Ralph’s Santa Monica wins Railway
Gutsy five-year-old mare continues to impress in first Group One victory
Outsider Santa Monica belied her $77 winning-odds to take out the Gr.1 Sistema Railway (1200m) at Ellerslie.
In a gutsy performance, the Per Incanto five-year-old was able to nab Princess Kereru on the line to win by a neck, with a further head back to the luckless race favourite Melody Belle, who was posted out three-wide throughout the 1200m feature.
The five-year-old has been in solid form of late for her trainer, Stephen Ralph, finishing runnerup in the Listed Counties Bowl (1100m) and Listed Hallmark Stud Handicap (1200m) last-start, and he expected another good showing from his mare.
“She has been knocking on the door and we knew we could win this — the only horse we feared was Melody Belle,” he said.
“It was great work by Trudy (Thornton, jockey), she has stuck with us the whole way through, she knows the horse and just summed it up perfectly.”
Ralph said he received a confidence boost with his mare after her unplaced performance in the Gr.3 Sweynesse Stakes (1215m) in October, which set her on a path for Group One glory.
“We posted the best last 600m in the sprint down in Rotorua (Sweynesse Stakes) against some of the best sprinters around at the time, so we knew we had the horse,” he said.
Ralph reflected on the long journey it has taken to attain his first win at elite-level and he was quick to mention the loyalty of his owners Stuart and Cherie Hope.
“It’s our first Group One winner,” he said.
“We formed a partnership all the way through. It’s about 13 years in the making with Stuart and Cherie with this horse, so big ups to them.”
Winning jockey Trudy Thornton was just as jubilant for Santa Monica’s connections and said her mount appreciated the firmer ground on New Year’s Day.
“She is such a tough little competitor,” she said.
“It all panned out alright, the speed was on which suited her.
“She got into air when she needed to and tried her heart out, as she does.
“Last-start she went a really good race, but the track was a bit off and she likes it really firm and she got that today.
“She is just so much happier on good ground.”
The wave of support Ralph has received after the race has meant meant a lot to the Waikato horseman.
“For us, the reality is probably sinking in now.
“The amount of kudos that we have received from so many people has been amazing, my phone is running out of power,” Ralph said.
“They just want to be part of that moment.”
While Ralph said it was fantastic to get his first victory at elite level, he feels just as much satisfaction from getting the best out of every horse he trains.
“It’s great winning Group Ones, I always say good horses are good and they win anyway, so we’re just lucky to have a horse with ability,” Ralph said.
“From my own personal view, we get as much satisfaction out of a horse winning a maiden race that has no ability, or a horse that we have turned around since coming to us.
“But this is a little bit different because everyone else has bought into the Group One win.”
Some of those followers literally bought into the win, taking the lucrative odds on offer for both stable runners, with Santa Monica paying $77 for the win, while Marissa paid $18 to her supporters for her victory.
“There are a number of our stable followers who had taken multi bets on the two horses and they have really had a good day,” Ralph said.
“For instance, if you took a $10 multi on the two of them, it gave a return of $24,000.
“A person just told me they picked up $56,000 on a multi bet and I know an Australian picked up $44,000 and there have been a few other very good multi bets.”
Ralph capped off a great day by taking out the last race on the card at Ellerslie, the Barfoot & Thompson 1600, with Marissa.
“That was the cream on the cake (that second win),” he said.
“We knew we had both horses ready to win. It is one of those days that you dream about and it was just our day.”
Like most race days, Ralph was strapping both of his runners and said it was unfortunate that he was unable to enjoy the success with his partner Melanie.
“My partner Melanie generally has to stay home because the work has to be done back there as well.
“A family friend had died on Christmas Day and his funeral was yesterday, so she felt she really needed to go to the funeral and missed out on that big day.
“It’s a shame, because we both do the hard yards, and we don’t often get to share those moments, so we will have to put a day aside and really celebrate.”