Triple Trio came through a busy midrace section and business end to the $60,000 Class 4 Premier race over 1400m to whack away to a most laudable win on Friday night.
Champion jockey Vlad Duric said it was a funny old race where the Sebring four-year-old came off the worse in a stop-and-start affair which he had not quite envisaged as a possible scenario in his pre-race analysis.
But the Australian hoop rode out the storm to still pull out a peach of a ride only him knows how to. Fair to say he probably would not have come out at the thicker end of the prizemoney if the cattle underneath was below average, though.
The first traffic hiccup occurred 200m into the start. Caught in no man’s land four wide from his barrier No 10, Triple Trio seemed to be wavering where he should drop anchor.
In the end, Duric threw caution to the wind and let the $31 shot rip forward on the outskirts of the 11-horse field. With Reine Dasher (Simon Kok Wei Hoong) obviously unwilling to hand up the gun run upsides of leader Billy Mojo (Craig Grylls), Triple Trio had to sit three wide without cover around the circle.
Billy Mojo mustered a second kick upon straightening, with Triple Trio not leaving him an inch on the outside. A short tussle ensued, but the moment Triple Trio went into overdrive, he shook Billy Mojo off and powered to the lead in commanding style.
The early jostling around did not come without a price, though. Having spent some force early doors, he was starting to feel the pinch, and could not quite draw clear.
Last-start winner Gold Strike (Barend Vorster) and The Odds (Matthew Poon) were still within spitting distance while favourite Gol Goal (John Powell) was sweating on a run on the rails, ready to explode any second a gap presents itself.
But the strength of Duric in a tight finish came to the rescue again. Tightening his knees like a fulcrum to the withers, casting his body weight far back, almost bumping off the saddle cantle, wielding his whip like a whirring electric fan, the Singapore champion hoop was a sight to behold as he extracted the last drops of petrol left in Triple Trio’s willing tiny frame.
The hungry chasing pack was closing in, but Triple Trio scrambled to the line first by a neck from Gol Goal with Gold Strike third another half-length away. The Odds and Billy Mojo ran fourth and fifth respectively, both separated by a head. The winning time was 1min 23.25secs for the 1400m on the Long Course.
Winning trainer Michael Clements could not quite ascertain the nature of the early scrimmage, but was glad the budding talent in his yard survived it and won.
“He hit a lot of trouble in the early part. He was supposed to sit midfield with cover, but he jumped pretty well and showed more speed than expected,” said the Zimbabwean-born handler.
“I’m not quite sure what happened. I think he was caught wide and as there was no pace upfront, he had to push forward.
“From a wide position and under the circumstances, Vlad did very well. They faced a lot of difficulties in the race, but they got the job done.
“At his last start, I was hard-pressed to separate him and Eye Guy, but he got badly checked (as a result of a race fall ahead) and he never got the chance to run his race while Eye Guy won.
“But he showed what he was capable of doing tonight, thanks also to a good ride from Vlad. This horse has a bright future here.”
Duric was actually standing in for Triple Trio’s regular partner, the suspended Glen Boss, but he certainly knew which buttons to push in clinching that second accolade for the New Zealand-bred gelding.
“We were supposed to run midfield, but we were caught four wide in a bunched-up field,” said Duric, who with that solitary win extended his lead to four winners on Michael Rodd (46 versus 42).
“Then they crawled again, and I had to go forward, but I was three deep. I also had Oli (Placais) on my back at the 900m, and I had to make sure I was clear of him.
“He strode away and showed great determination in the straight. He should win again.”
With that second win from three starts, Triple Trio has already seen his prizemoney snowball to around $80,000 for the Sharon Stable.
