WELL, he did warn us at the start of the season. That was just about all that could be salvaged for punters after yesterday's Centenary Cup had seen champion trainer Ivan Allan send out Sterling Town to win at 144-1, All Thrills to run a short head second at 45-1 and Quick Action third at 9-2. Allan had gone on record before a race had been run this campaign, saying that was more interested in setting his horses to win the feature events rather than retaining his title. 'But not even in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be sending out the tierce this afternoon,' he laughed after monopolising the second leg of the sprint Triple Crown which culminates with the Chairman's Prize on May 7. Allan added: 'I thought Quick Action was the best chance among my three runners and I'd set him for the race. 'I ran Sterling Town as he is one of those freak stayers that just loves the straight course. He has a very good record down the straight and I was also hoping for his sake that the cut would stay in the ground. 'I wouldn't have ruled him out of it with a bit of give and his win is made all the better as the ground had dried up considerably. 'All Thrills had to be some kind of hope. After all, he did beat Winning Partners home at level weights in the International Bowl and Winning Partners was second favourite today and mine was 45-1.' Sterling Town, besides spearheading the Allan tierce which paid $84,656 to a $10 stake, was the second leg of a back-to-back double for the accomplished French jockey Eric Legrix who had earlier scored a facile success on Daiquiri to help Patrick Biancone maintain his lead at the head of the trainer standings. And Legrix played an important role in Sterling Town's victory as he didn't rush him in the first part of the race as his mount lacked the speed to stay with the pack. At the halfway point, Sterling Town was last of the 14 runners as favourite Happy Money led under Tony Cruz. The picture couldn't have been that much more different on the line as Sterling Town powered home to catch All Thrills in the final bound and Happy Money, struck down by his second bleeding attack, dropped away to finish 11th. Greg Childs, riding at his first meeting back in the territory, conceded after racing that he thought he had the race won on All Thrills. 'But I'd pushed him from start to finish and he just got tired in the last few strides and lugged into the rail.' Basil Marcus offered no excuses on Quick Action who was 11/4 lengths back in third. Winning Partners, a strongly-fancied 7-2 chance, ran well enough but could only stay on to finish sixth. River Verdon jumped at 60-1 for this sprint, by far the biggest odds he has ever started in his illustrious career in the territory. He eventually finished second last, beating only Champman River home, but he was right there for much of the way and the run will have done him the power of good in readiness for the Gold Cup on March 19. Biancone has now won a staggering eight races with no defeats from the three horses he has taken over from Tony P.H. Chan. Daiquiri yesterday followed Bumper Star and American Star and the way he strolled clear of Make Merry and Snip Pour Roi, it could well be nine out of nine in the not-too-distant future. Make Merry had no luck in running but was flying at the finish and is worth keeping tabs on next time out.