Swan Hill teacher Andrew Kelly was so stunned his horse Savvy Acquisition won the $60,000 OTI Jericho Cup Consolation at Warrnambool on Sunday he had to watch the replay to convince himself it really happened.
The win was even more incredible because it was only the third in 62 starts for the seven-year-old gelding – and this run was over an exhausting 4065 metres carrying 69kg jockey Aaron Lynch 865m further than Verry Elleegant ran (with 52kg jockey James McDonald aboard) to win the 2021 Melbourne Cup.
The win was so complete that when Savvy Acquisition crossed the finish line, the rest of the field was strung out like Brown’s cows.
And the $33,000 first place prizemoney also took Savvy Acquisition’s career earnings past the $100,000 mark.
Which could now more than double in one race – Sunday’s win qualified the horse for the prestigious $305,000 Haymes Paint Jericho Cup final in 2022.
First place is worth $150,000 – which Savvy Acquisition would certainly earn because the big race goes a further 535m to total 4600m.
Trainer, Austy Coffey was full of praise for heavyweight jockey Aaron Lynch, who had never ridden for his stable.
“They jumped well; but the horse wanted to fight him the whole way,” Coffey said.
“Aaron got him into a really good spot; but just as quickly realised if he didn’t drop him back there might not be any petrol in the tank at the other end,” he said.
“I reckon that went on for most of the first lap; but Aaron was very patient; and when he let the horse go; he just took off.
“But a lot of the credit for this win has to go to Andrew Kelly; he’s the one who did the research to find the horse; and he’s the one that took the chance on an older maiden.” Coffey said he worked the horse particularly hard, with him doing almost twice the work of any other horse in his stable.
He said he trained him in the morning; and most days Kelly did the afternoon work with him.
Kelly was also full of admiration for the ride by Lynch and had also noticed how the positive start and race plan had to be recalibrated almost immediately.
“I’d be happy to keep him on for the race in 2022, he rode a really good race,” Kelly added.
“All we have to do now is keep Savvy Acquisition in good shape and get him to peak at this time next year.”
