By David Nagel
Pakenham trainer Phillip Stokes has a gifted but errant talent on his hands after Arran Bay overcame some late wandering to win the $150,000 Silver Bowl Series Final (1600m) at Flemington on Saturday.
The Quality race for three-year-olds pitted Arran Bay against his conqueror from seven days earlier, Cardinal Gem, and the two settled down for a two-horse war in the straight.
Arran Bay began to typically duck in under pressure, but some quick thinking from jockey Zac Spain saw the son of All Too Hard/Stolen Girlfriend rise to the occasion at his first try at the mile.
Spain swapped the whip to his left hand, straightening Arran Bay up, which was the catalyst for a really strong finish over the concluding stages of the race.
Arran Bay lifted in the shadows of the post, winning by a neck on the line after being headed in the straight.
The win was great reward for the consistency of Arran Bay, who hasn’t been beaten more than two lengths since winning back-to-back races at Morphettville in November last year.
It was his first win in Melbourne at five attempts.
Spain knows all about Arran Bay’s nuances after being suspended for 10 meetings after causing interference at Caulfield on June 4.
When the whips were cracking on Saturday…Spain wasn’t sure what to expect.
“I wasn’t too sure to be honest, he’s a bit of a tricky horse and I’m just rapt to get that win on the board with him, because he’s well over due and he deserves it,” Spain said.
“He’s a hard horse at home, he can be very tricky, and the team does a fantastic job with him.
“He can just shy, and pull, and carry on a bit, he’s just a big baby still.
“Even in his races, I thought he was going to go straight as anything today, and it wasn’t until the last 150-metres that he wanted to hang in, which I was wary of because he can do it pretty bad.
“Today I thought he was going to go straight and last minute he decided to duck in.
“Once I pulled the stick to the left hand he straightened up and he was strong all the way through the line.”
Stokes was also delighted to finally get the win on the board.
“We decided to go forward today, and I’m pleased for Zac, he got suspended on this horse two starts ago so he knew what to expect today, so that was good,” Stokes said.
“He’s got a lot of talent this horse but has been doing a lot of things wrong, so it’s very pleasing to get the result today.
“A couple of times he should have won, but hung in, and the other day we decided to try and get some cover and it didn’t really pan out.
“The team have done a great job with him at home, he came here on the back up and bounced and did a great job.
“He can only get better this horse…he an All Too Hard, he’ll just keep improving.
“We’ll give him a break now and bring him back for the latter part of the spring.”
Spain, just like Arran Bay, will also enjoy a break heading into spring.
“I’m actually having a break, just for three weeks,” he said.
“I’ll go away, so it was good to get that win on the board before I boot off and have a little freshen up and come back and be ready for the spring.
“Hopefully we can find a couple of fast ones and get back to riding group winners in town.”
Saturday’s win was the geldings third win from 10 career starts.
