“He was my best chance all day. I thought he was a moral.”
Those were Gerald Ryan’s first words after Spill the Beans streeted the field in the Group 3 $200,000 Hawkesbury Guineas.
The son of Snitzel ($6) did some work early from barrier nine, but produced a brilliant turn of foot over the final furlong to beat Denmagic ($8.20) by two-and-a-quarter lengths, with Serene Majesty ($13) a neck away third.
“At the 500m mark I thought they’d be flat-out picking him up,” Ryan said.
“It does help having a bit of sting out of the ground as well. Timmy rode him great. He didn’t exert him early.
“We pulled the blinkers off him. He relaxed terrific. When Timmy rode in a trial before the Arrowfield he said, ‘The way he ran today I reckon he’d be a terrific horse in a 1400m race.’ It took a little bit of convincing but we got there.”
The race was Spill the Beans’ first go at the 1400m, and Clark was asked if he had to ride the horse with confidence – with the belief he’d get the trip.
“I had to ride him like I did. He’s not really a hold up, sprint off the mark type of horse,” Clark said.
“You’ve got to roll on him just before the turn and I just had to trust that he’d be strong late, which he was.”
Spill the Beans will now head to Scone, with Ryan expecting the three-year-old to carry on his winning way.
“If he went to Brisbane, the only race I’d have a crack at would be the Stradbroke or the Guineas,” he said.
“Well go to Scone for the Guineas. It’s a $400,000 race where they all carry set weights and he carries 56 (kgs) in it.”
