The resilience of The Cunning Fox delivered jockey Tommy Ryan his fourth career win in the Australian Hurdle at Sandown on Sunday.
Despite appearing to be under pressure with 1200m to run in the 3900m contest, The Cunning Fox ($3.50) dug deep to maintain his perfect hurdles record, claiming a 1-¾ length victory over Highland Blaze ($3.50), with $2.60 favourite Affluential finishing another three-quarters-of-a-length back in third.
The official race time of 4:35.41 was notably slower than Stern Idol’s Australian Steeplechase win earlier on the program, highlighting the hard-fought nature of The Cunning Fox’s triumph.
Ryan was candid post-race, suggesting the result could easily have gone another way.
“We didn’t go overly quick and then they quickened at the top of the hill, and I was left totally flat-footed,” Ryan said.
“He winged the second-last and I was hoping to just stay on their coattails, but once we got in the straight, I gave him one backhander and away he went.
“He put his ears back and was fighting. He’s a tough, tough horse.”
While many had questioned whether the son of Foxwedge would stay the full trip, Ryan had always believed distance wouldn’t be an issue.
“I always thought he would stay the 3900 metres and would get further, and he does,” Ryan said.
“He has that will-to-win. If we could buy that, we would all be multi-millionaires.
“Unfortunately, we all don’t have it, but he has it in bucketloads.”
Joe O’Neill, who manages the syndicate behind The Cunning Fox, couldn’t hide his admiration for the jumper’s grit, having already witnessed him conquer Stern Idol at Pakenham before a brilliant win in the Galleywood Hurdle (3200m) at Warrnambool on April 30.
“He’s a fantastic horse and I’m in awe of how tough he is,” O’Neill said.
“I was a little bit concerned about the trip, but when you look back at his pedigree, he’s got a magnificent European staying pedigree, and he’s closely related to Singspiel who was a very good stallion.
“He’s a cracker and the owners have had a great ride with him.”
