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They're proving quite a combination! One is a former successful jockey now training and the other an experienced rider showing he has lost none of his skills.

Hawkesbury trainer Mitch Newman and jockey Adrian 'Mouse' Robinson teamed with Hurricane Harbour at Gosford on Thursday to clinch their third win this season with that horse.

Given a perfect ride by Robinson, the promising three-year-old justified his $3.60 favouritism with a provincial breakthrough in the Benchmark 60 Handicap (1600m). Hurricane Harbour was strong at the end of the race and ran out a clear winner from The Iron Maiden ($8) and Happy Partner ($8.50).

The latter is prepared by former champion jockey Ron Quinton, to whom Newman was apprenticed during a successful junior riding career.

Newman entered Hurricane Harbour for a Benchmark 67 Handicap over the same distance at Warwick Farm on Wednesday, but decided to keep him “in the shallows” at Gosford.

“Once I had a look at the nominations, it was a no brainer to run at Gosford,” Newman said. “I didn’t bother accepting for Warwick Farm.”

In spite of the ease of Hurricane Harbour’s victory, Newman isn’t in any hurry with the rising four-year-old: “We’ve placed him pretty well so far, and I’ll let him work his way through the grades,” he added.

Hurricane Harbour shed his maiden status (with Robinson aboard) when successful in a Queanbeyan Maiden (1460m) in December last year. Robinson was again in the saddle when he easily won a Benchmark 55 Handicap (1320m) at Dubbo on July 8 before making it two in a row at Gosford on Thursday.

Robinson’s three victories in the current season have all come on Hurricane Harbour, whilst Newman posted his sixth win as the racing year nears an end.

One of racing’s real characters, Robinson has won 10 Group and Listed races, including a Group 1 triumph on Mr Bureaucrat in the 2002 Doomben Cup. Though he hasn’t ridden regularly in recent years, his display on Hurricane Harbour again underlined his riding prowess.

Hawkesbury had three representatives in the Benchmark 60, with Cheeky Bella ($5) finishing fourth and Zaveena ($18), better known over more ground, winding up sixth.

View the final results with race replays for Gosford here