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Unheralded mare Gold Rutile sprang a big surprise in the $350,000 Group 2 EW Barker Trophy (1400m) to give trainer Hideyuki Takaoka his first major win since Better Life’s Group 1 Singapore Derby win in 2013.
Ridden with great patience by jockey Oscar Chavez (who was climbing aboard for the first time), the Japanese-bred mare by Gold Halo came through a ground-saving run on the rails courtesy of barrier No 1 to lower the colours of favourite Spalato (Manoel Nunes) by sneaking up on his inside in the last 50m.
The resuming champion miler lost no admirers with the way he went for broke at the 300m after being caught a little on a limb out wide in the initial stages, but the steadier of 59kg took its toll on him in the end.
Like all her other 15 rivals in the handicap race, Gold Rutile, whose last win came more than a year ago in July 2014, was in receipt of as much as 7.5 kilos of Spalato, and that significant edge arguably swung the result in favour of the mare by a neck on the line.
Magneto (Nooresh Juglall), who was also back from a long spell, finished third another two lengths away after racing handy throughout, a super run considering he cast his two front shoes and his jockey dropped his whip in the home straight.
The winning time was 1min 21.67secs for the 1400m on the Long Course.
Raced by the Wan Du Stable, Gold Rutile was bringing up her sixth win in 32 starts for stakes earnings that have now shot past the $700,000 mark on local soil while she had already earned around US$115,000 from her two wins in Japan.
As game and consistent as she has been, nobody had really imagined her taking home the big prize on Friday night, especially against Spalato. She did run a bottler of a race in the Group 3 Saas Fee Stakes (1400m) when a flashing second to Dragon Fury a month ago, but her $232 odds suggested most thought she still faced an uphill task.
From the glint in Takaoka’s eyes, there was at least one person who harboured a silent hope, though.
“She’s already seven and she has always been consistent and I thought it would be hard to beat Spalato, but look, the weight difference was in our favour, and Spalato was also coming back from some problems,” said the Japanese handler.
“She ran well at her last race, but I also know she can be on and off the bit at times. She’s hard to assess.
“But from barrier No 1, I think she was able to squeeze between runners and it was much better for her.
“I was hoping she could finish in the first three. Oscar rode her very well – I should use him more often as he’s a very experienced jockey and I like his style.”
The Panamanian-born hoop was also snapping a long run of outs, let alone in feature races, but his coolness in the saddle, judging and timing his run to a tee, definitely won the day in the Group 2 feature.
“I’ve been winning only once in a month, and now I get a Group 2 win. It couldn’t get any better than that,” said Chavez whose last win came aboard Swift on September 11 and his last feature success aboard El Padrino in the Group 3 Merlion Trophy on March 15.
“Thanks to Takaoka for giving me the ride. I’ve never ridden the mare before, but I’ve done my homework and I thought she had a rough chance.
“But when I saw the mare drew No 1, I thought oh no, that’s a bad draw and asked Takaoka what did he want to do.
“But he just told me to ride her between runners and she sure got a beautiful run on the inside. I started to pick her up from the 600m and she was gaining momentum very well.
“I was a bit worried about the horse in front (Born To Fly) falling back on me, but as long as I didn’t get blocked, I thought I would be okay.
“Nobody wanted to go to the inside, but I went there and the gaps opened up. I got a dream run right through, I couldn’t believe it.
“At the 200m I knew she would win as she was finishing so well and Spalato was coming back at us. She just flew home in the last bit.”
Trainer John O’Hara said Spalato ran his heart out but the top impost proved his undoing.
“He had every chance, but he was anchored by the weight,” said O’Hara.
“I knew that whatever he did tonight, he would come on from that.
“There was of course some queries about his fitness (after his blood count issue), but he has been working very well and his gallop on Saturday told me he would go into the race in good shape.
“It wasn’t to be, but it was good to see him back to his best.”