There were again anxious moments, but Austin Galati got redemption for his recent ‘hiccup’ with Smooth Chino at Flemington on Saturday.
The Western Australian rider guided the classy sprinter to a thrilling win over Mazu in the $300,000 Group 2 McEwen Stakes (1200m).
The nose margin was only slightly smaller than at his previous start, in the Group 2 Gilgai Stakes at Flemington on October 3, when beaten a short-half-head by Skybird when the riders of the first two home stopped riding before the winning post.
There was never any danger of Galati making the same mistake again and he was pleased to repay connections’ faith in sticking with him.
“Thanks so much to Indi and the owners for keeping me on, especially after last time with the hiccup with the winning post, but we found it today,” Galati said.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the horse. What an amazing team effort. Such a big credit to this horse and Indi for her second starter at Flemington – something like this is everything for us.”
The victory was the first in Victoria for Smooth Chino, who was one of WA’s best sprinters prior to relocating to Gawler in South Australia with his trainer Indianna Weinert.
The Maschino gelding, who was a $40,000 buy at the Perth Magic Millions Yearling Sale, now has eight wins from 13 starts and Saturday’s win lifted his earnings to $926,780.
Smooth Chino ($8.50) and Mazu ($14) edged clear of the rest of the McEwen field over the concluding stages with $2.50 favourite Extragalactic one length away third.
“I cannot believe it, I took the punt to buy a horse that I didn’t even have the money to pay for him on the day and what he has done for me has changed my life,” Weinert said.
“He needs to be over this way. In WA he was going to be out of his class there and here he seems to fit in very well.”
Weinert is now keen to see how he goes at the highest level, with a shot at Tempted in the Group 1 Champions Sprint (1200m) on November 7 a possibility.
