An ill-timed fever was the reason behind Daryl Cannon’s decision to scratch hometown favourite Bourbonstreetblues from yesterday’s Colac Gold Cup.
Wayne Walters-trained General Mackjosh stormed to victory in the $50,000 showcase at Colac racecourse but it was events 24 hours earlier that opened the door for the $10.00 favourite to emerge.  
Cannon discovered the horse’s fever on Saturday and made the decision to withdraw the country cup specialist yesterday morning after the horse’s condition failed to improve.
“He was running a temperature and he was off his feed all Saturday,” Cannon said minutes after scratching the horse.
“And then we tried him again this morning and there had been no improvement so unfortunately that was it,” he said.
News of the scratching spread like wildfire through the crowd at Colac racecourse and took the sting out of an event laden with local interest. 
The decision put Cannon’s dream of a Colac Gold Cup on hold for at least another 12 months and short-circuited Bourbonstreetblues’ chance at a history-making fifth country cup this season.  
Cannon said the owners – the majority of which are Colac locals – were disappointed after track conditions and several other scratchings had heightened the horse’s chances of carrying a bumper weight in the main race.    
“They were quite excited, particularly as it turned out for us track-wise, the rain we had would have been ideal and there were a few scratchings that might have made it a little bit easier for us,” Cannon said.
“But that’s all part of racing,” he said.
“And as I said to the owners, he’ll definitely be back here next year.”
With the sentimental favourite out, Mark Young’s Ship in the Night was left to fly the Colac district flag and almost became the first locally-trained horse to win the race in 20 years.
Ship in the Night, promoted to $3.20 favourite in light of the scratchings, was beaten in a photo finish after lunging at a tiring General Mackjosh at the post.
Another 50 metres and Young would have had the Cup.
In a bold run, jockey Kate Walters – daughter of trainer Wayne – took General Mackjosh to the lead 1200 metres from the post, put four lengths on the pack up the hill and had just enough in reserve to hold off Ship in the Night, second, and Chris Hyland-trained Al Wafi, third.
It was General Mackjosh’s third win in a row, adding to its owner’s silverware after the eight-year-old gelding claimed the Koroit Cup at Warrnambool last month.
Connections to General Mackjosh were delighted after the horse’s victory and hinted at a possible return mission in 2011. 
“We’ll be back here next year to win it again,” Owner Guiseppe Vraca said post race.  
Linda Meech suffered a late-race fall on Michael Moroney-trained Linton Street but escaped without injury and was fit to ride in the next race.

WE’LL BE BACK: General Mackjosh owner Guiseppe Vraca and winning jockey Kate Walters after winning the 2010 Colac Gold Cup yesterday. The pair was presented with their cups by Colac Turf Club president Jim Ryan, left, and Betfair representative Nick Cummins, right.