Triple Trio has bright future
Clements-trained newbie wins debut impressively
For a new horse who "did everything wrong" but could still go on and win, it certainly bodes well for his future.
That was the story of trainer Michael Clements' newcomer Triple Trio, who overcame a tardy start and kept progressing like a good horse to win first-up in Sunday's $85,000 Restricted Maiden event over the Polytrack 1,100m at Kranji.
In fact, the Sharon Stable-owned three-year-old New Zealand-bred had already showed potential by winning his barrier trial by four lengths in a quick 59.74sec for the Polytrack 1,000m with jockey Glen Boss astride on May 22.
That was the reason for Triple Trio's prohibitive win odds despite it being his first career start. The confidence was there but his legion of fans, however, got a fright of their lives when the $7 favourite was caught flat-footed when the gates sprung open. Even Boss himself was surprised with the slow start.
But Triple Trio picked up the pieces quickly and was lucky enough to sail up uninterrupted on the inside to be midfield, a few lengths behind the leaders Conatus G and Gamely.
Triple Trio continued to progress to be fourth behind Conatus G, Gamely and Mr O'Reilly at the halfway stage.
Conatus G pressed ahead after fending off Gamely at the top of the straight but faced a strong challenge from Triple Trio,who had been stoked up by Boss.
The two horses broke away to fight out the finish and Triple Trio won the tussle 100m out for a three-quarter-length victory in 1min 06.60sec.
Gamely was a well-beaten third, three-and-three-quarter lengths behind.
Boss said Triple Trio's slow start caught him by surprise, adding that his mount is such a quiet horse like he's been to the races a few times already. His quietness and relaxed manner in the barrier probably went against him.
"So I asked the attendant beside me to put him standing up straight in the barrier and, when he grabbed him by the bridle, he actually shied away from the attendant, so I missed it badly," said Boss.
"That was totally unexpected. I was hoping to be outside the leader one out, one back. They went quickly on the back (stretch), so he had to do a lot of work to be up there and put himself in a position to win.
"So that was a big effort in itself and then he had to put himself into the hometurn and go on to win, so he had to make three runs, especially tough for a young horse that hasn't done a lot. You don't see them win that often actually.
"Obviously, you see a horse like Tannhauser that can come up to win by eight (lengths) by doing everything right. But this horse did everything wrong and still won, so he's got a future."
Clements certainly impressed with Triple Trio, who has had a pretty easy preparation and did pretty well in both trials.
"Glen made up ground on him, positioned him well and the horse ran on strongly in the straight," said Clements.
"I think so far he has shown us he has got a lot of speed, has shown us he's going to be a pretty handy sprinter here, so certainly in the meantime, we'll keep him over the sprints."
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