Image: Bruno Cannatelli
Magnaspin gave the training partnership of Leon and Troy Corstens and Will Larkin… and jockey Ben Allen… an early double on Blue Diamond day at Caulfield when he won the Listed Victoria Gold Cup over 2000 meters… the third race on the card.
The stable had started the day with a win from Verdoux in the opening race of the day.
Still just six years old, Magnaspin is something of a veteran in terms of racing experience… this is his forty-first run… but clearly his appetite for action has certainly not diminished, as this Gold Cup victory is his second success in his last three starts, and he also recorded a close-up runner-up finish between these two victories.
All of his last three runs have been over 2,000 yards, which, at least for now, seems to have become Magnaspin’s favorite distance.
“He just knows how to try,” offered co-trainer Will Larkin. “Whatever race you put him in, whether it’s against good opposition or something inferior, he just tries his best.
“When he got the flight, I was confident. I was a little nervous when they came across him, but I thought if he gets out, he travels really well. Yeah, he’s always up for a fight, which is a good asset.”
“When you have races that don’t have a lot of speed in them, you’re always a little bit apprehensive about what other horses are going to want to do,” Larkin continued. “We thought we could take the lead but I thought Jamie (Melham, riding Taken, the $2.45 favourite) would take us a bit.
“I just said, if they want to split early, just leave them alone.”
Taken indeed went to the front from the break, but soon gave way to Saganti ($13) who wanted the lead. At the same time, Magnaspin moved from fourth to third on the rail, passing Taken, who remained just outside Magnaspin, as this duo raced close together just two lengths off the lead.
When Allen sent Magnaspin home at the point of the home corner, he managed to shake off Taken and gain a small advantage over Saganti, but the latter would not go away and Magnaspin had to be driven hard in a punishing step-by-step battle all the way down the straight to keep Saganti at bay… and to hold off the fast-finishing Sun Gift ($6) who beat Saganti into second place in the last few steps.
Ben Allen described his view of the race from the saddle.
“The plan was to start and take the lead, but there was more pressure today, so I took the plunge,” Allen said.
“I was confident they would get me far enough, but I probably put it a little too early in the race because I wasn’t sure how much Jamie’s mount (Taken) had left, so I got on my bike a little early… and then I was confused the whole way.”
Magna Spin was tough and had to get this hard-fought victory.
“The last time I rode him was at Warrnambool (in an unplaced run 10 months ago) and I said just let him retire,” Allen added. “That’s why you don’t listen to jockeys.”
Interestingly, Jamie Melham, who ultimately finished unplaced in the main Taken class, had ridden Magnaspin in the gelding’s previous two starts.
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