Patience paid off for Sydney trainer Clare Cunningham at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday with recent stable acquisition Noble Boy back to winning form with a brilliant performance in the wet to take out the Listed $150,000 Winter Stakes (1400m).
Noble Boy was back to winning form in the 2020 Winter Stakes at Rosehill. Photo: Steve Hart.
Formerly prepared by Todd Blowes, the Bon Hoffa chestnut joined Cunningham at her Warwick Farm stables earlier in the winter and enjoyed a breakthrough victory for his new trainer at start number four with her.
Noble Boy looked to be knocking on the door last time out at Rosehill on June 13 when third to True Detective over 1300m on a Heavy (8) track in a BenchMark 94 race that the form just keeps stacking up from.
The runner-up in that, Trumbull, franked the form winning the Listed Civic Stakes (1350m) last time out, but Cunningham opted to give Noble Boy four weeks between runs knowing the horse would be better over the 1400m.
With the support of the owners, she trialled the galloper at Warwick Farm on Monday and off that he presented fit for the Winter Stakes with hoop of the moment Jason Collett in the saddle again.
Fresh off his Grafton Cup victory on Thursday, Collett gave Noble Boy a peach of a ride in the Winter Stakes with the five-year-old looking a picture of health in the yard.
Settled just off the pace set by the returning Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-rained stayer Taikomochi, Noble Boy was saved until the home straight when Collett snuck up the inside charging home late.
Hard pressed against the inside, Noble Boy travelled up beautifully to snare the lead 150m out and went on to defeat the brave pacemaker Taikomochi who held for second in a eye-catching fresh run racing for the first time since his Group 3 Launceston Cup (2400m) second back in February.
In third rounding out the Winter Stakes trifecta was the Chris Waller-trained Order Again who flashed home for the minor placing.
“We’ve been very patient trying to put the horse first,” Cunningham told Sky Thoroughbred Central post-race.
“Obviously being the first preparation, we had plenty to learn about him it’s just nice that the plan’s paid off.
“We’ve been rewarded today which is awesome.
“Just shows you, you do the right thing and you get rewarded.”
Cunningham was also happy to credit the flying Collett for another great ride.
“He’s in great form and he rides this horse very well so I’m glad to have him onboard,” she said.
Trumbull jumped favourite off the Civic Stakes win and was away well out of the gates positioned nicely in fourth the fence, but failed to finish off over the final furlong.
2020 Winter Stakes Results
| Colour | Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Penalty | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1 | 8 | NOBLE BOY | Clare Cunningham | Jason Collett | 5 | 54kg | $4.60 | ||
 |
2 | 1 | TAIKOMOCHI | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Quayde Krogh | 0.3L | 1 | 58kg | $41 | |
 |
3 | 3 | ORDER AGAIN (NZ) | Chris Waller | Sam Clipperton | 0.5L | 8 | 56.5kg | $5.50 | |
 |
4 | 7 | DEALMAKER | Chris Waller | Brenton Avdulla | 0.9L | 3 | 55.5kg | $5 | |
 |
5 | 2 | SIKANDARABAD (IRE) | Sam Kavanagh | Tim Clark | 1.1L | 10 | 57kg | $31 | |
 |
6 | 4 | TRUMBULL (NZ) | Kim Waugh | Tommy Berry | 1.5L | 7 | 56.5kg | $4F | |
 |
7 | 6 | SAMBRO | Chris Waller | Glen Boss | 3.3L | 2 | 56kg | $6.50 | |
 |
8 | 10 | ROMANI GIRL (NZ) | Chris Waller | Ms Kathy O’Hara | 3.7L | 6 | 53kg | $26 | |
 |
9 | 11 | SMARTEDGE | Peter & Paul Snowden | Andrew Adkins | 7.8L | 4 | 53kg | $21 | |
 |
10 | 9 | READY TO PROPHET | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Ms Rachel King | 16.1L | 9 | 53.5kg | $21 | |
 |
5 | GIRL TUESDAY | Clarry Conners | Nash Rawiller | 0 |
*Table Credit: Racing Australia
