat meeting at Stony Creek.
“It’s part of Australia’s racing history.”
Cup Day featured an eight-race program and was the last race meeting at Stony Creek for the season. Well favoured Regal Lion ridden by Craig Newitt was placed second in the Stony Creek Cup behind Station One ahead of Tactfull ridden by Melea Castle and Chasing Aphrodite ridden by Jake Noonan placed fourth.
It was a day to remember for Jason Maskiell who finished with a treble winning Race 6 on Baffleck, Race 7 The Stony Creek Cup on Station One and Race 8 the Danny O'Brien Handicap on Hey Bella trained by Luke Oliver.
The winning time for the Stony Creek Cup was 2.14.47.
