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Champion trainer Laurie Laxon could not be more complimentary when he said there were no two ways about who won the race for Ruapehu on Friday – jockey John Powell.
To the Kiwi handler, Ruapehu has more than his fair share of ability, but he was probably still a few lengths behind some of the contenders in the $60,000 Open Benchmark 67 race over 1400m, especially favourite Majestic Moments.
But when the Australian jockey kept Patrick Shaw’s last-start winner locked away on the fence, it was unlikely such tactics were fortuitous. Ruapehu may have been camped on the girth of leader Pole Paradise (Ivaldo Santana) from the outset, but he was in actual fact the one in pole position – wide open space in front of him and his main danger cluttered up on the fence.
Everything fell into place upon straightening when Ruapehu ($21) sprang to the front while Majestic Moments (Nooresh Juglall) was, as feared, in strife, tightened for room, which is already a rare commodity over the E course.
Powell was not asking any questions as he wielded the shillelagh to his mount who gallantly headed home with plenty up his sleeve. Unable to gain any gap or momentum, Majestic Moments was out of the race, but Pole Paradise was, however, getting a second wind while Shipping Forecast (Corey Brown) was finishing with a wet sail on the outside for a stirring three-way finish.
But the winning post arrived on time for Laxon’s charge who fell in by a neck from Shipping Forecast with Pole Paradise third, separated by a similar margin. The winning time for the 1400m on the Short Course was 1min 23.12secs. Majestic Moments ran seventh, but only about two and a half lengths off the winner and cannot be written off on that one run.
But all honours to Laxon and Powell for having brought up a third win for the Stravinsky four-year-old raced by the Silver Fern Racing Stable.
“JP won the race. You won’t get a sweeter ride than this,” said the 68-year-old mentor.
“He had the favourite locked away and on the E Course, they can’t win from there. My horse was not the best in the field as I think Majestic Moments is better than him, but JP outsmarted them.
“Still, my horse has done nothing wrong so far, except for that run when he reared and JP did his thumb. He’s never finished further back than second.”
Though lauded by Laxon, Powell deflected all the kudos, simply saying that all he did was plot the best path to the winning post on the often tricky E course.
“In all my years of riding here, I’ve rarely seen a horse win when you ride them along the fence,” said the veteran jockey.
“It’s probably because of the different camber, it goes the other way. Anyway, Laurie also came up with the right strategy when he said that as he was going over more ground, he should go to the front.
“We sat on the pace throughout and he was too good. He can still get geed-up a bit and needs to settle down better, but Laurie’s got a nice horse here.”
In seven starts, Ruapehu has now registered three wins and four seconds for stakes earnings close to $170,000.