Capitalist claims top honours in lucrative Gold Coast 2YO Classic
BOOKMAKERS had no choice but to make Capitalist the shortest-priced Magic Millions favourite in history and the punters cheered it home to record an easy 2.5-length victory in the $2 million 2YO Classic on Saturday.
Co-trainer Peter Snowden admitting to being nervous prior to the race and the pressure of training a $1.40 chance at Sportsbet.com.au is tough to deal with. There was simply no serious money placed on any other runner in the field and Capitalist held 55 percent of the total money invested on the race, but not everything went to plan.
Jockey Blake Shinn wanted to find the rail and give the Written Tycoon colt a soft run, but pressure from the outside caused Shinn to pull back and let Highland Beat roll forward.
“It was very tight,” Shinn said. “There was four outside me and they were putting me up the rail, but I couldn’t give away that spot, so I had to hold my ground.
“Luckily the horse works with me and he’s so relaxed. That’s his greatest asset.”
Highland Beat’s jockey Damian Lane was subsequently suspended after pleading guilty to shifting in on Just Orm, which caused it to roll onto Capitalist.
With the Magic Millions being restricted to horse purchased only at the sales, it’s tough to gauge just how good they are, and Blake Shinn isn’t getting too carried away.
“Sebring won a Golden Slipper and Sires Produce Stakes, so that’s a fairly high level of performance,” Shinn said. “But this horse is unbeaten and is well on the way.
“What this horse has is speed. He’s a real professional and like I said, he’s got such speed that you just want to let him use it.”
The new training partnership of Peter and Paul Snowden has already won four races with prize money of $1 million or more and the win on Saturday was their richest so far. The lead-in wasn’t all rosy for Peter Snowden, however, as Capitalist had to recover from a high temperature.
“I made out it didn’t worry me, but it did,” Snowden said. “Fortunately it came back down quickly and we were right from there. Everything you want to see in a horse he has it.
“He was a lot closer than I thought he would be. He showed tremendous gate speed. Blake [Shinn] was super confident because he doesn’t normally do what he did there.”
Sportsbet.com.au now has Capitalist as the $3 favourite for the 2016 Golden Slipper on March 19, but there is plenty of time between now and then and some talented youngsters are still yet to race.
“At this stage I am leaning towards a Slipper run,” Snowden said. “You never know exactly what you have because he just keeps improving.”
2YO Classic jockey post-race comments
1. Capitalist (Blake Shinn) – “I wanted to hold the rail. I’m lucky the horse has such a great attitude. We held our spot and once he was out in clear room it was never in doubt.”
2. Nikitas (Michael Cahill) – “Very good run, the winner was just too sharp. He’s a horse with a future, he’ll make a lovely miler.”
3. Candika (Paul Hammersley) – “She went great. Couldn’t handle the speed for the first half of the race but she picked herself up at the 450 and probably finished off better than anything else in the race. She’ll be a lovely horse next time in.”
4. Niccolance (James McDonald) – “Good horse in the making. He’s got three-year-old written all over him.”
5. Mooshakissa (Damien Oliver) – “She ran really well. The last 100m found her out but a nice effort.”
6. Faraway Town (Jason Collett) – “Copped a nasty check out of the barriers which got us a long way back but she finished off well.”
7. Slumber Party (Kerrin McEvoy) – “I was wide and had a tough run but she still battled on ok.”
8. Zafina (Brenton Avdulla) – “She didn’t disgrace herself, we drew 16 of 16 and ended up midfield with a bit of cover. She went well.”
9. Zelady’s Night Out (Jim Byrne) – “I was never on the track and had no chance.”
10. Highland Beat (Damian Lane) – “He went ok but I had to work too hard to get to the front.”
11. Rare Occurence (Brad Stewart) – “Disappointing.”
12. Rainy Day Woman (Michelle Payne) – “Saddle slipped out of the barriers and that made hard afterwards.”
13. Claro El Banco (Glyn Schofield) – “He had a good enough run. From the barrier we rode him with cover, he found a kick at the top of the straight but couldn’t sustain it.”
14. Punishing (Damian Browne) – “Began ordinary and never in it.”
15. Party Pardee (Dan Griffin) – “Out-sped early and we just couldn’t make ground.”
16. Just Orm (Tommy Berry) – “He just never got a chance to find his feet.”