HARRY Coffey must have shares in a chemical company which produces blood pressure medication.
His penchant for waiting until the last stride to win a lot of races surely plays havoc with the heart rates of punters, owners and trainers.
And the Swan Hill jockey was at it again at Mornington on Friday when he was legged aboard unlikely (and emergency) longshot Tobi Saru.
After they jumped in the $27,000 Mercedes-Benz Mornington Handicap over 2460m, if Coffey thought his horse was in with a chance, he was probably the only one at the track who did.
Running stone cold last after 200m – and pretty well staying there for the next 1600m – the five-year-old gelding, with just one win from its 15 previous starts, definitely looked the horse least likely.
But as the field swept into the turn out of the back straight for the second time, Coffey decided it was time to go, hooking four wide and tearing around the outside of the field.
It was a tactic which nearly went astray with a bit of crowding coming around the turn for home.
Fellow roughie Sunset Missile was out in front, and looking home for all the money.
Coffey, however, was not panicking and a stride at a time started to mow down the bolter. He drew level with its hindquarters, eased up alongside rider Thomas Stockdale and then, painfully slowly, stuck his head in front.
Just as they hit the line.
“It’s always a good ride when you win,” a delighted, albeit mud spattered, Coffey said post-race.
“But yes, it worked out well and I was able to follow Tommy Stockdale, who gave his horse, even though it was a bit wide, a nice smooth run.
“And the fact that I was able to follow him probably won me the race, although halfway up the straight it became a little tougher, and more difficult, than I thought it might have been, turning in.
“So luckily I had enough energy to help get the horse over the line.”
Coffey said the win should be good for the horse’s confidence, having only that one previous victory.
Asked if he considers the horse a genuine stayer, Coffey smiled and added: “he is a genuine thinker”.
“Halfway up the straight he wasn’t too keen on the winning post,” he said.
“But I do think when races are run to suit, with good speed early, when you can relax and get into a rhythm, you can get your chance, but staying races in Victoria aren’t necessarily run like that.
“You get a bit of cover and then get locked away and it is hard to get out and get moving. Whereas today’s even was run perfectly, they even steadied in the middle stages, which allowed me to tuck up and get into the race without doing much work.
“If he gets more races like that he will win a few more.”
On Saturday, Coffey flew to Sydney and Royal Randwick for one ride on the Grahame Begg trained Nonconformist in the $300,000 Group 2 Chelmsford.
It finished third but showed he was more than ready for another Spring Carnival campaign.
The eight-year-old gelding, with more than $2.2 million in prizemoney, was scratched barely 24 hours out from the 2023 Caulfield Cup on stewards’ advice.
