A jockey’s track walk and a trainer’s faith.
Those two ingredients added up to an unforgettable Furphy Goodwood triumph for Barend Vorster, the McEvoys, and their newly-minted Group 1-winner Savatoxl.
An outsider in the star-studded field, packed with some of Australia’s best sprinters, Savatoxl traversed the relatively fresh ground near the rail to complete a fairy-tale story befitting a chapter in the race’s rich and glorious history.
And it all went to plan – except for the part when stablemate Dollar for Dollar led the Goodwood field.
“I though he (Savatoxl) would lead…” co-trainer Tony McEvoy told Radio TAB’s Past The Post.
“But our concern was that he hugs the rail, this horse… and if he’s not on the rail he always lays in.
“The concern was no one wanted to be on the rail (and) the pattern of the (Goodwood) day was coming off.
“But Barend had walked the track and he said ‘Look, I don’t know that there’s much in it’ and the beautiful thing is no one had touched it all day, really.
“So we decided not to fight the horse, to go to the fence and trust the horse.”
That trust was rewarded with a scintillating two-length win in SA’s biggest race and a second Australian Group 1 for South African import, Vorster.
The 2021 version of the Goodwood boasted big names like Gytrash and Behemoth – indeed both are giants of SA racing, the latter in stature and performance – and up and comers like Instant Celebrity, who eventually finished second.
McEvoy admitted the quality of this year’s race had him doubting whether any of his three runners could win.
“We ran into a very strong race,” he said.
“I said… we probably can’t win, but if (Savatoxl) runs a personal best, he can run probably top four in the race.
“And then to come out and do what he did, just changed the landscape for me.
“All those other horses looked to me to have their chance. There didn’t look to be any real hard-luck stories…”
Savatoxl and his background have suddenly become much more well-known across Australian racing circles, and hopefully beyond that into the mainstream. Bought in Alice Springs for $8000, Savatoxl raced with great success in the Northern Territory for buyer and owner Will Savage, whose cattle-mustering duties kept him away from Morphettville on Saturday.
Winning races on the dirt in the NT is a long way from landing one of Australia’s blue-ribbon sprint races, but now that Savatoxl’s Group 1 bona fides are proven, McEvoy is looking to keep his run going.
“For him to do what he did said to me that he should have a ticket (to Queensland) to come up and run in the Kingsford Smith Cup and probably the Stradbroke,” he said.
“The 1400m (of the Stradbroke) is a query for me – I think he’s a very good sprinter.
“But the 1300m of the Kingsford Smith I think is right within his grasp.”
Meanwhile McEvoy also told Radio TAB that he intends to take stablemates Shop Til I Drop and Pretty Brazen to Queensland, with the latter targeting the Group 1 Tatts Tiara.
McEvoy’s 2019 Goodwood winner Despatch also went to Queensland after his SA triumph, but had no luck in the Group 1 Stradbroke.
“We’re due a bit of luck up there,” McEvoy said.
“Dollar for Dollar got beaten a nostril in the Doomben 10,000 a couple of years ago as well.”
