A five-month spell certainly worked wonders on Argentinian-bred Al Green as could be seen from the way he returned to racing a gutsy winner on Sunday.
Last seen at his all-the-way win in a Benchmark 67 race over 1200m on March 19, the Exchange Rate five-year-old picked up where he left off in an identical race, except there were some concerns about any cobwebs that may have set in.
Those doubts were, however, quickly allayed when leading jockey Vlad Duric brought the St George Stable-owned galloper with a stinging challenge to collar the leader Unconquered (Craig Grylls) at the 300m.
A right royal battle ensued with Unconquered refusing to abdicate on the inside, but under Duric’s relentless persuader, Al Green ($17 favourite) held a narrow edge to prevail by a neck from Unconquered. Queen Roulette (Troy See) flew home late for third place but another gap of 2 ½ lengths away. The winning time was 58.61 seconds for the 1000m on the Polytrack.
Winning trainer Stephen Gray said first-up on Polytrack is always a query, but with Al Green being an Argentinian-bred, he had a fair dose of confidence on his side.
“I was a bit worried about the Polytrack first-up, but Glen Boss who rode him in a barrier trial once, told me he would win easily on Poly,” said the Kiwi handler.
“He’s an Argentinian-bred, and they’ve got the speed as well. Think he’s a real sprinter, it was over 1000m and we’re running for money.
“At his first prep, he showed a lot but he was very hyper and was running on fear. He was always on edge and was a nervous wreck.
“He’s the first Argentinian I’ve ever trained. He was a handy horse, but he just didn’t settle.
“His form wasn’t bad but (owner) Paul (Hickman) has learned over the years it is sometimes best to give a horse a break. We gave him six weeks up the hill, we took the earmuffs off and he came back a completely different horse.”
Duric paid tribute to Gray and his team for the patient way they have managed to cool Al Green’s jets.
“He was a nice horse at his first prep and I won at his last start, but he was always the type of horse who would not settle down,” said the Australian hoop.
“We gave him a break and he’s come back more mature and relaxed. My gut-feel always told me he was more of a sprinter.”
With that second win from seven starts, Al Green has now taken his stakes earnings close to the $90,000 mark for Hickman.
