Callsign Mav (yellow colours) drives between I Am Superman (left) and Tuvalu to take out the Group 1 A$1 million Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield last Saturday. Photo / Supplied
By John Jenkins
Hastings trainer John Bary had a windfall of about A$50,000 when Callsign Mav, a horse he formerly prepared, took out the Group 1 A$1 million Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes in Melbourne last Saturday.
Although Bary no longer trains the Atlante 6-year-old he still retains a 10 per cent ownership share and the winning stake for the 1400m Caulfield feature was A$602,000.
Subtract from this the trainer's 10 per cent, the jockey's 5 per cent and the basic riding fee along with nomination and acceptance fees and the payout to Callsign Mav's connections should be about A$500,000.
Bary watched the race from his home, with his wife Laura and their children, and said they were all jumping around like idiots when the horse stuck his head out on the line to snatch a neck decision over a talented field.
"I have won 12 Group 1 races as a trainer and I don't think I have been as excited as I was on Saturday. I was jumping around the living room like a 10-year-old," Bary said this week.
"It was a different feeling.
"When you win a Group 1 as a trainer, you are just relieved. But when you win as an owner it is just pure enjoyment and you can see why people own racehorses."
Bary also got a kick out of seeing his stable colours of gold, black cap with gold tassel carried to victory by Callsign Mav, with the historic Stead colours back in the Victorian Group 1 winner's circle after more than a century.
"It was fantastic. The colours have won a Melbourne Cup [with Sasanof] last century and an AJC Derby and now they have won a Sir Rupert Clarke this century," he said.
Bary is a great-great-grandson of George Gatenby Stead, an inaugural inductee into the New Zealand Racing Hall Of Fame in 2006 as a prominent owner and administrator.
It was a fourth Group 1 success for Callsign Mav after Bary prepared him to record back-to-back victories in the Tarzino Trophy (1400m) at Hastings in 2020 and 2021 and also last year's Windsor Park Plate (1600m) on the middle day of the Hawke's Bay spring carnival.
Callsign Mav was having his sixth start for Melbourne trainer Danny O'Brien and his second race day appearance in a new campaign, following a fresh up sixth in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) on the Caulfield track on August 27.
The horse had to carry 59kg under the weight-for-age conditions of that weight-for-age race and dropped 1.5kg under the handicap conditions of last Saturday's event, something O'Brien said definitely helped his chances.
"He's a tough horse and we just wanted to get him back into a handicap and in a bit softer race today and he showed how tough he is," O'Brien said.
It was the 23rd Group 1 success for O'Brien and he said Callsign Mav will now be aimed at the A$1m Toorak Handicap (1600m) at Caulfield on October 8. The New Zealand TAB has now cut his odds from $21 to $15 for that race.
Callsign Mav won at odds of 15 to one last Saturday and Bary admitted he is not a glamour horse but just goes about his business and flies under the radar.
"He is just a tough warrior," he added.
The gelding cost just $3000 at a Karaka weanling sale, from the draft of Waikato Stud, and has now recorded eight wins from 25 starts and has amassed just under $1.4m in prizemoney for his large group of owners, some of whom live in the Melbourne area.
His win last Saturday also provided popular Australian heavyweight jockey Jamie Mott with his first Group 1 win.
Mott served his apprenticeship in the O'Brien stable and the trainer said that, but for his constant weight battle, the talented jockey could easily be among the top three on the Victorian premiership.
Mott certainly produced a 10 out of 10 ride aboard Callsign Mav last Saturday, settling the horse perfectly in fifth position until the home turn and urging him forward to challenge the leader Tuvalu with 300m to run.
Callsign Mav then had to really dig deep to first get past Tuvalu and then withstand a late challenge from the runner-up I Am Superman. The margins between the first three horses home were a neck and a neck.
Suliman the next budding star
The Hastings training partnership of Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal produced yet another promising jumper when Suliman scored a decisive win in a $20,000 maiden hurdle race over 2800m at Te Rapa last Sunday.
The Redwood 9-year-old was having his second jumping start after he had finished third on the same track a fortnight before and was sent out a $2.50 favourite.
Nelson said the horse lacked a bit of confidence when making his hurdling debut, where he got a long way back in the early stages but then charged home late.
Jockey Shaun Phelan was told to get the horse into a prominent position from the start last Sunday and the in-form rider followed instructions to a tee, driving the favourite out of the barrier to be second early before letting him settle just in behind the pacemakers.
Phelan then saved as much ground as he could in the running before urging Suliman forward to lodge a challenge coming to the home bend.
The Mighty Spar and jockey Aaron Kuru also improved quickly around the field and swept to the front with three fences to jump.
At that stage Suliman looked likely to only fill a minor placing but rallied gamely and, after both horses jumped the last fence on terms, he lifted in the dash to the line to win by 1-1/2 lengths.
Suliman was recording his seventh win and his second since joining the Nelson/McDougal stable at the beginning of last year. He had done his early racing from Graham Richardson's Matamata stable before he changed ownership.
Suliman showed promise as a jumper from the time he entered the Nelson/McDougal stable but they decided to keep him to flat racing for a time and he picked up the $50,000 Taumarunui Gold Cup (2200m) at Rotorua 13 months ago.
The horse is owned now by the I See Red Syndicate, a large group of thoroughbred racing enthusiasts that have raced a number of successful horses from the Nelson stable over many years.
Back-to-back steeplechase wins
Hot favourite Locally Sauced gave his supporters an early scare before chalking up his second steeplechase victory in a row in a $30,000 race at Te Rapa last Sunday.
The 11-year-old Iffraaj gelding, part-owned by Hastings woman Irene Downey and her son Josh, totally misjudged the first fence in the 3900m event.
He knuckled badly on landing, almost unseating rider Gary Walsh, but managed to recover quickly and measured his jumps well after that.
He trailed the leaders in the early stages before taking control at the top of the home straight and won by two lengths.
Locally Sauced was having his 104th start and now has a record of 10 wins, eight seconds and 14 thirds.
Daffodil race day raised $13,372
Hawke's Bay Racing raised $13,372 for the Cancer Society on the first day of the Colliers Hawke's Bay Spring Carnival two weeks ago, which is traditionally known as the Daffodil Raceday.
Patrons attending the meeting were asked to donate upon entering the course and $3500 was received in gate takings.
The Hawke's Bay/Poverty Bay Thoroughbred Breeders Association, who sponsored the Group 3 Gold Trail Stakes on the day, also donated $2000 while Te Akau Racing donated $500 after their stable runner Dynastic won the Listed El Roca-Sir Colin Meads Trophy.
The TAB continued its involvement with the day by donating $4000. A horse in each of the 10 races was assigned to carry the special daffodil colours with the TAB donating $2000 if the horse won. The first two winners, Far Site and Rosie Brahma, both wore the special colours.
A Charity Punters Club also raised $1800 while Hawke's Bay Racing donated $1230 from its hospitality bookings on the day.
A painting of former glamour racemare Melody Belle was also auctioned online and fetched $260.
The second day of the Colliers Hawke's Bay Spring Carnival will be held next Saturday, with the feature races being the Group 1 $300,000 Arrowfield Stud Plate (1600m) and the Group 2 $140,000 AHD Hawke's Bay Guineas (1400m).
At this stage nine races are carded for the day, with the first timed for 12.25pm and the last at 4.59pm.
There will be a $10 admission charge and a $30 Members Stand charge.
Arrowfield next for La Crique
Following in-depth discussions and monitoring the weather, the connections of multiple Group race winner La Crique have decided to delay the mare's travel to Australia and she will now contest next Saturday's Group 1 $300,000 Arrowfield Stud Plate (1600m) at Hastings.
The mare finished a gallant third when resuming in the Group 1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) at Hastings a fortnight ago, confirming that she is on target for major spring assignments in Australia. But she is unlikely to travel there until early next month.
"We sat down with the owners on Monday and studied the weather in Sydney, Melbourne and here and it seems they are all copping the same weather on the way through," said Katrina Alexander, who trains the Vadamos mare with husband Simon.
"The decision has been made that we will focus on Hastings and we can cope with a Rating 8 surface for her. If it is worse, we can always scratch and get her on a plane early the following week."