If there's a racing God, well he was certainly on show today.
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Sky Racing's Graeme Smith could hardly have found better words in the aftermath of an emotional Vale Stefano Cherchi Handicap at Thoroughbred Park on Friday.
Annabel Neasham's Code In Time saluted to claim the feature race of the day in memory of the late Cherchi, who died last week due to injuries suffered in a fall at Thoroughbred Park a fortnight earlier.
The three-year-old gelding finished clear of Sass 'N' Cheek and Capital Queen in a stirring tribute to Cherchi, who rode at Neasham's Warwick Farm stable after moving to Sydney at the start of the year.
The Italian flag was flown at half mast, the crowd fell silent, and jockeys wore black armbands in Cherchi's honour.
Cherchi's family and friends had flown from around the world to be by his side at Canberra Hospital, after the jockey suffered internal bleeding and head trauma following a three-horse fall.
If Cherchi was watching, Neasham stable representative Auri Brengues thinks he may have just had a reason to smile.
"Sorry, I'm a bit emotional," Brengues said as he wiped away tears.
"My reaction is exactly what we feel like. It's important for the stable that we were winning the race. [Jockey Heavelon van der Hoven] did a great job, the horse was so tough as well.
"I hope, if he's watching us right now, he would be proud of that."
Canberra Racing invited officials from the ACT government, the Italian embassy, Racing NSW and the NSW Jockeys Association honour Cherchi on Friday.
Those within the Neasham camp were overcome with emotion during a tearful embrace following Code In Time's win.
"It means a lot to everyone, especially for the stable," van der Hoven said.
"I spoke to Annabel this morning, and we both said we have to win the race, it's obviously for Stefano. He made an impact in our lives in a short period of time.
"I'm just happy to get this win for him."
To White for the final say.
"If there's a better racing moment than that this weekend, I stand to see it," White said.
CANBERRA RACING CELEBRATES ITALIAN JOCKEY'S LIFE
The Canberra racing community will celebrate Italian jockey Stefano Cherchi's "amazing life" at Thoroughbred Park on Friday.
Canberra Racing have invited officials from the ACT government, the Italian embassy, Racing NSW and the NSW Jockeys Association to a service for Cherchi - which will be held following their third race of the day.
The Italian flag will be flown at half mast, there'll be a minute's silence and the jockeys will wear black armbands in Cherchi's honour, after he died last week due to injuries suffered in a fall at Thoroughbred Park a fortnight earlier.
His family and friends flew from around the world to be by his side at Canberra Hospital, where he was taken with internal bleeding and head trauma following a three-horse fall.
A memorial service for the family was held in Sydney on Monday and now he'll be honoured in Canberra.
The race following the service has been named after him - the Vale Stefano Cherchi Handicap (1300 metres).
Fittingly, Code In Time's the favourite for the race - given the three-year-old gelding's trained by Annabel Neasham.
Cherchi worked for Neasham's stable since he moved to Sydney at the start of the year.
Canberra Racing chief executive Darren Pearce attended the memorial service in Sydney on Monday.
He said Cherchi's family had given them their blessing to honour their son's life.
Pearce also wanted to thank all the ambulance and medical staff who had taken care of Cherchi since the moment of his fall.
"It's terribly sad for us, but he lived an amazing life and we want to celebrate that [on Friday]," Pearce said.
"And certainly thank all of those first responders and the team that rallied to support him and his family, and make sure everyone's OK."
Canberra Racing will also raise money for the Australian Racing Christian Chaplaincy on Friday.
They played a big role in providing support to not only Cherchi's friends and family, but also the jockeys and others involved in the racing community.
The Catholic faith played an important role for the Cherchi family, with special prayers held for the jockey at a church service at the Sanctuary of Sant'Ignazio da Laconi in Cagliari, the capital of Italian island Sardinia, on the Thursday before Easter.
Cherchi moved from Italy to England as a 16-year-old, unable to speak any English, where he became an apprentice jockey for top trainer and fellow Italian Marco Botti.
Then he found his way Down Under to Neasham's stables at Warwick Farm, where he began riding in January.
His career had just started to pick up in Australia having ridden his second winner just days before the accident.
Cherchi was treated at Thoroughbred Park for more than an hour after his horse Hasime fell on March 20.
Two other jockeys - Jeff Penza and Shaun Guymer - and their horses also came down, but they were all relatively unscathed.
Guymer has since been diagnosed with a small shoulder fracture and ruled out of riding for six weeks.
"We're raising money for the Australian Racing Christian Chaplaincy, who have done a lot of counselling and support for Stefano's family and the racing community that were impacted by the fall and Stefano's passing," Pearce said.
"They also organised a Catholic service in Sydney ... for Stefano's family, who are of strong Catholic faith.
"They've done an enormous amount of work and we want to support them by raising money for their efforts [on Friday] with Stefano's family's best wishes."