Savatoxl, arguably the best horse to emanate from the Northern Territory, makes his long-awaited return to Alice Springs on Saturday.
The son of Kuroshio, winner of The Goodwood (1200m) at Group 1 level at Morphettville in May 2021, will line up in the third race – a 1200m weight-for-age event – at Pioneer Park on Day 3 of the Cup Carnival.
Red Centre trainer Will Savage, who is also a part-owner of the seven-year-old gelding, has confirmed that if everything goes according to plan, he will back up and contest the $100,000 Pioneer Sprint (1200m) on Alice Springs Cup Day on April 30.
He last contested the feature race for the sprinters in Central Australia in 2020 when fifth behind the Dick Leech-trained Golden Dice, with Savatoxl victorious in the weight-for-age prior to the Pioneer Sprint.
The return of Savatoxl, a last-start 10th in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley last October, has understandably generated plenty of interest and excitement in the Alice, where he won nine of his 12 starts before impressing in Darwin and interstate.
Apart from The Goodwood, the horse has also won the Group 2 Schillaci Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield and Group 3 McKay Stakes (1100m) at Morphettville to make it 17 wins and four minor placings in 37 starts.
“He’ll be very hard to beat on Saturday,” Savage said.
“He’s not 100 per cent fit yet because I’ve got plans to go south again.
“He’s probably only about 90 per cent fit, but he should be very competitive.”
In his first 10 starts at Pioneer Park after debuting as a two-year-old, Savatoxl saluted on eight occasions and also finished fifth in the 2018 Red Centre 2YO Classic (1200m) and third in the 2019 Alice Springs Cup (2000m).
He finished second in the 2019 NT Derby (2000m) in Darwin before returning to the Top End, where he dominated during the 2020 Cup Carnival before finishing sixth in Darwin Cup (2050m).
“He broke the record here when he won the Guineas as a three-year-old – it’s been broken since – he won that by six lengths very impressively,” Savage added.
After disappointing over 1400m (Group 3) against fellow three-year-olds at Eagle Farm in May 2019, Savatoxl returns to the NT after 18 starts across South Australia, Victoria and Queensland since September 2020.
Gary Clarke trained the horse when he raced in Darwin, while Ballarat pair Tony and Calvin McEvoy cared for Savatoxl when he raced interstate.
To date his prizemoney stands at $947,490 – an exceptional return for a horse that was purchased for $18,000 at the 2017 Inglis Yearling Sale during the Alice Springs Cup Carnival.
“He’s come back up here, we’ll give him a run in the weight-for-age and see how he goes,” Savage said.
“That was the plan after his last start in Melbourne, he pulled up with the thumps (synchronous diaphragmatic flutter) again down there after his start in the Manikato.
“He only got beaten by eight lengths or so, but he pulled up just a little distressed.
“We brought him back and gave him a good spell – so far he’s been coming along really nice.
“We decided to give him a little break from that hard competition down there and bring him back up in the warm weather, give him a spell, and he’s thrived since.
“See how he goes, he’s going to have another prep and there’s no plans to retire him – he looks like a two-year-old again.
“I’ve got him nominated in the Sprint – he’s going to carry a bit of weight, but we’ll just see what they give him.
“Every day is a different day – I’ll work it out after Saturday in regards to future plans.
“Not too sure if this will be his last appearance in Alice.
“If he does really well we might go back down south and have another crack at The Goodwood.”
The $502,250 Goodwood for 2023 is scheduled for May 20 – Savatoxl finished eighth last year.
There is no denying the fact that Savatoxl has been Savage’s best horse, as well as his best-ever investment.
“I always knew he had ability, I just didn’t realise he was that good,” he laughed.
“He won a few races up here in the Territory before we went south with him and of course everyone knows what he did down there.
“He was pretty good up here before he went.
“He has raced well in Darwin and Adelaide, and of course he went across to Melbourne and he won the Schillaci over there.
“He’s a pretty honest horse and he can gallop, and he’s a bit versatile too.
“He’s just got that good high cruising speed and he can maintain it for 1600m at least, which makes him a little above the rest.
“When I had him before I thought he was a middle distance horse – a mile horse.
“He can’t carry those big weights over a bit of ground and just keep rolling along because that will pull them up.
“His best distance in my opinion is 1400m or 1600m.”
With Savatoxl set to start in the Pioneer Sprint, Savage is also hopeful of getting an Alice Springs Cup start with Fantasy Eagle – a starter on Saturday in the $40,000 Chief Minister’s Cup (1600m) at weight-for-age.
After three straight seconds, Fantasy Eagle was a last-start winner over 1400m (0-70) when he held on to pip the fast-finishing Magnossiva.
“If things go well this week, yeah, he will go to the Cup,” he said.
“Every time we step him up it’s a bit of a harder race, but he’s always knocking on the door and he broke through last start, so you’ve got to give him a crack.”
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