Triple treat for trainer Yuill

Some card once said that when Colin Jillings retired, the road outside the famous Takanini stable would need to be widened to accommodate the floats carting away the horses from what would then be his training partner Richard Yuill's establishment.

Racing is a tough game.

The suggestion was that Yuill would not rate in anywhere near the same league in terms of ability or in the eyes of owners as Jillings; that Yuill would lose owners to the extent he would barely be able to assemble a commercial team.

It made Saturday's swoop of the major Ellerslie raceday so much sweeter for Yuill.

Jillings retired this year and Yuill moved to his newly established 24ha property halfway between the Waiuku and the Pukekohe track, taking a maximum 34 horses with him.

He had not lost one owner from the Jillings/Yuill partnership.

Yuill took three of those 34 horses to Ellerslie on Saturday - Sedecrem, Black Panther and Ala Moana - and each won impressively.

A special moment for Yuill was when Jillings saddled Black Panther for him.

At the time Yuill was on the Ellerslie dais receiving the trainer's trophy for Sedecrem's fabulous comeback victory in the $50,000 Great Northern Challenge Stakes.

The old bloke who has had to battle worse feet than Charlie Chaplin showed he is a long way from having lost it. He swamped talented trio Kristov, Magnetism and Bridie Belle with a characteristic late dash.

And immediately Yuill raised eyebrows by announcing that Sedecrem's next start will be in the country's premier 1200m sprint, the Railway Stakes at the Ellerslie holiday carnival.

"Why not? He was third in it a year ago and second in the Telegraph [1200m]. He's got to carry big weights in handicaps and rather than having to lump topweight in the big mile at the carnival, he's better off with topweight in the Railway - there's plenty of evidence in the history book that topweights win the Railway."

Sedecrem's feet are the best they've been in 18 months. "There's no bog in them now, it's all hoof," said Yuill.

Kristov, game as ever, gave everything to the line for second and Magnetism did extremely well for third after attacking the lead from the 600m and leading on the point of the home turn.

Jim Collett defended the ride on the basis that Magnetism raced keen and should have won anyway, but weight-for-age races are about tactics and getting the last run.

Few horses in Australasia can take off at the 600m, lead the length of the home straight and hold out a horse of Sedecrem's class.

Black Panther was dynamic winning the $20,000 New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance Stakes, storming to the line to win easily once clear of the traffic.

The $45 on the TAB's futures market for the $600,000 Mercedes Derby in March looked good afterwards.

"Pretty good, isn't he," said Cooksley as he dismounted.

Black Panther is an extremely athletic, rangy type and can only get stronger.

The 3-year-old was bred by his owner, Auckland Racing Club director Peter Walker, who gave a racing half share to his old rugby clubmate Waka Nathan.

Walker is quick to declare he was never the All Black material Nathan was when the pair played for Otahuhu.

"Waka played seniors and I only played reserves. I had a couple of games up in seniors when the good guys were away."

Black Panther is up for a $100,000 bonus put up by New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance if he can win the $100,000 Bonecrusher Stakes on Sunday week, then the $200,000 Auckland Guineas two weeks later. It will take bad luck or an exceptional 3-year-old to stand in his way.

Nathan was in Edinburgh watching the All Blacks at Murrayfield, but will be back for the second and third legs of the treble.

New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance manager Jim Bruford left yesterday for England where he meets the $100,000 bonus scheme's underwriters, who are certain to be nervous when they view a video of Saturday's race.

Walker has a yearling sister to Black Panther, who he says is magnificent, but he lost the mare Toonsie two weeks ago when she was giving birth to a deformed foal.

Ala Moana won the lesser of the three races for the Yuill horses, but he simply bolted away with the R76 St Philips 1400 after leading. It was Cooksley's fourth winner for the day.

By contrast, Cooksley had to display his trademark coolness to wait for gaps when momentarily blocked on Sedecrem and Black Panther.

"That's the class of the rider you have," said Yuill.

"You can't panic him, no matter what. If he gets beaten half a head he won't panic. Maybe he's got too much money these days."

Ala Moana, he said, would continue to race his way through the grades and could be a lightweight chance at a big metric mile somewhere during the summer.

Yuill can now laugh at the cynics who said he would never survive without Jillings.

"I was with Jillo for 29 years. I'd have to be pretty silly if I didn't learn something."