he did get there, he was immediately set upon by Naas’s rider, Alan McLean. McLean had done his form for the race, along with the connections of Naas. They knew the race was theirs, provided nothing special emerged from the unraced. McLean knew Manikato was respected in the market, but unaware of the betting-ring plunge when he probed Willetts in the moments before the start.
‘Gary, how good does your horse go?’ asked McLean.
‘Macca, the only part of this horse you’ll see once we jump is his backside,’ replied Willetts.
‘My horse goes okay, you know,’ McLean countered.
‘Not as good as this one,’ said Willetts.
McLean thought of Naas’s owners, who were intending to back their horse, and made an unusual move. He leapt off Naas and signalled to the veterinary official that something was amiss with his ride and Naas needed to be scratched. The vet was quick to the scene where McLean, on the blind side of the vet, was attempting to make Naas walk in a manner that may create doubt for the official. But the charade was over as soon as the vet called for McLean to get back in the saddle and trot-up several strides. It was clear there was no fault in his gait and Naas was declared fit to run. Manikato was now into 4/7 favourite.
The field lined up in the gates, ready to dash the 1000 metres. Betting had ceased and the barriers were activated, sending the field on its way. Manikato jumped well from barrier one, but Naas had immediately gone up on the outside of him to make a race of it early. The rest of the field had already dropped several lengths behind. McLean on Naas was trying to find any weakness in the fancied first-starter. The pace was sizzling. By the halfway point Manikato was keeping Naas out of the lead, but they had raced six lengths ahead of the other six runners—no mean feat in a race of only 1000 metres, which is usually run in under a minute.
McLean was the first to get edgy. With 400 metres to go, he started riding Naas along. Gary Willetts hadn’t moved on Manikato and he knew he had the rails running too. They turned into the home straight with just over 200 metres to go. The chestnut got away from Naas, who was exhausted from hot-footing it for three furlongs with the young powerhouse. The margin grew wider despite Willetts easing Manikato down, and when they reached the finish line there were six lengths of daylight between the two horses, with Naas taking second place.
It was a fast and relentless performance, especially from a two-year-old first-starter. There was a smattering of applause as the winner arrived in the enclosure to be unsaddled. Those applauding made a note to remember his name. Not many won like that on debut.
Willetts commented on how easy the ride was, while Hoysted remained philosophical, suggesting he would now find that city race for Manikato’s next start. Outwardly, he was circumspect but inside he was beaming. He had to keep the horse sound, which was an issue with his half-sister, Tumerah. If he could keep Manikato injury-free, he just might be the outstanding horse he had waited over thirty years to train.
Bon Hoysted had further successes that day. After Manikato’s win, the third of the Hoysted runners—Salyut—stepped out and also won with the same jockey, owner and strapper. It capped off the perfect day for the stable; three runners, three winners. Gary Willetts went home with four winners for the afternoon. Manikato’s debut victory netted $1170 in prize money. Many punters walked out of Cranbourne with more than that lining their pockets.
When Bon Hoysted got home that night he found his wife, May, in the kitchen. He quietly walked up beside her and whispered in her ear, ‘I think I finally have my champion.’
4
The Flawless Diamond
The warmth of summer moved on, as did Manikato’s preparation. It had not taken long to get him to the point where ribs were showing—an indication that he was close to peak fitness. The wonderment of youth was working in Hoysted’s favour. Young horses tend to burn their energy quicker and easier than most older ones. Therefore, Manikato wasn’t required to set Epsom’s training tracks on fire with his workouts following the Cranbourne victory. Hoysted kept him to a quiet trot and a canter for almost a week before a solid gallop on the morning of Tuesday, 31 January. With Willetts in the saddle, the two-year-old breezed up an easy 600 metres in 38 seconds flat.1 The work looked effortless to the naked eye. Most who saw it would have guessed it was in the low 40s, but the fast pace was yet another indication that this horse was above-average.
This was his only serious workout before his next start. Hoysted, true to his word, identified a city fixture for Manikato’s second start: the Mollison Handicap, run at Flemington on 4 February 1978. With his mind set on the Blue Diamond Stakes, this race was perfectly timed on the calendar (being three weeks before the lucrative two-year-old race at Caulfield). To be assured a start, however, Manikato would need to win the Mollison.
It seemed that Hoysted’s strategy was akin to several other trainers. When acceptances were declared, the race was full to capacity, with twenty-four runners. Furthermore, the quality of the race looked formidable, with many in the line-up also headed towards the Blue Diamond Stakes. Leading trainer Colin Hayes had engaged Rumpus Room, who was unbeaten in two starts so far. Karaman was a recent impressive debut winner, just like Manikato. Fearless Duke and Hurtle Square also had good form, and if that wasn’t enough, Angus Armanasco (a genius when it came to training young horses) had three first-starters in the race.
Despite the depth of talent, Rumpus Room was installed as a clear favourite, with Manikato sharing the second line of betting at 9/2. The chestnut had drawn gate five for the race down Flemington’s straight course.
Two scratchings on the morning of the race reduced the field to twenty-two. Racegoers were greeted by a stinking hot summer’s day with a howling northerly wind. It was no surprise that the Flemington track was rated fast. The Mollison Handicap was race seven, at 3.45pm—late in the day for a two-year-old event, but another indication of the quality of the field.
Heading to the gate, betting was keen. Rumpus Room easily held on to favouritism while Manikato drifted out slightly to 5/1—despite Hoysted’s conviction that he had a potential champion on his hands. Nevertheless, it was a chance to make some money and Hoysted invested some of his winnings from Cranbourne.
Races run down the Flemington straight are generally unorthodox. Big fields often split into two groups: one coming out towards the outside rail while the other sticks to the inside. The Mollison Handicap, with its twenty-two entrants, was no exception. However, the size of the groups greatly differed. Twenty horses came to the outside rail while just two stayed near the inside. One of those two was Manikato and the other was Rumpus Room.
Gary Willetts on Manikato and Rumpus Room’s rider, Brent Thomson, couldn’t believe what was happening. They had drawn adjoining barriers and assumed that most opponents would follow their every move. Nothing was further from the truth. Suddenly, they were lonely figures coming down the inside rail. Manikato was leading Rumpus Room, but there wasn’t a lot between them, and each had to brunt their fair share of the workload just to keep pace with the pack.
The straight course met up with the home straight at Flemington with just over 400 metres to go—a little over halfway into the race. Willetts was starting to feel for Manikato. He was in touch as he looked across to his rivals, with Manikato’s naturally high cruising speed helping enormously.
But as he asked the youngster for a bigger effort, both Manikato and Rumpus Room could only lag behind the leader, which was now Karaman. The fierce northerly acted as a spinnaker for those out wider, and most of the field had gained some advantage over the two favourites on the other side of the track. The force of the wind also hardened the outer half of the surface, which made this ground faster than the turf Manikato and Rumpus Room were galloping on. No wonder they appeared to be labouring in pursuit of Karaman.
The race finished a long way off from anticipated expectations, with conditions playing a significant role. The grey Karaman had won at 12/1 for trainer Brian Ralph, with Stan Aitken aboard. Manikato came in second with Rumpus Room following in third.
By day’s end, most had accepted that the grandstand side of the track was lengths faster. Both Manikato and Rumpus Room lost nothing in punter admiration