Battle Secret tops the Thurlow show

[Wandering Eyes]

Bill Thurlow’s team of gallopers were simply unstoppable at Waverley on Sunday, with his four winners capped off by Battle Secret (NZ) (Battle Paint) taking home the Steelformers Waverley Cup (2200m).

The seven-year-old son of Battle Paint has had a sterling campaign so far, winning three of his five starts, alongside a game second behind Sacred Pearl in the Egmont Cup (2100m) a fortnight ago. Battle Secret was then aimed towards the local feature, where he closed the $3.80 favourite with Craig Grylls in the saddle.

Jumping away positively from barrier two, Battle Secret settled on the fence in third, while Mahoe strode out to lead in the early stages and attempted to steady the pace along the back straight. The field stacked up turning for home and Grylls waited for the gap with Battle Secret, and when it came, the gelding burst through and kicked strongly, just holding Mehzebeen by a nose with Canheroc in third.

Thurlow indicated that not all went to plan in the running, but he couldn’t be prouder of Battle Secret’s performance.

“It was a massive run, he probably didn’t get quite the right spot and Craig backed that up, he got a beautiful run until about the woolshed and then he couldn’t get off (the fence),” Thurlow said.

“He’s just one of those horses that needs to be rolling, so when he got out and going he was really good. Even though he got chased late, it was a very good effort and we’re just rapt with him.

“We’ve got an amazing crowd here at Waverley, they’re still here enjoying the day and it’s been a brilliant day for racing.”

The victory was Battle Secret’s seventh in 28 starts, earning just shy of $135,000 in stakes for a large syndicate, in a career that was restricted for a period due to injury.

“In his early career, he had been winning high weights and running around in lesser company, but in these last six or eight weeks, he’s really turned a corner. He’s matured and he looked fantastic in the parade today, he’s just come of age,” Thurlow said.

“We’re not 100% sure where we’ll go next, whether we carry on to the Fielding Cup or just wait a bit longer. He’s spend a few days in the paddock, we won’t get too ahead of ourselves but I think there is another nice Cup in him somewhere.

“I became really good friends with the Brausch’s (co-owners) through the show jumping world with my daughters Emma and Jamie. We ended up getting some horses for them and they are just lovely people, they haven’t had a lot of luck but have been so loyal over a long period of time, so it’s great to see them have this success.”

Battle Secret’s victory was the final of Thurlow’s winning quartet, which kicked off in the opener with Crunchie Boy (NZ) (Tavistock) winning the Total Transport (1400m).

The son of Tavistock has proved an enigma at times, but he indicated he was back in strong form with a second behind Footloose last start and closed the $2.10 favourite to go one better on Sunday. In the hands of apprentice Ciel Butler, Crunchie Boy controlled proceedings off the front and showed plenty of fight to hold of the booming charge of Danjuro to score by a neck.

“It was good to see him win and for a very good friend of mine, Nigel Baker, who is the President of the Waverley Racing Club,” Thurlow said.

“He was placed to win this race, I’m not sure how far we will go but he’s a nice galloper and if we can get things right, there’s another win or two in him.”

Crunchie Boy was purchased by Thurlow for $25,000 at the Karaka Yearling Sales in 2021 through the draft of Cambridge Stud, while his next winner, The Big Picture, carried the familiar colours of breeder-owners Humphrey and Fiona O’Leary.

The Big Picture (NZ) (Proisir) lives up to his name with an imposing stature last seen at the races in February, contesting a maiden 2000m contest. Returning in the Waverley Harvesting/Big Blade over just 1200m, the son of Proisir jumped a $28 chance, but he travelled like the winner turning for home and did just that, powering clear by an extending two lengths to race-favourite Doctor Askar.

“He’s a really interesting horse, we sat down with the owners to decide what to do with him because in his last prep, he looked like he should be winning, but wasn’t,” Thurlow said.

“We didn’t think he could be beaten off his work in a few of those runs, but he was, and we were running him over that 1600m-2000m range.

“I’ll put my hands up and be the first to say I probably got it wrong with him, he’s more of a sprinting type of horse and he won really impressively over 1000m in a jump-out, which he showed again today and he was pretty impressive.”

The Big Picture was a pick-up ride for apprentice Niranjan Parmar, who also successfully guided a fast-improving Frank The Tank (NZ) (Burgundy) to victory in the Chris Grace/Tony Wilson Livestock (1650m).

Frank The Tank defeated another well-performed local in Sheaf at the venue on October 9 and punters had every faith he could repeat the dose as the equal top-weight. Ridden just off the speed throughout, the gelding tracked into the race effortlessly coming off the turn and continued to find plenty in the closing stages, holding off Beavertown Boy and Bozo to go back-to-back.

“Frankie was just brilliant today,” Thurlow said.

“He’s a seriously nice horse and there’s a really good race in him, I think that’ll be when we get over ground.

“He’s up in grade now and will be in open company, so we’ll look to take that step up in distance. I’m not sure where, but it’ll probably be a Cup’s type of race somewhere. We’ve got him and Battle Secret in similar situations and I don’t want to run them against each other, so we’ve got to find the right races.”

Reflecting on an incredible afternoon where he earned his first four-timer, Thurlow was swift in thanking his team for the work behind the scenes.

“We’ve only really ever won a couple in a day and this is our best result yet,” he said.

“I remember one day I had five horses in at Waverley and four of them ran second so that was quite frustrating, but today, everything went to plan. We were very lucky.

“I really want to thank the guys that work for me, Sam O’Malley has been with me for about a year and Paul and Jonty Reid for over ten years. They do so much hard work, they are good horsemen and they put the hard yards in. They have never let me down and I’m really proud of them all, I wouldn’t be able to do it without them.

“It’s a great result for the whole team.”

From just 34 starters so far this season, Thurlow has accumulated 11 winners and sits in seventh on the National Trainer’s Premiership, with a dazzling strike rate of 3.09.

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