Royes Continues Winning Streak with Sunday Double

A gear change and a jump in distance did just the trick to lift former Victorian galloper Nolan to his first Cluden Park win on Sunday.

The lightly-raced son of Caravaggio claimed an all-the-way win for jockey Justin Stanley in the Cowboys League Club C3 Plate (1200m) and handed Townsville trainer Steven Royes the second leg of a winning double.

Royes scored earlier with Acclimatise and went agonisingly close to a treble when the in-form Turn Bird was run down late to finish second.

“The double was nice and the team is going great. It’s certainly a change of luck for us. Up until three meetings ago I’d won one race at Cluden this season after a heap of photos went against us,” Royes said.

“But our luck has turned and we’ve won five races in a month.”

Royes said pushing Nolan out to 1200m and removing blinkers was the key to his win as a heavily backed favourite.

And an aggressive ride was a winning move for Acclimatise in the Great Northern Brewing Co. BM58 Hcp (1609m).

“He (Nolan) came up with winkers, I gave him a couple of runs, put blinkers on and didn’t see much improvement and I thought I’d take it all off and ride him aggressively,” Royes said.

“In all of his starts in Victoria he was leading and kicking like he did today.

“He just couldn’t lead them at the 1000m here, but over 1200m or 1300m he can do it.

“The horse was a pretty cheap buy at $10,000. In the vet report when I bought him it said he had an upper suspensory issue but it’s never been a problem.

“He’d been in the paddock for 14 months before we got him and he’s had plenty of time to get over his problem.

“I thought that was Acclimatise’s best run today. That’s his go. He’s a big horse, don’t let him get into trouble, just let him roll and he’ll just run and run.

“He’s just a one-pacer and just breaks their hearts.

“There’s a BM 60 here on May 6 and we’ll probably run him in that.”

“He’ll carry big weights. He carried 61.5kg after Gabby’s (Semmens) claim and he’ll probably have around 62kg next time.”

Cairns trainer Stephen Massingham is reassessing the plan with the impressive Almighty Jab after a last-to-first win in the Hygain 3YO QTIS Hcp (1200m).

Ridden quietly at the back of the field by Ryan Wiggins, Almighty Jab produced a devastating finish to cruise to an easy win over the smart Head Honcho and Kobayastar.

“It’s just taken a little while to find out how to ride him. When he was racing in the south he was always up handy behind the leaders but getting him back off a hot pace is what he wants,” Massingham said.

“He’s only little but showed brilliant acceleration today and then switched off with 50m to go.

“I keep forgetting that he’s only three. I didn’t even think about putting him in that 3yo today because he’s not QTIS.

“There’s another 3YO over 1300m in 10 days’ time and he can go around in that too and then maybe a break.

“He’s definitely a carnival horse. I can just imagine him at carnival time when they go hard and he can sit off the back of them.”

Massingham also won with Stats who turned around his two disappointing runs back a spell with an upset win in the Mitavite Open Hcp (1400m).

The underrated galloper claimed his eighth career win, coming from last in a field of five but Massingham said the gelding was lucky to be alive.

“About a month before he resumed I was coming down here at 6 o’clock in the morning and he went down with colic and we didn’t think we were going to save him,” Massingham said.

“But one of our girls did a magic job and just walked him and walked him until the vet came and saved his life.

“He’s still not 100 percent right but he’s just an old war horse. He can have 10 days out on the grass now and kick off again.”

Wiggins, Stanley and apprentice Gabby Semmens all landed winning doubles on the eight-race card.

Leading jockey Lacey Morrison will undergo a precautionary x-ray on her left leg after falling heavily from Miss Tambo in the Lyon Build NQ BM70 Hcp (1000m).

Morrison only returned to race riding in April after four months on the sidelines recovering from a torn elbow tendon.

Miss Tambo came down as the field turned for home. Leader Booming Lad led throughout to win the race for apprentice Gabby Semmens and Mackay trainer Tracey Simmons.