Skippy is that you? A kangaroo has hopped into a horse race in country NSW before realising it had punched above its weight.

The roo darted onto the track midway through the 2125m benchmark handicap at Cessnock, in the state's Hunter Region, on Tuesday afternoon.

The marsupial bounded along the inside rail before weaving through the group of horses to the outside and off the track.

Champion Jockey Robert Thompson, who rode Cunning As A Tiger to victory, later joked that the very brief incursion had been part of a "game plan" to take out the competition.

"Fortunately, we got away with it with no one injured," Thompson told Sky Thoroughbred Central.

"Of course, it could have been serious."

Cunning As A Tiger scored his first victory from 13 races, with Magentaz coming in a short half-head behind followed by The Blues Brother another long neck away.