Owner Paul Silvestro describes himself as a gambler.
He stood in the Ellerslie birdcage in a beautifully tailored suit a picture of composure as he waited for Redoute's Dancer to come back after winning the Derby.
Twenty minutes later the Western Australian building supplier was hanging on to
that composure, but only just as he sat outside the inquiry room with his trainer Tim Martin waiting to hear if Lisa Cropp's allegations of illegality were believed.
Silvestro may have gambled often, but never for these stakes.
The turn of this card was worth more than a million dollars to him.
There was the $420,000 winning stake, $200,000 on the punt - "we backed him at $30 early" - and winning a group one Derby means the well-bred colt is worth more than a million dollars as a stallion prospect, perhaps two million.
Sydney trainer Martin handled the pressure situation admirably.
He said the 20-strong cheer squad his owner brought from Australia were considerably quieter yesterday than they were minutes after the race and late Saturday night.
There are a number of issues lost in the cloud of controversy - one is how good is Redoute's Dancer going to prove against his fellow Australians in the Rosehill Guineas and AJC Derby and therefore how good are our 3-year-olds?
The connections of our 3-year-olds clearly hope Redoute's Dancer wins both races.
Martin is in no doubt he'll give both races a real shake. "He's a real Derby contender at home."
Martin said he's a little more convinced of that after the colt's two New Zealand wins, but always rated him an AJC Derby hope.
"He's got a pretty good record now - he's won four of his seven starts and run second in another two."
It's never easy for a trainer, or an owner, to go through what the connections of Redoute's Dancer had to endure on Saturday.
Martin has put that issue behind him, but one point really gets at him - some of the connections of Mettre En Jeu inspecting the Ellerslie track after the last race, still looking for the alleged metal device after the inquiry was finished.
"That was ridiculous - the video showed there was nothing in the allegation. Why would they do that?"
