Peter and Paul Snowden chalked up their first
Stakes Win as a training partnership after their
FASTNET ROCK 4yo entire,
CLUSTER unleashed an amazing run from clear last to win the
Gr2 Theo Marks Stakes 1400m at
Rosehill on Saturday. The time was 1.23.34 on the Dead 5 track with the final 600m in 35.52.
CLUSTER - Winning the THEO MARKS Gr2
The newly formed Dynamic Duo -
father and son training partnership has defied pundits and has made every post a winner since
Peter and Paul Snowden vacated the Darley stables training role in May.
PAUL & PETER SNOWDEN - Collecting their FIRST STAKES WINNERS TROPHY together
To give statistical evidence to the statement, since the father and son duo started training in May the boys have had
89 Runners : 22 Winners – that’s an amazing 24.72% Runners : Winners !
However things didn’t quite go to plan for Cluster and the boys had to sweat a bit and survive heart palpitations during the run before the duo celebrated their first Stakes Race Win together.
CLUSTER (Tim Clark) outside of BULL POINT in Theo Marks
Tim Clark aboard Cluster settled at the tail of the field and had to hook to the extreme outside and reel off a sensational finish to catch and go past
Chris Waller's FASTNET ROCK entire BULL POINT to score by a half-neck.
CLUSTER (Outside) forging to the front
"I had a couple of shakes of the head," Peter Snowden said. "It's not where we wanted to be, that's a huge job. We didn't sort of get to the spot where we wanted too and we had Bull Point outside of us laying in on top of us.”
The narrow defeat was a bittersweet one for Coolmore Stud who own Bull Point.
FASTNET ROCK
Their
Champion Stallion FASTNET ROCK sired the Trifecta producing the first three placings past the post after
Ninth Legion finished in third.
Michael Kirwan - Coolmore Stud
"If there could be a good result out of it,
Cluster beating us is probably it and we got a
Fastnet Rock trifecta anyway,"
Coolmore Stud's Michael Kirwan said.
Peter Snowden had originally considered an
Epsom Handicap preparation for
Cluster but was mindful of not overtaxing the four-year-old who only kicked off his racing career with the Snowden's in a massive 9 length win of a maiden at Kembla on 28/6.
Cluster has now started 4 times for
Peter and Paul Snowden for 3 wins and an unlucky second and has gone from a Maiden to a Gr2 winner.
"I think what we have had in mind all along is the
Gr1 Rupert Clarke and I think that's tailor-made, and the win today should get us in," he said. "He has done a good job."
Incredibly,
Cluster did it the tough way, having chewed through the tongue tie in the mounting yard.
"He just bit through and spat it off. He's got sharp teeth." Peter laughed.
“On paper it looked like he was going to get a gun run and it didn't pan out,”
“He stepped well enough but just got squeezed out of that spot we wanted. To be inside and back where he was, last and the second favourite outside of him making sure he wasn’t going to go anywhere, I was thinking at the 400m, I don't want to be here.”
“Full credit to the horse once he got to the outside, he showed what class he has really got and might have franked where we go from here. He has a massive amount of acceleration and we saw a bit of that today.”
“He was not ridden ideally through bad luck and circumstances, but the effort was huge and his sectionals were probably very good as well stamping himself with the true ability this horse has got and I am glad he has won that.”
Snowden said that the
Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield on Sunday September 28th will be next on the agenda for
Cluster.
Jockey Tim Clark commented “I had to come back around Bull Point, but I had enough confidence in my horse that he was going to be good enough to do that,”
TIM CLARK returns aboard CLUSTER
“When I got onto his [Bull Point] back and let him drag me into it.”
“He’s some horse. I definitely think he’s got the ability to get a Group 1 beside his name. He’s a magnificent horse and Peter and Paul have done a great job with him.”
“
Josh Parr had been riding him terrific as well, he’s been doing a fair bit of trackwork on him. It’s a shame he had 53kg today, I had to fill in, but he’s (
Josh Parr) has done a terrific job on him,” Tim said.
Parr a natural heavy weight jockey, was not able to make the light weight of 53kg for the ride.
Clark rated
Cluster as having Group 1 quality as his patient ride through circumstance rather than design, worked out perfectly.
"He's got an awesome turn of foot and he's a real horse," he said. "It was unfortunate [to get into an awkward spot]. I wasn't going to the fence, but he was good enough to overcome it and the good ones are" Tim said.