AFTER 33 fences and 5,500 metres in the $350,000 Grand Annual Steeplechase, only a bob of the head could separate the German-bred Instigator and Hit The Road Jack.

With the field of nine racing within range of each other for the majority of the race, it wasn’t until the Tozer Road double, where the horses descend into the double and switch from racing left-handed to right-handed, that the race lit up.

With the pressure ramped up, the race was whittled down to three as Hit The Road Jack, Gambu and Instigator cleared out from the remainder.

Jumping the 33rd and last as a trio, Hit The Road Jack held the advantage, as Instigator, with Braidon Small up, had bided his time but needed to show himself with the jumping done.

As Gambu faded and would claim third, Instigator and Hit The Road Jack tussled right to the line, as Small was able to squeeze out the slightest of advantages from Instigator.

The delay with the photo only added to the tension before number 7 went up on the stewards’ board and Aaron Purcell’s team was able to celebrate their win with Instigator, a 12-year-old who faces mandatory retirement at season’s end.

Always wanted

“It’s a long time we’ve had the horse,” said Aaron Purcell of Instigator, who has started over the May Carnival nine times with this his first win.

“This is obviously the race we’ve always wanted. This is the horse’s last start ever.”

It was a long time between drinks for Purcell, who also won the race in 2008 with Ginolad. For Braidon Small, the win was a triumph of persistence. Until he won on Instigator at Terang in a steeplechase in April, Small had not ridden a winner for the past three years, while he recovered from brain cancer surgery.

“(Grand Annual-winning jockey) are words I probably thought I’d never hear anyone say with my name alongside it,” said Braidon Small.

“It feels very good. You get up and you just keep moving forward. It’s all you keep doing.” Small is the son of retired jockey Cyril Small, who is indelibly linked with the legendary Vo Rogue.

“They love the horses and they work really hard,” said Cyril. “It’s great to see him win. I’m super proud. He’s been through a lot and worked so hard over the last 12 months to get his weight down.”

‘Monster’ Stern Idol strikes again

CARRYING top-weight of 75kg, the Irish-bred Stern Idol has broken the modern weight-carrying record for the 3,450 metre Brierly Steeplechase to claim a second victory in the race.

Held on the Tuesday’s opening day of Warrnambool’s May Carnival and trained by Ciaron Maher with Steven Pateman up, the Raven’s Pass nine-year-old led all the way in the A$150,000 feature until the Tozer Road double the second time around. Shuffled back to fourth in the seven-horse field, Stern Idol was back in front two fences later, with 800 metres remaining.

Strong through the final bend, there was little sign of fatigue as Stern Idol won by five lengths from the Jakkalberry gelding Hit The Road Jack, with the American gelding Castrofrancaru third.

“I was a bit nervous at the bottom of the hill,” said Ciaron Maher, celebrating a sixth win in the Brierly. “But Steve; cool, calm and collected.

“He’s just been such a good horse for so many years. Look at the horse. He looks absolutely fantastic. He could walk into the mounting yard in the middle of the spring and he wouldn’t look out of place.”

The win was Stern Idol’s 16th over jumps, where he is virtually imperious until the distance creeps out to the Grand National mark of 4,500 metres and beyond.

Monster of a horse

The quality of Stern Idol was reflected on by Tommy Ryan in an interview the following day. “He’s just a monster of a horse, he’s huge, and he can sustain such a gallop. He’s so quick in the air over the fences, he’s off and gone. He makes at least two lengths at each fence.

“Two years ago here, he won the Brierly with 73kg and it was the best race I have ridden in in Australia. We went such a gallop and I thought he would definitely come back to us. We got to his tail at the top of the straight and he just took off again.

“They lumped the weight on him yesterday and it was water off a duck’s back. Anything between two to two-and-a-half miles, he’s pretty much unbeatable.”

The Storyteller takes Galleywood

FRENCH jockey Luca Remondet has guided the John Leek-trained The Storyteller to victory in the A$150,000 Galleywood Hurdle on Warrnambool’s second day.

Held over 3,200 metres, the field of five raced in a compact formation until Remondet dialled up the pressure to challenge for the lead 1,000 metres from home.

Slipping away and clearing the last with a three-length advantage, The Storyteller needed that margin as the race favourite Highland Blaze, trained by Shane Jackson, halved the gap, but could close no further before the line.

Third in was the French-bred Karburan.

“From the first time I jumped him, I said to John, ‘He’s one of the best in your stable’,”said 24-year-old Remondet, who won his first Galleywood in 2024 on Chainsaw Of Honour.

“We’re different, but when we fight we’re the same,” added Remondet on his association with Leek.

“But I can’t be thankful enough for him.

“He just helps me every time.

“I’ve worked for him for over a year now and he trusts me, we’ve built this confidence over time.”

Jackson lands three winners

IRISH-born trainer Shane Jackson’s stable has been in form across the Warrnambool May Carnival landing three winners.

On the first day, he saddled up Andy Win in the Vale David Clements and Rob Wood Maiden Hurdle over 3,200 metres with Tommy Ryan in the saddle.

At his debut over jumps, Andy Win was sent out favourite and duly delivered, carrying the Jackson family’s own colours to victory.

“Wins like that make it all worthwhile. It makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

“It’s great to get a winner, any winner, here at the May Carnival,” said Jackson.

The second day of the Carnival saw the stable lead in the first two winners.

Declan Bates rode Centenary Florin to victory in the 1,200 metre handicap before Johnny Allen joined the party in the second race, getting Vieux Riche home in the 1,700 metre Maiden Plate.

Wigmore snatches a Derby

South Australian Derby (Group 1)

DESPITE having run fourth, beaten two lengths in the New Zealand Derby at 100/1 and a winner on slow tracks, punters ignored the facts in front of them and sent Wigmore off at 45/1 in the Group 1 South Australian Derby over Morphetville’s 2,518 metres.

The Sweynesse gelding’s New Zealand Derby run was not missed by Terry Henderson’s OTI Racing, who approached the Kelly Myers stable and were able to form a syndicate to purchase Wigmore.

Transferred to Phillip Stokes, they have been rewarded in two starts with a Group 1 South Australian Derby win.

“Terry Henderson rang me after the New Zealand Derby and asked if I could put together 25% of the ownership,” said Stokes.

“I rang a few of my mates and they came in, and I said we’d have a crack at the Derby.

“He arrived with us about three weeks after the New Zealand Derby.

“We just brought him along slowly.

“He’s very clean-winded. It’s too early to make any plans with the horse.

“There’s the Queensland Derby (May 30th), but I’m not sure if I want to go that way.

Melbourne horse

“He’s done an amazing job after being up for so long. We could have a Melbourne Cup horse on our hands.”

Ridden handy to the pace by Teo Nugent, Wigmore went nine-wide on the bend as the field fanned across the track in the slow going.

Into gear and working home strongly, Nugent had just enough track left to catch Johnny Allen aboard the Thomas Carberry-trained Strictly Business, the Grunt filly having had a superb race saving every inch along the rail, yet caught in the last stride by a nose.

Third was The Autumn Sun gelding Autumn Mystery.

“Phillip had this horse trained to the minute,” said Nugent. “This is his first campaign and to be in work for six months, he bucked me off when I got on - he was feeling super well.

“He’s a typical Kiwi mudlover, he got through the track, no worries at all.

“Onwards and upwards for him, for sure.”