By Andrew Mole
Until Sunday, seven-year-old gelding Savvy Acquisition was a horse running on borrowed time.
Both owner Andrew Kelly and trainer Austey Coffey had agreed the veteran had more than reached his use-by date, and it was time to turn their attention elsewhere.
Someone, however, forgot to explain the plan to the horse.
Because over a mind-numbing 4065m, (with almost 70kg of jockey on his back), Savvy Acquisition stunned all and sundry when he swept to glory in Warrnambool’s $60,000 OTI Jericho Cup Consolation.
He picked up $33,000 in prize money and earned a start in next year’s $305,000 Jericho Cup which will be over 4600m.
But even better for Savvy Acquisition, he has guaranteed himself at least 12 more months at Coffey’s Swan Hill stables, the team around him work out how to make him an even better horse come November next year.
The horse has won 17 of his 62 starts with Kelly/Coffey since joining the stable nine months ago, but also three wins and two placings, previously bouncing around Victoria, Queensland and then NSW, gradually working his way down from some city starts to bush tracks.
Coffey said Savvy Acquisition has been slow to mature, but now had his muscle tone right and was proving to be a horse that thrived on hard work.
“He basically trains morning and night, twice as much as any other horse I work with and he seems to lap it up; he eats all his food, has real shine in his coat and responds well to everything we do with him,” Coffey said.
“And most of the credit has to go to Andrew Kelly, he was the one who did all the work with bloodlines, he was the one who bought the horse and he has played such a major role since Savvy Acquisition arrived here.
“He spends a lot of time at the stables, it’s almost as though we are both training him.”
Savvy Acquisition has been beautifully bred; his sire was
Savabeel, a Cox Plate winner by superstar Kiwi Zabeel, and out of multiple
Group 1 winner Savannah Success.
He also has Danehill in his maternal line.
Both Coffey and Kelly are related as cousins hailing from extensive extended families.
Apart from the owner and trainer having their say in what happens, so do Coffey’s apprentice jockey Shanae O’Meara and his son Harry.
He said they do all the trackwork, and Harry rides him in races, so their opinions and ideas carry a lot of weight when the time comes to Savvy Acquisition.
But the real unknown quantity on Sunday was jockey Aaron Lynch – although he came with Harry Coffey’s endorsement he had never ridden for the stable.
Austy’s son was too light for the ride but recommended Lynch for this run.
Post-race, Lynch said he would aim for the 2022 Jericho Cup.
Lynch also said during the race itself Savvy Acquisition was running hard “from the get-go” and he was worried he wouldn’t finish.
“I knew if I could get him off the pace and way back in the field to settle; it might still be alright – but the fight went on for the first lap of the course,” he said.
“But once he came off the bridle he bowled along nicely and he felt great under me, like a good, tough horse should.”
Lynch said with 1000m to go he was already feeling as though he had the field covered, and as they came around the bend into the straight; Savvy Acquisition found another gear and the seven other horses looked as though they had stopped running.
He said one horse tried to make a go of it as they straightened; but simply could not go the pace.
“I think one of the best things about this horse is he is not big and gangly; he is a smaller, musclier runner who uses that physical advantage get up the hill better and to nick through corners,” Lynch said.
Ever the pragmatic, Coffey says he isn’t getting too excited about the 2022 race just yet; working on the theory there were some very good horses in this year’s final.
“If the Jericho attracts a field of quality like it did this year; our horse would really be up against it,” Coffey said.
“But hey, he is a starter and that is going to put him in with a better chance than most.
“Right now the horse has pulled up beautifully, and is doing everything right – and everything right is what would have to happen to win this one.”
