In the middle of relocating his training operation from the ACT to Goulburn, Matthew Dale has found time to train a metropolitan winner with Cavalier Charles scoring a determined victory at Rosehill.
Given the logistical challenges involved in moving an entire stable, including his string of horses, Dale wasn’t able to be trackside on Saturday, but winning jockey Sam Clipperton was chuffed to get the result.
Cavalier Charles had performed well at his past two runs in feature country races, finishing fourth in the Kosciuszko two starts ago and runner-up to Fender in the Country Open at Randwick on Melbourne Cup day.
He had plenty of work to do after settling back in the Furphy Handicap (1400m) as leader Titanium Power strung the field out, but Cavalier Charles ($3.30 fav) wasn’t to be denied, digging deep to overhaul Cotehele ($6.50) in the final bounds and score by a long head.
Former New Zealander Super Strike ($13) did a good job at just his second Australian start to finish third, another 1-1/4 lengths away.
“Well done to Matthew Dale because this horse is a ripper. He has a great will to win,” Clipperton said.
“He needed every inch of the Rosehill straight today. He had a handy horse in the horse of John O’Shea’s (Cotehele) to run down and it’d had a soft run in behind the speed, so we could probably have forgiven him if he’d been beaten a neck running second.
“He’s been a little while out of the winner’s circle but he’s done a great job today.”
Cavalier Charles is raced by Michael Thomas, who was also the owner of grand campaigner Happy Clapper, both horses carrying his colours of dark blue with black seams.
The silks brought back fond memories for Clipperton, who partnered Happy Clapper twice for a second to Winx in the 2019 Apollo Stakes and at his final start in the 2020 Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Brutality turned in another eye-catching performance, steaming home from near-last under 64-1/2 kilos to finish fifth in an effort trainer Joe Pride believes will have him spot-on for next weekend’s The Ingham (1600m) at Randwick.
“I’m happy with that and it sets him up nicely for next week,” Pride said.
“I’m assuming he gets in the field and a little bit of rain would be nice.”
