For the first time in more than a century, the Great Eastern Steeplechase was held on Saturday rather than its traditional spot on Easter Monday. Perhaps a little surprisingly, only three horses backed up from the Von Doussa thirteen days before — the Patrick Payne pair of Zed Em and No Song No Supper, along with last year’s winner, Spying On You (Grant Young). They were joined by the 2017 runner-up, Tony Rosolini’s Undergroundfighter and I’ll’ava’alf, trained by Patrick Ryan. Although the field contained quality, the number of runners was ultimately disappointing but not entirely unexpected, given that this was a 3-mile chase being run in March.
All the talk beforehand was whether Zed Em could go the distance and back up his win over 3600m with another here over the more demanding 4950m and 24 fences of the Great Eastern Steeplechase. In short, he did, and he did it well.
In a bold riding performance, Steven Patemen took Zed Em to the front more or less from the off, and he led over the first — a position the 7-year-old was never to surrender. Jumping confidently throughout, he stretched the field early on, although Undergroundfighter was putting pressure on for the first two circuits. They began to bunch up a little closer on top of the hill the last time around and, with two fences to go, stablemate No Song No Supper looked to have drawn level at the front. However, he was a little ragged over the penultimate fence and this gave Zed Em the breathing space he needed.
Despite No Song No Supper running on gamely, Zed Em responded to Steven Pateman’s urging down the straight to give the champion jockey his fifth win in the race by about four lengths, and along with it a fourth Great Eastern for trainer Patrick Payne.
Saturday also saw the running of the $100,000 Classic Hurdle which produced something of an upset, with Eric Musgrove’s Abebe putting in a very strong performance to give the legendary jumps trainer his second win at Oakbank for 2018 and ninth win in the race overall.
Patrick Payne’s Angelology was the hot favourite for the Classic Hurdle, and Steven Pateman rode him steadily at the back throughout, allowing Renew and Getting Leggie to make the early running. After the first lap, the field was fairly tightly bunched, and there wasn’t much movement until Abebe headed Renew with five to jump. At about the same time, Angelology began to make a move, but in an impressive staying performance, the favourite couldn’t chase down Martin Kelly and Abebe, with the winner from thirteen days before, About the Journey finishing very strongly again to take third.
Easter Monday (2 April), despite the moving of the Great Eastern Steeplechase, still featured two jumping races, both of which were dominated by the Musgrove stable.
In the South Australian Jumps Racing BM120 Hurdle (3200m), Musgrove horses took out the trifecta, with Murphy’s Delight, ridden cannily by Lee Horner, taking the honours after Searaven, ridden by Rob David, set a cracking early pace. Tangara and Beyond Thankful took the minor places, with Searaven, holding on to eventually take fourth for Oakbank trainer Barry Brook.
Five runners lined up in the 3250m Ecycle Solutions Steeplechase, with another Musgrove-trained winner coming in. Zataglio, ridden by Darryl Horner Jr., which had run a creditable sixth behind Zed Em in the Von Doussa, had a comfortable win of about ten lengths over the favourite Now and Zen, with only three horses completing the course after Pentomatic fell (both horse and rider Martin Kelly were uninjured) and Aldous was pulled up by trainer/rider Steven Pateman after being checked at the end of the first lap.
It may take a little while before a final assessment of the reconfigured Oakbank Easter Carnival can be made, but in terms of public attention and attendance, the Carnival this year certainly lived up to the Committee’s expectations. Easter falls some three weeks later in 2019 (Easter Saturday is 20 April), and so the additional preparation time will hopefully lead to a larger field in the Great Eastern Steeplechase, as will the fact that trainers and connections have had time to become more used to the Von Doussa being run before Easter.
It was also good to see a broader range of jumping horses having the chance to race at the Carnival on Easter Monday, and it’s expected that more trainers will take this opportunity prepare horses for these races as well.
Thanks as always go to the Australia’s loyal band of jumps racing connections and followers who continue to support Oakbank and enjoy everything the Adelaide Hills has to offer, as we now turn our attention to Warrnambool and the remainder of the 2018 jumping season.
