'It means a lot to us': Tim Clark claims his fourth Canberra Cup onboard Sacramento

So when he hears himself nicknamed "The King of Canberra", words just about fail the most successful Canberra Cup jockey in the race's history.

Clark claimed his fourth Canberra Cup after leading onboard Sacramento from start to finish in the 2022 rendition at Thoroughbred Park on Monday afternoon.

And he claimed another piece of racing history by being crowned the Darren Beadman Medal winner alongside Tommy Berry as the best performing jockeys of the carnival.

Now he heads home to Sydney with a medal and another silver cup to add to the mantle, but not before taking a moment to think back to those early rides in Canberra after he started out as an apprentice in Leeton.

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"It's always special. Mum and dad live here now, my sister, my brother, so I've got a family connection down here," Clark said.

"It's always nice to come down here for these country carnivals, not only me but all of us jockeys, the boys and the girls, we love coming down for these country carnivals.

"They're good fun, there's a good vibe. To take out a feature race, it does, it means a lot to us."

The triumph marks Clark's third Canberra Cup with trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, who are being credited with a herculean performance in getting Sacramento up for a 2000m race in its second start following a 41-week spell.

Sacramento effectively led out of the barriers, leaving in its wake every puncher's chance, every redemption story, and of course a heavily-backed favourite.

Dadoozdart returned to Canberra looking to cap off something of a comeback story having been beaten narrowly in a photo in the corresponding race last year.

Yet for the second time in as many years the gelding was subject to the same fate - only this time the margin wasn't quite so thin.

Pre-race favourite Toomuchtobear turned its back on Rosehill in favour of Canberra but was nudged out of the top three by Matthew Dale's Five Kingdom.

"Obviously first and foremost, it's such a great training performance to get this horse second up over 2000m after such a long time off. It's no easy feat that in itself," Clark said.

"Full credit to the stable and the horse himself. He's always shown great talent, and it was great to deliver the owners a Cup as well. As David [Lilley] said, he was born and grew up here so it was a bit emotional for him to win a Cup.

"Obviously I'm good mates with David and the owners so it's always special to deliver in a race that means so much to them.

"When I was able to get across and go into the front he just relaxed so well for me. Throughout the race he just got into such a good rhythm and I was confident a long way out that he was going to be very hard to run down."

Clark entered the day with a narrow lead in the hunt for the Darren Beadman Medal, finishing locked on points with Berry following his treble.

Jockeys and trainers were awarded points in each race of the two-day carnival. Winning trainers and riders received three points, runners-up two and third-place finishers one.

Dale won the Barbara Joseph Medal, ousting the Black Opal Stakes-winning Freedman brothers after they led on day one.

A day after Rachel King reigned on Queen Of The Ball, the king of Canberra closed the show.

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