Cold Chisel hits the right notes in Cardigan Bay Stakes

Legendary North Island harness racing trainer, Barry Purdon, claimed an unprecedented 11th win in the $63,000 G2 Cardigan Bay Stakes tonight (Mar. 24) at Alexandra Park with the Always B Miki colt, Cold Chisel.

Purdon who trains in partnership with Scott Phelan from his Clevedon property also completed a hattrick of wins in the G2 feature, spearheaded by a Purdon/Phelan trifecta with race favourite Escape Artist (Art Major) and Always B Elite (Always B Miki) filling the minor placings.

“He went super,” said winning reinsman, Zachary Butcher who completed his own hattrick in the race aboard Cold Chisel.

“He came off the gate and was lucky to land the trail behind one of the ones to follow. He got the cold shot up the lane and had a bit of speed and was just too good for them. It was a big thrill.

‘He is only a two-year-old and they can get lost out there. It is only his second or third start and the trail was there to take, I thought it was the place to be, so I jumped in there and it all worked out perfect after that,” he said.

Speaking with Harnesslink earlier in the week, Purdon said that he felt the work of Cold Chisel had indicated the colt had taken some huge improvement out of his race day experiences and was progressing nicely in his work.

When the Tony Herlihy trained Yourdoinamazinsweety (Sunshine Beach) flew the gate, it allowed Butcher the room to work forward from barrier four and assume the trailing position many thought would be there for his stablemate, Escape Artist.

It proved a winning decision from Butcher who delivered his charge up the passing lane to win by a margin of a neck back to Escape Artist in second, and just a head back to Always B Elite in third.

The winning time for the 1700m mobile was 2:04.4 with a mile rate of 1:57.7 and closing splits of 58.3 and 28.1.

COLD CHISEL REPLAY

Remarkably, the master conditioners Barry and Scott only purchased five colts at the 2022 yearling sales.

Four of them were in the first 2YO male pacing feature of the calendar.

“We only bought five colts at the sales that year so to have four there in the first feature for two-year-olds is quite a good effort and we have to be pretty happy with. We like to try and get them to these early races and that’s how it has turned out,” said Purdon.

Butcher summed it up best when describing the confidence he draws from pulling on the silver silks with blue spots.

“When you drive for Barry and Scotty, it makes our job a lot easier. You a driving little professional with a lot of speed and ability. I just sit there and point them in the right direction. All the hard work is done at home,” he said.

The G2 winner Cold Chisel was a $100,000 yearling sales purchase from the Denario Breeding draft of Mark and Pauline O’Connor. He joins his half-sister Play Philly (Art Major) as a Group Race winner at two, and gives another New Zealand stakes victory to the promising sire, Always B Miki.

For complete Auckland race results, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink