Gerald Ryan had hoped to be saddling up Steely in the feature race at Kembla Grange but in the end he was content to settle for a victory in one of the support events.
The five-year-old was nominated for the $1 million The Gong (1600m) but failed to make the 16-horse field, instead improving his strikerate to eight wins from 20 starts in Saturday’s Abax Contracting Handicap over the same journey.
“The aim this time was The Gong but he was number 21. With 52 (kilos) on his back, he might have been a chance in it,” Ryan said.
“His last two preps have been terrific.
“It has just been maturity. He is a horse I’ve always had a lot of time for, but he was a ‘colty’ colt and then he had a throat operation.”
Steely ($8.50) had finished runner-up in the Goulburn Cup on resumption but went one better on Saturday, trailling the speed for Josh Parr before surging to the front to score by three-quarters of a length over Equation ($17) with Kingsheir ($4.60) close-up in third.
Ryan is hoping the five-year-old now has a sufficiently high rating to get into the Group 2 Villiers Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on December 11, ahead of a start in the Group 3 Summer Cup (2000m) at the same venue on Boxing Day
“If we don’t get a run in the Villiers we will go to a benchmark 88 on the same day and then perhaps we might have a crack at the Summer Cup,” Ryan said.
Parr was one of only four senior riders to land a race on the 10-event program which was dominated by the apprentices.
Brock Ryan celebrated a treble, including the $1 million The Gong aboard Count De Rupee, while fellow junior rider Tyler Schiller landed a double (Dragonstone and Eleven Eleven) and Jenny Duggan got on the board with a victory aboard Point Counterpoint in the Highway Handicap.
Brock Ryan’s day had one sour note after he incurred a six-meeting suspension for careless riding in The Gong.
He will be in action at Rosehill next Saturday before starting the penalty and can return on December 9.