Local trainer Kelvin Tyler had a day out on his home track of Riverton on Sunday, training five winners including the two features with Master Marko and Prince Alby.
To make the result even more impressive, Tyler and his wife Vanessa either own and part-own all five gallopers, and bred a pair of them as well.
“It was a great day and I’m very appreciative of everyone involved,” Tyler said. “It’s always good to have a day like this especially at your local meeting.”
After settling for second in the opener with Fourofus, he was on the board in the second event with promising mare Sight To See showing her class to take out the Ricki Egerton Dagging Handicap (1400m).
First up since her runner-up placing behind Loose Sally in the Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m) back in April, Sight To See was prominent through the running and strong through the line to score by 1 – ¼ lengths under apprentice Donovan Cooper.
“She’s a really genuine horse, fresh-up is always a question mark but she’s quite lightly-framed and doesn’t take a lot of work,” Tyler said. “I thought she could go a good race today in the heavy track.
“She tries hard which takes you a long way. We raced her in the Guineas races last year and they went a bit quick for her on the better tracks, but once we were on a heavy track in the Warstep over 2000m, that was what she was looking for and went a great race.
“I think she’s a staying mare going forward so it was great to get this win out of the road.”
Tyler backed that up in the following race with It’s Marlin, a nine-race maiden who led from start to finish under Floor Moerman, beating his better-backed stablemate Indie Ardie who was third.
“I thought Indie Ardie would win the race to be honest, but she did a lot of work from a wide gate while Marlin was in the best place on the fence,” Tyler said.
“It panned out quite well for him, he’s going to be a staying horse too I believe and just sticks on.”
The first of Tyler’s topliners, Master Marko, started second-favourite behind Sir Sterling in the Phil Bevin Spraying Handicap (1600m) after running bravely into fifth last Saturday in the Listed Sothy’s Spring Classic (2000m) at Riccarton.
The son of Contributer was keen early in the trail of Sir Sterling but eventually settled for Moerman, drawing level with the favourite in the straight and holding out the late challenge of Par Tee to win by three-quarters of a length.
It was Master Marko’s ninth win in 65 starts, four of those coming whilst he was trained in Australia, as well as several top performances in stakes grade.
“I couldn’t believe what he was paying, only 12 months ago he was fifth in a Group One (Livamol Classic, 2040m) and has been running in very good races,” Tyler said.
“They have been a little bit too sharp for him on the Good 2-type tracks, he’s still in the TAB Mile (Gr.3, 1600m) but my gut feeling is that they might just be a bit too sharp for him at that distance. I may run him on the middle day at Riccarton over 2000m, I’ll just keep an eye on the forecast.
“If it’s a genuine (Good) 4 or 5, that would be enough to go for the TAB Mile.”
Stable favourite Prince Alby brought up the 10th win of his career in the Sparrow Logging Handicap (2147m), bouncing back from uncharacteristic runs on firmer surfaces in Canterbury this time in.
Back on the heavy ground, Prince Alby was tardily away from the barriers but soon recovered under apprentice Kendra Bakker, who allowed him to stride forward though the mid-stages and sit outside the leader - his stablemate Vamos.
Just as they did a couple of starts back at Gore, the pair went head-to-head a long way out, but Prince Alby turned the tables on Vamos this time, skipping clear and cruising home to win by 5 – ¼ lengths.
“It was actually our plan, everyone was digging them out of the gates today but I said to Kendra to just let them go and when you get to the back straight, hook out and make your way up when the pace slackens off and sit outside the leader,” Tyler said.
“It worked out perfectly, which quite often doesn’t happen. At the weights, I thought how are they going to beat him, he’s a good horse. He just hasn’t been letting down on those firm tracks so it’s great to see him bounce back into form.
“Vamos was great, I can’t speak highly enough of him. He had a bit of weight to carry which is always tough, but he stuck on well and is just getting better and better. He looks amazing.”
Tyler’s near-perfect day was topped off in the last event, with More Sass justifying her favouritism to win the Grant Horrell Contracting Handicap (1200m) in the hands of Krishna Mudhoo.
A half-sister to talented mare Lady Sass, More Sass has come into her own in recent times, winning two of her last three starts.
“She’s not an easy horse, she’s pretty busy but has a lot of ability, so sometimes you’ve just got to trust her on the day,” he said. “They went really hard early and Krishna did a good job, he stayed on the fence which was as I say, was the best place to be.
“She dug deep and went through that gap, it was a big improvement. Hopefully she can carry on with it.”
His Riverton haul took Tyler to 14 wins for the season from just 79 starters, a run he hopes to continue at Wingatui’s Melbourne Cup day meeting on Tuesday.
He had nominated a number of his Riverton contenders, but none will be starting, leaving Flash Roca, Snow Brainer and Martell.
Martell has been in a rich vein of form since joining Tyler’s barn in the late winter, winning three on the bounce with Moerman on board. While he can’t fault his form, Tyler is wary of an improved surface when he takes on the Grand Casino Open Handicap (1400m).
“None of the horses today will back up, they’ll all be scratched as it was more of a back-up plan with the weather we’ve been having,” he said. “
“It is always a beautiful track at Wingatui but it will be on the firmer side this time, so we are mindful of that with Martell. Hopefully he can get away with it, but it’s certainly a different scenario this time.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
