KEY POINTS:
Apprentice Chad Ormsby was in damage control mode after Charliehorse proved again he was New Zealand's brightest rising star at Te Rapa.
The punter who lobbed $20,000 on Charliehorse late in betting must have been nervous when the horse had to do a lot of work throughout the
race before holding out another exceptional talent, He Kin Danske.
He was niggled at early to maintain a mid-field position then sprinted around the field three and four wide from the 600m.
"He was slower away than I'd hoped, then I had to ride him to hold my position," said Ormsby. "At the 600m I saw He Kin Danske three places off the leader and I knew that if we didn't get around them He Kin Danske was going to take off and we'd get left behind."
The net result was that we saw a horse of real class, one that should be creating headlines in the next 12 months.
That could have been happening already if he hadn't developed a bone chip in a knee after chasing Wahid home in last year's Derby and pulling a shoulder muscle days before being due to resume racing in the spring.
Co-trainer Lance O'Sullivan said Charliehorse appearing in the nominations for A$2.2 million ($2.5 million) BMW in Sydney was really only a "cheeky thought".
"He'll run in the Japan/New Zealand International at Tauranga then the Easter at Ellerslie," said O'Sullivan.
He Kin Danske ran into a better horse, but he is similarly headed for the top.
"He's not as hot [in the brain] as he was," said rider Opie Bosson.
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Trainer Richard Yuill says he'd better get interested in whether Gallions Reach will get a start in the $700,000 SkyCity Auckland Cup.
Yuill thought the horse had no chance of making the Ellerslie race after a luckless beaten performance at Trentham last start.
But Saturday's all-the-way win will almost certainly change that.
Plans had not been to lead on Saturday. "I found myself in front and decided to stay there," said winning rider Sam Spratt.
"If he runs in the Auckland Cup Sam will ride him," said Yuill.
It was a muddling-run affair and well-fancied runners Young Centaur and Mybigfatgreekhorse were not suited.
Favourite Far Too Much finished a close second and cost himself dearly in failing to run straight in the closing stages for rider Reese Jones.
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The winning margin was only a nose, but Jazzella's first-up winning performance was one of the Te Rapa highlights.
For a 3-year-old filly with only four career races behind her to come back from a seven-month break and beat older, hardened good class carnival sprinters is literally remarkable.
Even more remarkable when you consider that co-trainer Donna Logan declared before the race the stable had "not wound her up tight for this race".
Logan said she had not wanted Jazzella to have a "gut-buster", but only time will tell whether that has been the case.
Mark Du Plessis, having his first ride on Jazzella, was greatly impressed. "She blew out 100m out. She's pretty smart."
Mary Ellen dashed at Jazzella from the 100m, but was still a pencil-line behind.