 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2010
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| Murray Tapper & Stylish Monarch |
Sitting amongst the crowd at Addington to watch Monkey King capture his second consecutive NZ Cup last Tuesday, Murray Tapper hoped it wasn't the only big two-mile event that Ricky May would win during the week.
Three sleeps later, those wishes came true when May extracted Stylish monarch off a tight spot three-deep on the fence and urged him to a narrow victory in the $200,000 Group 1 Heller's Dominion Trot.
"Stylish Monarch's whole season so far has been aimed at this race today," Tapper said afterwards, knowing that every other trainer in the race would've felt the same. "And it means a lot to a guy like me. We're just a little stable from Timaru, and don't have a big team of horses or thousands of dollars to spend at the Sales. For anybody with trotters, this is our New Zealand Cup and it's pretty surreal to think we've won it."
With 11 wins and 10 placings from his 27 appearances prior to the start of this season, his 'CV' already including a Group 1 victory and runner-up prize in the most recent Rowe Cup, Stylish Monarch had all the right credentials to win at his first crack at a Dominion.
Raced by Anne Patterson, the son of Monarchy went 'bang' first-up for 2010/11 when he won at Addington early last month, looking a lot more advanced than when he resumed at the same time last year, but if anything the 7-year-old them seemed a notch below his own high standards when running third at his next three outings - appearing to have every chance to finish closer each time.
Even the public's support reflected this last Friday...a horse that had gone out favourite more often than not was suddenly showing double figures. "He probably should've finished a length closer at Kaikoura," Tapper reflected. "Ricky said he was just cruising in front. But he was looking at all the seasgulls and everything else that was going on that day, and didn't seem to knuckle into it when it mattered - perhaps he thought there was another lap to go. I specifically lined him up at Kaikoura because he was still big in condition, and thought the trip there and back plus his race would've been like having two races together."
"Then on Cup Day here, seeing his race live I thought he should've run second at least. But after watching the replay I changed my mind, because he was held up down the back straight and again at the two hundred. So I was always happy leading into this race, never disappointed."
Arriving on-course last Friday, Tapper thought 'I've got a show here', noting that the Dominion field didn't boast a champion like Lyell Creek or Take A Moment but nevertheless was "one of the strongest fields overall for a long, long time". And the icing on the cake was Stylish Monarch walking away with a NZ Record next to his name, his time of 4:02.9 slicing more than two and a half seconds off the previous mark held by Take A Moment. "It's nice to have that (the record), but it wouldn't have worried me if they went 4:10." Tapper claims. "It proves that he can do the times, but I suppose we've always known that."
For now, Stylish Monarch is having an easy week as Tapper plans his next assault. "I think he deserves it, doesn't he? Not too much of an easy time though, otherwise he'll get too bulky on me. We're looking to go north sometime next month."
Tapper has been training full-time now for about five seasons, and has 14 in work. He paid tribute to his brother Kim for helping with the team, and also made special mention of Samantha Ottley who's been "a vital part of the operation" for three years. The heights that Stylish Monarch is reaching are a world away from the 18 seasons Tapper spent as a freezing worker.
"I was getting too many horses around me, and too many people were asking to train one for them. So I thought we'd give it a go; if it didn't work out, I could always go back and get another job. But we've survived, that's the main thing. Everybody dreams of getting a horse like this, you just never think you're going to."
Now that a Dominion has been added to his trotter's list of accolades, Tapper says everything else from here on in is a bonus. "Whatever happens we're going to have a great season. There's the three biggies isn't there...this, the Inter-Doms and the Rowe Cup. The first one's in the bag now, so let's see if we can go and get another."
Credit: John Robinson writing in HR Weekly 17Nov2010