Elliot has gone on a Group 1 winning rampage with stars such as Legarto and Sharp N Smart, but even when not on the best horsepower he has proven himself the X-factor for Group 1 winners such as Pennyweka (NZ Oaks) and Ladies Man (last year’s Livamol). He has never ridden more than 66 winners in a season, never finished in the top five on the premiership and his strike rate has barely ever dipped below a winner every eight rides, which is nothing special.
Yet put him on the biggest stage and Elliot thrives. So do his rides.
How much? Incredibly 47 of his 408 career wins in New Zealand have been in black-type races, 12 of them Group 1s.
His laid-back demeanour undoubtedly helps but it would be wrong to think it is a byproduct of Elliot not caring. Anybody with his weight issues, who has to miss hundreds of meals a year just to stay in the saddle, cares.
And his talent is transferable as yesterday’s win came in his first ride on One Bold Cat and only his third for Patterson.
The question will now be whether Elliot gets to stay on One Bold Cat for the Livamol, which has been moved from Hastings to Te Rapa in nine days.
For all of Elliot’s strike rate in our biggest races, Patterson is close to his stable’s No 1 jockey Craig Grylls, who rode Puntura yesterday but could get back on One Bold Cat for next week.
No matter who rides him, the big gelding should be even more potent over 2040m next week and while many of his rivals have had mish-mash preparations because of meeting abandonments, One Bold Cat will head to Te Rapa with few question marks.
The fact he was able to give domestic stallion The Bold One his first Group 1 winner wasn’t the only success for the smaller players in the Arrowfield, with southerners Matscot and Lightning Jack close up in third and fourth.
Malt Time was making ground late on a day when few, with the obvious exception of One Bold Cat, were able to do so.
Sharrock resigns
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Bruce Sharrock has resigned.
In a move few in the industry saw coming, Sharrock announced he will leave the role at the end of this year, staying on in a handover consultancy position until next March.
While NZTR has been hit by a series of meeting abandonments and has some significant decisions to make around infrastructure and governance, Sharrock said his decision was made several weeks ago and has nothing to do with the hectic week in the code that has seen the Hawke’s Bay carnival effectively moved to Matamata and Te Rapa.
“I joined NZTR with a genuine passion for racing and a determination to see us return to the glory days of the sport,” said Sharrock.
“I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished over the past 30 months, and feel the time is right to step aside and let the team continue to execute this vision for the future.”
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
