Photo: Race Images South
Riccarton galloper Mystic Park (Ocean Park) prevailed in a thrilling tussle between the locals in the Gr.3 TAB Mile (1600m) on his home track on Wednesday.
The Michael and Matthew Pitman-trained gelding had been on an upward trajectory this preparation without winning and had the services of Victorian-based Kiwi-expat jockey Daniel Stackhouse, closing a $6.10 hope behind northern visitors Cannon Hill and Archaic Smile.
Jumping from barrier six, Mystic Park was a stride slow from the gates and found himself three-wide in the trail of another fancied runner in Sir Albert, who was doing it tough in the open on a hot tempo set by Cluedo Lane. Cannon Hill travelled strongly into contention at the top of the straight and looked likely at the 200m, before Sir Albert and Mystic Park came charging down the middle of the track to set up a big finish.
The pair were wide apart and hard to line up as they went to the post, but the photo favoured Mystic Park by a half-neck to a very game Sir Albert ahead of Cannon Hill, who stuck on bravely for third.
The son of Ocean Park was the first South Island-trained winner of the $250,000 feature in seven years, the most recent being Son Of Maher who was also prepared by the father-son training partnership in 2017.
Michael Pitman revealed post-race that it hadn’t been a smooth year for Mystic Park since he won last year’s Listed Stewards Stakes (1200m) at the Cup carnival, making the result all the more satisfying.
“It’s a bit of a cliché I suppose, but I set him for this race 12 months ago,” he said. “It’s our third time winning the race and they’ve all been with really nice horses.
“People don’t know this, but the reason he didn’t end up running in the Telegraph (Gr.1, 1200m) was because he broke his tail just after he won the Stewards.
“My wife, my son and my staff deserve so much credit, they put so much work in and we were so confident, especially after Ocean Light ran second (earlier in the meeting over 2000m). Diane (wife) said if he could run second, this horse could win and win easily.”
Matthew Pitman had lost his voice cheering trackside and expressed how much the horse means to their stable.
“He’s a stable favourite for the team, he’s a favourite of mine, he just tries super hard,” he said.
“It’s been a long-term plan to have him ready for this, we got in at a good weight and his closing sectionals leading up to it were brilliant, I couldn’t believe what he was paying a week ago.
“We had to pivot with Sam (Weatherley, regular rider) getting suspended, we sent an SOS to Dan and he’s come over and rode him a treat. I’ve lost my voice yet again, it’s a day that means a lot to us and I’m just rapt with the win.
“I can’t thank my staff enough, it’s been a massive effort by the team and our trackwork riders Donovan Cooper and Brett Murray.”
A $40,000 purchase out of Kilgravin Lodge’s draft at the 2021 National Yearling Sales, Mystic Park has won over $390,000 for connections with eight wins from just 19 starts.
It was a successful homecoming for Stackhouse, who grew up in Ashburton and rode more than 100 winners on home soil before making the move to Victoria well over a decade ago, where he is a frequent figure in metropolitan races.
“It’s great to get the monkey off the back and win the big one for the day,” Stackhouse said.
“Michael rang me and said to look at his replays, which I did, and he rang a few times after to make sure I’d watch them. After watching them I was pretty keen to come over, he was definitely the best chance that I had today so it’s nice to get the job done.
“I just made sure he relaxed over the mile, he jumped OK and I just left him alone, the favourite (Sir Albert) was three-deep and I was happy to park in behind that. He relaxed nicely, his breathing and action were good and he travelled well.
“He just wanted to run off a lot going around the circle, you could see me pulling him around to make sure he got onto his inside leg then he straightened up and when I went for him he kept drifting out, but he was the class horse of the race and won dominantly.
“I had my fingers crossed (at the line), I was wasting a lot of ground running outwards and probably went for him a bit early as well, but I was just rapt to see South Canterbury back on the big screen.
“It’s fantastic, it’s great to be home and having friends and family here as well. It’s good to catch up with everybody and ride at the same time.”
