Champion Horse Rewards Those Who Kept Faith

Sun Herald

Sunday October 26, 2008

By JOHN SCHELL and AAP

FOR more than a year one-time potential star Maldivian didn't win a race yet owner Joe Ricciardo stuck solid with trainer Mark Kavanagh.

And when the big son of Zabeel stormed to the post to win yesterday's Cox Plate, Ricciardo's faith was rewarded.

"I've never lost faith, never at all," Ricciardo said after Maldivian racked up his second group 1 victory and his first win since scoring in the Yalumba Stakes last spring.

"He has had some issues but Mark [Kavanagh] knows the horse and I just left it to him to work it all out.

"Mark's a genius, that's all I can say. And a good bloke to boot."

When asked when he thought Maldivian would win yesterday's Cox Plate, Ricciardo was quick to answer.

"As soon as they jumped," he said.

"Michael [Rodd] got him out of the gates and in a forward position where we wanted to be.

"The horse settled well, relaxed. I was always confident."

Ricciardo made his pile in the mine engineering business and parted with $195,000 to secure Maldivian after starting out in racing as an owner of trotters.

Maldivian has now earned almost $2.5 million for Ricciardo, with yesterday's payday a cool $1.8m.

In a Cox Plate that was full of uncertainty and short on class, they went to the front and kept going.

Maldivian won by a length from Zipping with the Sydney filly Samantha Miss a short neck further back in third place.

"He's a funny old bloke, this horse," his trainer said.

"I knew there wasn't anything wrong with him, I just had to work out when to change things around."

For horse, trainer and jockey, the victory in the country's championship event came a year after all three shared the horrors of last year's Caulfield Cup.

Maldivian went into that race as the short-priced favourite only to gash his head as he reared up in the barrier.

The picture of him returning to the enclosure unsaddled and soaked in blood was an abiding image of last year's spring carnival.

Maldivian erased all that yesterday with a performance that put his name onto an honour roll that includes the likes of Phar Lap, Tulloch, Kingston Town, Sunline and Makybe Diva.

© 2008 Sun Herald

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