By MIKE DILLON
Diatribe didn't stop Kaapstad Way bringing Saturday's $A2 million Caulfield Cup back to New Zealand.
Jim Cassidy and the barrier draw did.
Phenomenally at the end of 2400m, Kaapstad Way recorded the fastest last 600m of all runners at Caulfield on Saturday with the exception of brilliant 1100m sprint winner Miss Kournikova, who broke 34 for the distance.
It would have been more than enough to win the Caulfield Cup if trainer Chris Wood himself had not pulled out barrier No19 midweek.
And Jim Cassidy had not ridden the race of his life on Melbourne-trained Diatribe.
Cassidy's breathtaking audacity to go for a normally suicidal inside run at the 375m at Caulfield typified the flair and genius of the former Kiwi jockey.
And he even declared it before the race.
"Hopefully I'll be looking to angle out on the corner, but if all the others are heading out there I'll be happy to angle in and ride for luck."
If it's true you make your own luck, with the greatest certainty, Cassidy won this race.
Gary Grylls did not have the same options on Kaapstad Way when last at the 600m and knowing he had only one or two seconds to decide where he was going to make his run.
The head-on video showed Grylls search desperately for a passage out wide, quickly head to the inside with the same task then with resignation hook out wide again to go forward.
Kaapstad Way may still have pressed Diatribe hard had he been able a little sooner to clear a pocket inside Second Coming, who looked to be laying in on top of him.
"I told Gary not to be more than five or six lengths off them on the home bend otherwise he wouldn't be able to win," said Chris Wood yesterday.
Kaapstad Way's remarkable acceleration for a stayer had him in a challenging position very quickly in the home straight, but the huge amount of ground and energy Cassidy had saved Diatribe was the telling factor.
Wood is philosophical about Cassidy's ride.
"Jimmy rode for luck and when it comes off you're a hero. When it doesn't you're the unlucky runner. This time he had luck on his side.
"If we had got the barrier draw we wanted it would have been a different story.
"We had no options from out so wide, we had to drop back and let him go to sleep.
"And you saw what some of the others riders were doing on the first bend, six and seven wide trying to get where they thought they needed to be."
Wood has always given the impression of being low key about Kaapstad Way tackling the Melbourne Cup, but he has now declared him a certain starter.
"I'm sure the 3200m will hold no fears for him. He cruises along until you ask him to go."
Flemington holds more options than Caulfield for a horse with a sizzling sprint like Kaapstad Way.
In a Caulfield Cup you let down for the final sprint when the race dictates, where down Flemington's fearsomely long home straight you can sprint when it suits you.
Kaapstad Way suffered an eye injury during the race, but it has already responded to treatment and will have no effect on his training.
Wood is almost certain he will not start Kaapstad Way again before the $A3.3 million Melbourne Cup.
"He's not a horse that needs a lot of racing. Where we are based we can give him hill training and there is a beach down the road, so we can do plenty with him without racing."
Wood sees no reason to switch from Gary Grylls as rider at Flemington, but needs to confirm that with his owner.
Brett Prebble felt Hill Of Grace may not have seen out the 2400m, after the mare looked a big chance to win when she swept to the lead on the home bend.
Prebble is an excellent rider, but you cannot escape the opinion he pressed the button far too soon on the Zabeel mare.
With the pace having been so electric - Diatribe took 0.9 of a second off Might And Power's track record - the leaders were always going to come back to the pack and timing a finishing dash was always going to prove crucial.
Hill Of Grace had no problems with the 2400m when second to Hades in the Derby at Ellerslie last Boxing Day.
Kiwis will remember this Caulfield Cup for Kaapstad Way's performance. The broader view will remember Jim Cassidy's ride, so the last word has to go to him.
Pumper, as he is known, was really pumped.
"Mate, I don't rate myself, but that was some ride," he said.
No argument there.
Racing: Kaapstad Way shows sizzling turn of pace for a stayer
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