"Big dummy" wins Northern Metro Final at Alexandra Park

By Michael Guerin

Nicky Chilcott had to be kind to be cruel to Village Rebel and it finally paid off at Alexandra Park on Friday night.

The five-year-old son of Raging Bull outstayed the more favoured three-year-olds Always B Elite and Hawkeye Pierce to win the TAB Northern Metro Final for the pacers, having to do it the tough way sitting parked.

Trainer Chilcott says that is the best way to drive Village Rebel but she hasn’t been letting driver Sailesh Abernethy do that this campaign as she needed to restore the gelding’s confidence.

“He has a motor but the problem is he is a big dummy,” says Chilcott.

“He learned a bit with travelling around last campaign but because he is a bit that way we have tended to drive him tough.

“But as I said to Sailesh, if we keep driving him that way every start we are never going to get the best out of him long term.

“So we decided to start this campaign by sitting him in and letting him run home so he felt good and had some good experiences, even though we knew he might not be able to win that way.

“Sailesh has done a great job sticking to that plan but tonight I told him he could let him go.

“He was ready and he showed that and it was great to get the win as this was the one we wanted.”

Chilcott admits she doesn’t know whether Village Rebel will ever show his total worth, with his brain smaller than his heart, and she says he could spend time back on the Country Cups circuit over the summer as it saw him improve last term.

A horse with more ambitious immediate plans is Friday night’s Metro Trot Final winner Faith In Manchester.

The five-year-old mare blew her rivals away thanks in part to a dominant Todd Mitchell drive but also a sizzling 56.7 second last 800m, which meant those back in the field from big handicaps had no chance.

It enabled Faith In Manchester to trot 3:26.5 for the 2700m off her 10m handicap suggesting she won’t be out of place in open class, particularly as the north is well short of open class trotters.

She will get her chance in the big time soon enough with the new $100,000 Queen of Diamonds at Alexandra Park on December 13, a Group 1 Trot restricted to fillies and mares and a race she should still get into well.

“We think it is a great thing to have a Group 1 fillies and mares trot and the logical aim for her,” says co-trainer Michelle Wallis.

“Then she has the Golden Gait Final the week after so she has a big end to the year coming up.

“I don’t see why she can’t spend time in open class next year, especially with us lacking many open class numbers up here at the moment.”

Other eyecatchers on Friday night were The Jolly Roger making it three wins on end, hard to follow three-year-old trotter Father Barry finally get things right and Franco Santana living up to his breeding winning for the second time on end.

The night started on a great note when Voronov extended trainer Luk Chin’s best ever season with the popular horseman’s 21st winner for the year, seven more than his previous best two years ago.