Battling trainer Paul Butterworth’s decision to knock back big offers for Capital Gain paid off when the gelding won the JJ Atkins at Doomben on Saturday.
Capital Gain ($19) sailed down the outside in beating Aloisia ($17) by a neck in the Group One race.
Sydney colt Taking Aim ($8) was third after having to come deep in the straight.
Butterworth has only a small team in work at Eagle Farm and went out on a limb to buy Capital Gain at the Gold Coast Ready To Run sales last year.
“I picked him out on breeding because I like the Ad Valorem breed and then l Iiked the look of him. I told my wife that he was the horse I really wanted,” Butterworth said.
He put together a large syndicate, including many first-time owners, to race Capital Gain.
When Capital Gain showed a lot of potential with a win and several placings there were several big offers for him, including one from Hong Kong.
Butterworth, who has been training for six years after working with top trainers including Bart Cummings, was torn whether to accept the offer.
“But the owners love him and in the end we decided it was best to continue racing him ourselves,” Butterworth said.
He took the gamble of putting blinkers on Capital Gain for the first time in the Atkins
“I decided to wait for his biggest race and it has paid off,” Butterworth said.
Butterworth paid tribute to winning jockey Jim Byrne who got his second Group One for the carnival after winning the Doomben 10,000 last month on Redzel.
“That was exactly how we needed to ride him. Get him to the outside and let him run home,” Butterworth said.
Byre was also full of praise for Capital Gain who he stuck with after the gelding got bogged down in the BRC Sires at Eagle Farm two weeks ago.
“I was worried on the first turn because he made a bee-line for the outside fence. It was his first time in blinkers and I had to get him back in line,” Byrne said.
