It was an historic day as it was Jungle Juice Cup number 10 for jockey Robert Thompson and it was trainer Jeremy Sylvester’s seventh winner of the Wine Country Race Club’s flagship event.

Next Tuesday Youthful King, with the same jockey and trainer, will attempt to win his fourth Jungle Juice Cup.

Sylvester has timed Youthful King’s preparation so that he will peak next Tuesday and all has gone to plan.

Three starts back the gelding ran home well behind the placegetters in a short-course race at Tamworth.

Next, Youthful King went to Kempsey where he was doing his best work late when he ran third in an unsuitable sprint.

Last Thursday he stepped out on a bog track at Wyong and with torrential rain falling during the race, he worked home nicely to finish midfield.

Sylvester said Youthful King is ticking over nicely and a good barrier would be a big help.

“The horse is going well in fact he is going as good as he was when he won last year’s Jungle Juice Cup,” he said.

“He will be a ten-year-old on August 1 but he doesn’t know that.

“Youthful King loves the winter tracks with the give in them.

“At this stage we don’t know which horses will run in the Cup but our horse will be competitive irrespective of the field.

“A good barrier would be nice.

“We are an all Cessnock combination – the horse, trainer, jockey and owner.

“Deleis Watson owns Youthful King and she is a Cessnock lady who trained horses herself at Cessnock. Her late father Tommy Watson trained here for decades.

“When Deleis asked me to train Youthful King she told me she was desperate to win a Jungle Juice Cup and he has won three and hopefully four.”

Watson has enjoyed success at Group 1 level in recent years with former crackerjack filly Heavenly Glow winning the ATC Oaks at Randwick with Thompson aboard.

Thompson has ridden 10 Jungle Juice Cup winners and he is confident he can make it 11.

“Youthful King is a good old horse and he will run well next week. I have ridden him in his past three starts and he has had a good preparation,” Thompson said.

“He races best on his home track and he is comfortable on the winter tracks.

“Jungle Juice Cup day is always a good day and I love riding on my home track where I learnt to ride more than 40 years ago.”

The champion jockey heads to Grafton following the Jungle Juice Cup meeting on Tuesday where he will ride Big Money in Wednesday’s Ramornie Handicap, and he will ride at the Grafton Cup meeting on Thursday.

The Wine Country Race Club has a huge day programmed for next Tuesday (July 7). It’s the club’s biggest day of the year with major sponsor Cessnock Leagues Club.