Import springs a Balaklava surprise
South Australian trainer Jake Stephens looks set for another top spring racing campaign after his imported French horse Gris Caro won yesterday’s $80,000 Balaklava Cup over 1600m.
The win replicated the 2009 Balaklava Cup win of popular horse Alcopop who went on that year to take the Group 2 Hebert Power Stakes (2000m) and start favourite in that year’s Melbourne Cup before finishing sixth.
Gris Caro was purchased for the Stephens stable as a replacement for the recently retired Alcopop and so far its all going to plan – almost.
“I’m going to have to pay the late nomination for the Melbourne Cup now because I stuffed up the other day,” Stephens told reporters after the race.
Stephens had forgotten to pay up for second nominations.
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It was classy win by the imported four-year-old, given he’s never raced over the distance, and it was his first start in Australia coming off a run more than a year ago in Hong Kong.
Gris Caro arrived at Stephens’ Fleurieu Peninsula stable earlier this year.
A winner of the Listed Prix Georges Trabaud (2000m) at Marseille Borely in May 2012 (above), the horse clearly has ability.
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Stephens was confident before yesterday’s win that he’d bought into a very good horse.
He told Racing Victoria’s website the $250,000 horse had been overlooked by other potential buyers.
“I was looking around in Hong Kong and one of the girls who works for Sir Michael Stoute (top UK trainer successful with Estimate in the 2013 Ascot Gold Cup) made the suggestion,” Stephens said.
“There had been a few people that had looked at him already and had rejected him because of her rear conformation.
“He’s not a well-built horse from behind but since we’ve been doing a lot of hill work and with me and my 90 kilograms on top of him, he’s bulked right up in that time.
“Some of the bigger trainers would have looked at him and crossed him off straight away.”
Gris Caro’s international form reads well with four wins and four minor placings from nine starts. Yesterday’s win suggests he has plenty of improvement in him.
The horse was ridden by Dom Tourneur who rode Alcopop in the Melbourne Cup.
Tourneur, Stephens and the imported grey look set for another wild ride in spring racing’s biggest events.
