Most would have given up or reached for the heart defibrillator when the unbeaten Chopin’s Fantaisie was seen battling to see daylight at a crucial stage of the $60,000 Class 4 race over 1400m on Monday, but Michael Clements remained unflappable through it all.
To the Zimbabwean-born handler, it was not a matter of whether the gap would materialise, but more a matter of when.
Sent out as the even-money favourite, the Pins three-year-old had nowhere to go after he was trapped in a pocket on the rails with leader Really Capable (Glen Boss) not rolling off the fence, Winterfell (Barend Vorster) also keeping it tight by staying on a straight course, and Fighting Warrior (Benny Woodworth) swinging inwards at the point of the turn to shut out the last recourse - an escape route by the side.
Chopin's Fantaisie (Vlad Duric) keeps his unblemished record going.
Duric looked like he could not hold Chopin’s Fantaisie’s explosive power any longer, sweating on a gap to open up before it is too late.
Time was ticking away, but that window of opportunity finally appeared as Fighting Warrior wilted and dropped out of the race. Lim’s Reform (Nooresh Juglall) came with a withering run on the outside, and could have denied him that run then, but the opening was still up for grabs and Duric needed no second invitation.
The moment Duric pushed the button, the galloping machine underneath him could finally roar into life as he burst through in the twinkling of an eye to go and post an impressive half-length win from Lim’s Reform with Really Capable hanging on for third place another two lengths away. The winning time was 1min 22.85secs for the 1400m on the Long Course.
Ever the picture of pure zen at the winner’s circle, Clements said Chopin’s Fantaisie would have been a certainty beaten if no crack had appeared at some stage over the Long Course.
“He was always travelling very well. It was just a matter of getting an opening,” said Clements who later saddled a double with Arhat (Alan Munro, $37) in the penultimate race, the $80,000 Class 3 race over 1700m.
“Fortunately, it came and he did the rest after that. From the way he was still full of running at the end, he is looking to go over further.
“I will probably also step him up to a higher class. Clearly, he is a very competitive horse.”
Duric described Chopin’s Fantaisie as an extraordinary horse from the way he was able to conjure up that amazing “get-out-of-jail” card at the eleventh hour.
“I was a bit worried to say the least, but he’s an extraordinary horse and I knew he would win the moment the gap came,” said the leading jockey.
“He has a beautiful turn of foot and he quickened through really well. He did stargaze a bit, but he’s a lovely runner and has a smart head on him.”
With that third win from as many starts, Chopin’s Fantaisie has now taken his prizemoney level to the $115,000 mark for the Jubilant Racing No 4 Stable.
