Being patient wasn’t in the Denis Pagan playbook as an AFL coach, nor is it something he enjoys as a trainer, however, that approach is paying off particularly for two of his New Zealand-bred charges.
“I hate it, but you’ve got to do it and they’re my horses and I’m not in any rush,” Pagan said.
“My time will come next autumn when I have five or six good staying types up and about.
“I’ve got better results when I’ve been patient and the words ring in my ear ‘It’s a very expensive game is racing horses, but the cheapest thing is patience and if you’ve got that you’ve got a better chance’.”
This time last year he had a two-year-old called Johnny Get Angry (NZ) (Tavistock) headed into the Byerley Handicap (1800m) for his third start; he ran second beaten under a length and little more than three months later, he was a Victoria Derby winner.
This weekend Pagan will saddle up another outsider, Turn It Up Tommy (NZ) (Tivaci), in that very same race and, while Johnny Get Angry’s Group One success was one of the stories of the spring, the footy-coach-turned-horse-trainer has been around sport long enough to know repeated success doesn’t just happen.
“Completely different horses in the way they approach things, but Tommy’s got a lovely action, he’s going to be a stayer, they’re both great grandsons of Sadler’s Wells and they’re both out of Zabeel mares, so that’s probably the similarities,” Pagan said.
“I’m just hoping for an improved effort. We’ve done a lot of work with ‘Tommy’, he’s starting to settle now, I’ve been able to get Craig Williams to ride him this week, so we’ll find out a bit more about him.
“I shudder to look at the TAB and see whether he’s 2000-1 or 4000-1.”
Regardless of the result on Saturday, ‘Tommy’ will head to the paddock for a break; how long that break lasts though depends on the result.
It would, however, take a significant improvement on his first two runs to allow Pagan to even dare to dream of a Derby encore.
“If he’s an improved run and shows me something like Johnny did in this race, I can plan a path, but if he runs ordinary and I’m romancing with myself, then he just might need a spell.”
