Morton revelled in the spoils of first Kalgoorlie Cup triumph

Ascot trainer Dan Morton revelled in the family’s strong connections with the region and its famous Race Round after brilliant stayer Stafford’s Lad gave him his first triumph in last year’s $150,000 XXXX Kalgoorlie Cup (2200m).

Morton, whose success emulates the deeds of his father, Len, who won the 1998 cup with Sugarstone, lauded the courage and skills of Shaun O’Donnell aboard the top weight who lugged 59kg.

The race was barely at its halfway mark when Stafford’s Lad ($10), trapped wide, was taken forward by O’Donnell to sit on the outside of pacemaker Native Chimes ($16).

It was then a war of attrition down the straight when Stafford’s Lad was forced to hold off the charges of No Apology ($5) and Native Chimes.

The margins were a neck and short half-head.

O’Donnell — who took the ride due to Chris Parnham’s suspension — followed up his cup success from 2013 with Classique Ivory.

Race favourite General Grant ($3.70) was ninth.

“Kalgoorlie’s one of those places where it means a lot to a lot of people and we’re no different,” Morton said.

“I didn’t grow up here myself, but my dad did and all his brothers and sisters so we have a lot of friends and relations up here which made it a pretty special win.

“I’ve been coming to the Round ever since I was a little kid with Dad, we love it and it’s special.

“Myself, I’ve been training for 15-odd years and haven’t missed too many Rounds. This was certainly a race I’d wanted to win for a long, long time.”

On O’Donnell’s tactic to take Stafford’s Lad forward, Morton said it was “a brave and gutsy move”.

“He had to do something because he was out on a limb and buggered if he stayed there,” Morton said.

“But he was smart enough to make a pretty ballsy move early, to put the horse right into the race and turn it into a proper staying test, knowing he had a proper stayer under him.

“It was a smart move and I could see why he did it.

“My concern was that he dragged No Apology into a really good cart behind him and lucky our guy is a proper stayer.

“It was a huge effort under the weight and can’t be understated.”

Morton said celebrations after the race were mainly low-key.

“We just went up the street to de Bernales (Tavern),” he said.

“A whole group of the owners were up, which was great.

“It was a pretty quiet sort of night really, but enough to get half a headache.”

Kalgoorlie trainer Brian Allen was never one for fanfare — even in the euphoria of Living The Dream’s decisive victory in the 2021 $150,000 XXXX Kalgoorlie Cup (2200m).

Allen’s finest moment in the sport was just four years after gaining his trainer’s licence.

But he wrote his name into local racing folklore in stunning fashion — as a caretaker trainer for a month when Living The Dream was sent to him from Lindsey Smith after winning the Coolgardie Cup (1760m).

The morning after lifting Goldfields racing’s premier cup, Allen was still processing the magnitude of the win — albeit with mixed emotions, with Living The Dream immediately sent back to Smith.

It followed a night of modest celebrations.

“My wife and I, (fellow trainer) Justine Erkelens and a few other friends just went to the Star and Garter (Hotel) for a few beers and a bit of pizza,” Allen said.

“Then we headed up town, but I was home by 11 o’clock — it was getting a bit too much with all the young people out on the town.

“But it was unbelievable, just the amount of people who came up to shake my hand.

“I didn’t know half of them, but they knew me and everyone was very kind. Somehow, I’ve gone from training maiden winners to a Kalgoorlie Cup.”

Living The Dream left Allen’s stables first thing the next day.

“I was down there early, put him straight on the float and he headed off about 6.30am,” Allen said.

“But that was always the plan because there’s nothing for him here now.

“Speaking to Lindsey, he said he might have a go with him at the Northam Cup now and that’s up to him.

“But I’m just so grateful that he sent him up for the month.

“It was (sad) because he’s such a beautiful, big stallion and just the finest gentleman in the world.

“I will miss him, but with plenty of memories between us now.”

Allen approached Smith at the start of 2021 about acquiring one of his runners on loan, but never expected it could work out this well.

“This is a little bit far-fetched for me,” Allen said.

“But I did ring Lindsey earlier in the year, asking him if he had anything for me and, if so, would he mind sending me up a horse.

“I just expected he’d send up a maiden, but his advice was to be patient and he’d send me up the right horse. What can I say — he has thrived since he’s been up here and everything just turned out great.”

Class stayer Missile Launch compensated for missing a Melbourne spring carnival campaign when he finished brilliantly to win the 2020 $120,000 Iron Jack Kalgoorlie Gold Cup (2200m).

The Vaughn Sigley-trained gelding, ridden by Patrick Carbery, scored from Divine Shadow and Friar Fox while Ihtsahymn ran fourth at his last start before retirement.

Missile Launch exploded to the lead about 100m from the finish, after being eighth at the 1000m and sixth near the 600m.

Sigley has achieved training triumphs with the giant-sized seven-year-old, whose career has been disrupted by allergy problems.

“After his big run in the Perth Cup, we planned on racing him at the Melbourne Spring Carnival,” Sigley said as elated owners mobbed him after the race.

“But COVID-19 ended our interstate travel plans and we aimed at Kalgoorlie instead.

“He finished seventh in the Coolgardie Cup and ran a Boulder Cup fourth on visits here over recent weeks.

“We learnt a lot about the best approaches to travelling him from my Hopeland stable to Kalgoorlie, and he was at his best today. I was rapt with how he was going from the 1000m.”

Sigley and the bay’s syndicate of owners wore blazers resplendent with Missile Launch’s dark blue, red-and-white racing colours.

Carbery said Missile Launch travelled like a winner from the early stages.

“I was happy to be three-wide with cover and following Friar Fox,” he said.

“The pace was slower than I anticipated, but that was not a problem.”

Emerging stayer Spiritual Warrior overcame two scares early in the 2019 Kalgoorlie Cup to score a remarkable win.

Connections and punters had their hearts in their mouths when Spiritual Warrior slipped at the start and then clipped heels passing the winning post the first time, almost causing jockey Lucy Warwick to fall.

However, Warwick kept her cool and allowed a fired-up Spiritual Warrior to stride to the front.

The $3.80 favourite, trained by Warwick’s father Justin, burst clear early in the straight and held on late to win by a long neck.

Lucy Warwick said Spiritual Warrior relaxed and travelled strongly after overcoming trouble early in the race.

“He just reared and shook his head when the gates opened,” she said.

“Luckily, as soon as he got to the front he settled beautifully.”

Justin Warwick was full of praise for his daughter’s ride and Spiritual Warrior, who he described as a difficult horse to handle.

“After we bought him I would have given him back a few times,” he said.

“We didn’t get along too well and he slowly got better and better.”

The first Kalgoorlie Cup was raced 123 years ago on March 4, 1897, with bay gelding Paul Fry, ridden by a Victorian jockey, winning as a 2-1 on favourite in a field of only four.

The second Kalgoorlie Cup of 1897 took place in August, with Paul Fry installed a 5-2 second favourite behind Le Var (2-1).

The two engaged in a pulsating battle over the concluding stages, but Paul Fry won by half a length.

Back-to-back success was repeated in the initial decades by Sport Royal in 1901-02, Mistico (1915-16) and Runabout (1928-29).

Mistico was considered a bargain buy for Mid West station worker Walter McKenzie Grant in 1913. Bought from Melbourne, the colt rarely raced and was leased to Grant’s brother, David.

Mistico debuted as a two-year-old in 1914 and won at his second start. He failed as an odds-on favourite in the Sires’ Produce Stakes but resumed from a spell as a three-year-old by winning the WA Derby.

Jockey R. Brennan rode Mistico to a thrilling neck victory in the 1915 cup over English import Irish Duck.

The following year, Brennan was again in the saddle and guided Mistico to a two-length win. By 1918-19, Mistico was winning races in Melbourne and ended his career with 29 wins, eight seconds and four thirds in 73 career runs.

Easewold also enjoyed dual success, in 1945 and 1948.

Legendary jockey Frank Treen rode six Kalgoorlie Cup winners — Portage (1949), Beau Temps (1951), Elmsfield (1954), Maranalgo (1961), Best Boots (1966) and Star Of The Desert (1969).

Over 20 years, trainer Herbert Holmes enjoyed a remarkable seven Kalgoorlie Cup triumphs.

In 1901-02, he was successful with Sport Royal and followed with The Snail (1905), Prophecy (1908), Annapolis (1909), Cocotea (1917) and Bardus (1920).

The race distance has changed over the years. It was one-and-half miles from 1897-1924 but switched to one-and-a-quarter miles in 1925, 1927 and 1942. From 1943-71, the journey was one mile and three furlongs and it was 2200m from 1972 to 1995. It was extended to 2300m from 1996.

One of the most controversial Kalgoorlie Cups was in 1993.

Top Villain edged out Silver Tongue by a short half-head to grab the $200,000 Triple Nugget Bonus, awarded to any horse winning the Coolgardie-Boulder-Kalgoorlie cups treble.

But a few weeks later, the stewards announced a pre-race blood sample taken from Top Villain showed a level of carbon dioxide above the 37 millimoles/litre limit. Carbon dioxide is measured to determine the possibility a horse has been “milkshaked” with a solution of bicarbonate and electrolytes.

After a November hearing, Top Villain was disqualified. Silver Tongue was promoted to first.

Along with $105,000 stakes from the Kalgoorlie Cup, the Triple Nugget Bonus was lost.

The 2015 race was one for the ages. More than a century of Goldfields racing history was rewritten after Jerry Noske’s historic win aboard Woodsville.

From the inaugural race in March 1897, a male jockey had piloted the winner on every occasion — until 2015.

And Noske’s triumph as the first female rider to win the cup was truly a family affair, with her father, former jockey Jeff Noske, the winning trainer.