Racing: Ugly duckling becomes winning swan

Trainer Nigel Tiley expects Hong Kong interest to buy Savute will intensify after his Sunline Stakes victory at Te Rapa on Saturday.

But the prospective buyers will have to carefully pick their mark - senior owner David Cole is at a conference in Calgary and nephew Richard is on business in Hong Kong. Only Richard's father Peter was at Te Rapa to cheer Savute and Lee Tiley home.

Tiley said there had already been plenty of inquiries to purchase the handsome Australian-bred.

"A lot depended on what he did in this race. He needed to win this to get his rating up to the required 94 which would qualify him for Hong Kong."

Tiley did a wonderful job of keeping Savute fresh enough for the 1200m after a three-stage drop back in distance.

"Good horses can get away with these sort of things."

If Savute is not sold he will be aimed at the Gold Coast Guineas, a race taken by King's Chapel.

"He's looking for 1600m. When I take the blinkers off him he'll run a terrific 1600m."

Nigel Tiley bought Savute for A$65,000 at the Gold Coast sales for the Coles.

A bit further down the line he knew he had at least one of the toughest horses.

"He got travel sick when he came down from the Gold Coast."

Travel sickness can come in degrees from very mild and innocuous to, if not fatal then death to a horse's racing career.

"When we bought him he had warts from his muzzle right back over his neck, which I believe is why we got him so cheaply. He was the ugliest horse you've ever seen," Tiley recalled.

"With that Gold Coast sale it's hard to buy a good horse cheap and I looked past that. What impressed me was the way he held himself - both mentally and physically he looked the goods."

Saturday's comfortable 1 1/4-length win stamped him as a galloper of much potential and confirmed Tiley's early assessment of the horse.

Savute scored his second career win at his previous start at Tauranga and yesterday started a warm favourite when ridden by Tiley's wife Lee (nee Rutherford).

"He was too good. 'He's a good horse and the thing with him is that 1200 is really not his go. I've done everything backwards with him but a good horse like this can get away with it.

"He wants a mile now. I'll take the blinkers off him and he'll relax beautifully. I only left the blinkers on him to keep him a bit sharper for this race.

"I'm just rapt for this horse because I know how good he is," Tiley said.

Richard Cole heard the race on the internet and Dave Cole listened on his brother's cellphone from Calgary.