Keith Dryden-trained Prince Jacko edges closer to Canberra Racing crown

The Keith Dryden-trained gelding moved to the top of the Canberra Racing Club's horse of the year leaderboard with a triumph in the Federal Benchmark 70 Handicap at Thoroughbred Park on Wednesday.

Trevor McIlrick's Farthing Wood, Joe Ible's Ons Vier or Prince Jacko were vying for the chance to break away from the pack - and from that stage they would have been hard to rein in.

And it was Dryden's six-year-old that got the job done ahead of two Ible-trained horses - not that the triumphant trainer knew what it meant.

That was until he got a tap on the shoulder saying Prince Jacko had nudged ahead of the field on and off the track.

"I didn't know, but [Canberra Racing Club chief executive] Andrew Clark just said [Prince Jacko] is in front," Dryden said.

"There's another Federal in the next meeting so he'll go to that and then we'll decide whether we'll go to the paddock or what we do.

"The horse is going well so we'll just keep him rolling along at the moment.

"He just had the run of the race, drew a lovely barrier, gave him a perfect ride. I knew it when he straightened up, he was going to be hard to beat then.

"He hadn't spent too much money getting there. The horse is racing in peak form, his past three runs have been in Federals, he has won two and run second, so you can't get him going much better than that.

"He has only had one disappointing run this prep, and it was probably first up in Sydney in a Highway on a wet track.

"I'm really pleased with the result, the owners have been long-time owners of mine. They're bearing the fruits of it.

"We're just being patient with the horse. The older he gets, the better he is racing. He has had 30-odd starts and he is six, so we're not over-racing him.

"But he was pretty decisive today, it was probably one of his better wins."

John Nisbet's Our Finvarra was among the horse of the year contenders set to line up in race seven before being scratched.

Had the contenders missed out, all eyes would have turned to race eight, in which Nick Olive's Luga Lad had a chance to move ahead of the pack.

It wasn't to be for the Lad, who finished sixth having seen one of his rivals scoot clear on the leaderboard in the race prior.

Now Dryden has to decide on what he does with his Prince.

"I judge on how they're going on the track and how he is racing. With the way he is racing, I was half-thinking maybe he could use a little break," Dryden said.

"I go pretty lightly on him, he'll have a really easy week this week. He probably won't even go to the track this week, he'll have a bit of swim and a walk around the block, and then he'll tell me how he is going in his work.

"At the moment he is thriving on that sort of stuff. If I think he has had enough, I'll be ringing the owners to say 'look, I think he he has had enough', but on that win, he'll be having another start [before a spell].

"But as I said, he won't tell me for a week."