Cody Cole gave a late call to Craig Grylls to partner his three horses at Wanganui on Sunday, and as he has done throughout the season, the premiership-leading hoop guided each to victory in their respective races.
The first of the Cole-Grylls treble was Full Of Courage (NZ) (Puccini), a promising three-year-old who delivered on his short-priced favouritism in the Remembering Raymond Double MDN 3YO (1600m). Grylls settled the gelding in midfield while Alliance (NZ) (Almanzor) pulled his way to the front, leading the field by a margin into the home turn.
Grylls started to build momentum on Full Of Courage into the home turn and continued to find down the outside of the track, having the edge over second-elect Eagle Rock (NZ) (El Roca) to score by 1-1/4 lengths.
Cole expects the best is yet to come for the son of Puccini, who was bred and raced by Monovale Holdings.
“It was a good effort, he’s still pretty raw and has a fair way to go before he figures things out,” he said.
“He’s a nice horse with plenty of upside. We won’t be seeing the best of him until next season or the following one.”
The winning combination were at it again in the following race, with Four Square Pete (NZ) (Zed) punishing his rivals by over eight lengths in The Junction Tavern Maiden (1600m). The victory was welcomed by Cole after the son of Zed had recorded three runner-up finishes in eight starts.
“I probably expected him to win one a bit quicker than that on what he’s shown us ability-wise, but I think the key to him might be getting him on softer going,” Cole said.
“His two runs on a Soft7 and Heavy8 have been his best two by a margin, so we’ll look to keep him on those sorts of tracks going forward.”
Grylls continued his picket-fence form line when guiding the Shaun and Hazel Fannin-trained Afternoon Siesta (Shamus Award) to success in the penultimate event, and back on Cole’s filly Renovations (NZ) (Ardrossan), the perfect quartet was completed in the Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series (1360m).
While she didn’t put as large of a margin of the field as her stablemate, Renovations delivered a satisfying win for Cole and syndicators Social Racing, who have enjoyed a successful season with top four finishes in the Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m), Gr.3 Eulogy Stakes (1600m) and Listed Oaks Prelude (1800m).
“It was good for the syndicate and everyone involved, she’s been there or thereabouts in a lot stronger races throughout the season, but it was good to get this and it be a Pearl Series,” Cole said. “It’s virtually a $50,000 race.
“She’s stakes-placed, so hopefully she will come back better next season and we’ll have a bit more fun with her.”
Cole has trained eight winners over the past fortnight, but was quick to express his gratitude to Grylls, who took over each of the rides from Joe Doyle, who was unable to be present at the meeting.
“You don’t have to tell Craig too much, I just let him figure out what he has to do,” Cole said. “He filled the shoes for Joe when he couldn’t be there.
“I called Gryllsy and said, I know you want Sunday off, but would you please be able to go down and ride these horses for me please. He didn’t hesitate, he’s an absolute champion of a bloke and is always willing to help. “I’m very grateful and glad that he got the results he did, because he was doing us a favour.”