'GOOD THING' DOES IT THE HARD WAY

The well-supported Regal Castanea scored an overdue victory in the Country Cup Handicap at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

While all turned out well in the end, the ‘living on the edge’ route that the chestnut followed to claim his success would have had his connections reaching for the oxygen masks on more than one occasion.

The gelding jumped well enough, but slipped back on the early speed and had already been shuffled back to midfield 200m into the race.

When other runners, caught wide, chose to make up ground on the outside of Regal Castanea, jockey Scott Galloway maintained a patient approach, but their move had added a further complication to the task facing the favourite.

As the field turned into the home stretch, the question was not only the one of how much ground Regal Castanea had to make up, but whether he would have any chance of doing so, given the fact that he was surrounded by horses with seemingly nowhere to go.

The race commentary accurately summed up the position at the time with one caller saying, “Regal Castanea’s under heavy pressure turning from home. He’s a mile from them.”

Reach for oxygen mask 1.

The first 100m of the home stretch was to prove decisive to the outcome.

Had any of those numbered in the wall of runners ahead of Regal Castanea tired and dropped back onto the main fancy during this time, it would almost have been ‘race over’ for the Ron Mccrae trained four-year-old, as he would not have time to regroup if baulked.

But the field stretched away, leaving Regal Castanea some galloping room in which to go to work.

But just as Galloway looked to get out, Regal Castanea appeared to brush against the horse on his outside.

Reach for oxygen mask 2.

There was a commitment to the cause now though, and Regal Castanea pushed past that hiccup without losing any momentum ... and then there was a target.

Galloway’s choice was to take aim at the gap between Mohawk and Bann Ruby and hope it would not close before he arrived.

That was just the first step though, as Mohawk and Bann Ruby were themselves still some three lengths off the duelling duo of King Cash and All Again who were both flat out, disputing the lead.
At the 200m mark Regal Castanea was ready to take the gap, but would it stay open long enough for him to benefit?

Reach for oxygen mask 3.

And that’s when the complexion of the race changed.

Under a strong urging from Galloway, Regal Castanea surged through the opening and, as if buoyed by that move, exploded into action from the 150m mark.

It was time to set aside the oxygen mask and enjoy the ride.

“And Regal Castanea is coming from the tail of the field. He’s jumping out of the ground,” called one commentator.

Again it was an accurate description as Regal Castanea cut into the leaders advantage with every stride and arrived in good time to snare a popular victory from Scarlet Sari, who was also hitting the line hard.

Trainer Ron Mccrae credited jockey Scott Galloway both for the expertise of the ride and the value of his advice.

“Scott wasn’t happy with the blinkers on Regal Castanea last time,” explained Mccrae. “He said I should remove them and then the horse would be a 'good thing'.”

And so it proved to be, although perhaps via a script that proved a lot more complicated than Galloway might have originally envisaged.