ARCH Kingsley and Ross Geraghty talked a lot about the Colonial Cup.
Kingsley explained how he wanted Top Striker to settle in the two and three-quarter-mile stakes, how he wanted Geraghty to sit still, just squeeze, at the hurdles. Geraghty explained how he rode Dawalan to win the Grade 1 hurdle last year.
The trainer and the jockey went over every scenario and then threw confetti in the air.
“Everything we talked about, throw it out the window and do whatever you want,” Kingsley said as Geraghty climbed aboard Top Striker for the first time last Saturday in Camden, South Carolina.
Geraghty placed Top Striker on the inside in third, tracking favorite Rawnaq and the Nicky Henderson-trained Days Of Heaven.
From there, Top Striker, a seven-year-old son of Van Nistelrooy owned by Sue Sensor, did the rest, tracking easily, jumping fluidly and blitzing home like a fresh horse to upset the $150,000 stakes race by 10 and a half lengths.
Rawnaq, riding a three-race win streak, offered little when Top Striker pounced, but still managed to hold onto second while Days Of Heaven hung on for third.
“He was brilliant, wasn’t he? Just brilliant,” Sue Sensor said, crying.
“Oh my God,” said Wendy Kingsley as she searched for her husband in the bedlam of winning the sport’s most iconic race.
“He’s a nice horse. He’s a nice horse. He’s a nice horse,” Arch Kingsley said as he accepted bear hugs and high fives, walking down the steps to collect his biggest score as a trainer.
In seven starts this year, Top Striker managed one win and a couple of close calls while partnered by Bernie Dalton and Paddy Young. With those riders committed for the Colonial Cup, Kingsley needed a jockey. He thought of doing it himself (the former champion jockey has been known to come in and out of retirement), then he talked to Australian jockey Steven Pateman, then he took a call from Geraghty a week or so before the Colonial Cup.
“Willie McCarthy called me and we’re chit-chatting about the Colonial Cup, we talked about Top Striker. I said, ‘I’ll just call Arch and see.’ That was it, I called and he said 80%,” Geraghty said. “I had to sell myself to him, I didn’t want to just take part, I wanted a live shot. I’m not sure he thought I would suit the horse and then we talked about how I rode Dawalan last year, he said, that’s how I want my horse ridden. I was excited about this horse, I thought he would win it.”
So did Kingsley.
“He seems really well with himself, coming off a win always gives you confidence, the home-field advantage always seems to count for something for me around here,” Kingsley said, two days before the Colonial Cup. “The horse is doing well, he’s run well here before, he won the Carolina Cup.
Thursday morning, two days before his biggest day, Top Striker was too fresh to shoe. “Look at this son of a…” Kingsley said, as Top Striker pranced past him.
“He’s doing great, man, he’s doing great,” Kingsley said as Jamie Camacho led Top Striker to a small paddock and unfurled the torrent. Top Striker bucked, kicked, pranced, squealed and spun for minutes, then settled.
On Saturday, Top Striker was doing everything right, becoming the first horse to beat Rawnaq all season.
Geraghty said: “The plan was to get a lead over the last but I was afraid they were going to box me in, I said, ‘I’m not disappointing you.’ I let him go. He flew the second to last, then he popped the last, I had lots of horse, when he landed, away he went.”
Rawnaq on top
IRISH-bred Rawnaq earned the money-won title with three stakes wins and a second for $387,000. Cyril Murphy and Irv Naylor will aim the Irish-bred nine-year-old to the World Hurdle at Cheltenham in March. Irish-breds Scorpiancer, Portrade, Two’s Company, Ebanour and Charminster cracked the top 10 in earnings.
Norris takes
riders’ title
Kieran Norris earned his first jockey title, outlasting five-time champion Paddy Young by one win. On the final day of the season, Young tied Norris in the third race and Norris countered with a surprise win in the fourth to take the title.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Norris, from Tallow, Co Waterford said, minutes after the finale. “When Jack (Doyle) got injured, it opened things up and I thought maybe there’s a possibility, but I never expected to come here with a fighting chance to win it.”
An all-Irish leaderboard, Sean McDermott finished third with Geraghty and Doyle tied for fourth. Behind them were Gerard Galligan, Connor Hankin and Darren Nagle, who were locked at nine wins. Willie McCarthy and Gus Dahl completed the top 10.
Naylor top owner
IRV Naylor ran away with the owner’s title, winning 21 races from 109 starts for $997,600. Bruton Street-US finished second with 11 wins and $463,350. Jack Fisher won his fourth consecutive trainer title, sending out 26 winners from 132 starts.