Elite winner back in the hands of Burne
Survived has had a surprise switch of stables, writes Tim Ryan.
Gr I winner Survived has made a shock transfer of stable.
Earlier this week the Makfi Challenge Stakes winner for Hastings trainer John Bary was shifted to fellow Hawke’s Bay trainer Kelly Burne.
Bary had trained Survived throughout his 16-start career for seven wins, earning $ 339,382 in stakes.
While the Gr I Makfi Stakes (1400m) win at Hastings was the highlight, Bary guided Survived to success in the Gr III Manawatu Classic (2000m) at Awapuni, the Gr III Hawke’s Bay Cup (2200m) and Gr III Japan Stakes (1600m) at Tauranga.
Last season the Zed gelding finished second in the Gr III Rough Habit Plate (2020m) in Brisbane before a luckless run in the Gr I Queensland Derby (2400m), while this season he was third in the Gr I Spring Classic (2040m) at Hastings and fourth in the Gr I Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) at Trentham.
Survived hasn’t raced since being injured in a paddock accident on the night he returned to Bary’s property after an unplaced run in the Gr I Thorndon Mile at Trentham in January.
He has been recuperating at the property since then and was put back into work on arrival at Burne’s establishment.
Survived’s breeder-owner Don Gordon said there were several reasons for the shift “which I don’t want to go into”.
He emphasised that the original reason for Bary taking over the horse’s training was that Burne was indisposed.
She had suffered a major back injury in a training accident and was hospitalised at the time.
“Kelly broke Survived in for me and she also has three other horses of mine in her stable,” Gordon said.
Burne was delighted to have such a high-class galloper back in her care.
“It’s great to have him back,” she said.
“I broke him in and rode him in his first jumpout. I always thought he had the X-factor and told Don what I thought of the horse at the time.
“I was really upset when he was taken away initially and the hurt got worse every time he won a race.
“It’s going to be hard with him back in one way because there will be a lot of expectation around the horse when he returns to racing but I’m extremely excited.”
Gordon and Burne have no specific plans around Survived’s return to the track.
“I’ll give him plenty of time to settle in and we’ll go from there,” Burne said. Matamata colt Puccini has held his place at the top of the TAB’s TV3 New Zealand Derby market after yesterday drawing barrier three.
TAB bookmakers yesterday opened the Peter and Jacob McKay-trained Encosta De Lago three-year-old as their $ 3.20 final field favourite over Rising Romance at $4.
The Donna and Dean Logan-trained filly drew barrier one, with the pair clearly favourite in fixed-odds betting for the $750,000 2400m Ellerslie feature on Saturday.
Weregoingtogetcha, who drew barrier 10, and Spellbinder, barrier 19, shared the third line of betting at $ 8, with Glorious Lad, barrier 11, seemingly the only other realistic winning chance according to the market at $ 9.
Beyond that quintet, Blizzard, who drew barrier one, and uncertain runner The Fire Inside, barrier 21, shared the next line at $ 26.
“It’s one of weirdest markets I’ve ever seen. We’ve got five runners in single figures and the next one is at $ 26,” bookmaker Thad Taylor said yesterday.
“It’s fair to say we think this race has got a bit of a tail. If anything, the draw only solidified the favourites.”
Taylor said Glorious Lad represented the TAB’s biggest liability from the futures market, which closed earlier this week, the Cambridge three-yearold having been supported with several significant bets, including one of $1000 at $ 31.
One punter stands to make a massive return on his $10 investment should Rising Romance win.
He placed a three-leg $10 multi bet on Bounding to win the Railway Stakes at $ 8, Mosquito to win the City Of Auckland Cup at $ 31 and Rising Romance to win the Derby at $ 26 to return $ 64,000.
Meanwhile, jockey Matt Cameron has dispelled any doubts about his fitness for Derby day and he is equally confident that Spellbinder will have no trouble going the distance at Ellerslie.
The leading jockey was kicked by a two-year-old in the birdcage at Tuesday’s Matamata trials, but specialist advice yesterday morning has given him the go-ahead for Saturday’s premier meeting.
“There’s no ligament damage or anything like that, just bruising,” Cameron said.
“I went to physio and I’ve got a few exercises to do to keep it moving. It’s a bit of a miracle I didn’t break anything so it’s all go for the Derby.”
The 27-year-old has ridden Spellbinder throughout her seven-start career and he has no doubt the Jason Bridgmantrained filly can go close to adding the Derby to her record.
“She’s been working out of her skin and I don’t see any worry about her seeing out the distance,” Cameron said.
“I’ve got every faith she will see out the 2400m. She’s so tough as well and she’s a lot better than 95 per cent of the field.”