Champion jumps jockey Steven Pateman has finally completed his stellar career resume by winning the one feature event that had previously eluded him.
Teaming up with long-time friend and trainer Ciaron Maher, Pateman guided Stern Idol to victory in the Australian Steeplechase (3900m) at Sandown on Sunday afternoon.
Carrying a hefty 73kg and giving away at least 7kg to all rivals, Stern Idol justified his $1.85 favouritism with a determined three-quarter length win over Leaderboard ($9.50), with outsider Not Usual Dream ($51) finishing a further five lengths away in third.
Having taken control of the race with 3000m to go, Stern Idol stayed in front for the remainder of the contest. Pateman admitted it became a solitary task in the closing stages after clearing the final fence with around 300m left to run.
“It was pretty lonely after the last with the 73 kilos, knowing the second horse had seven kilos less,” Pateman said.
“I was thinking about how I had never won this race, I can tell you.
“The Australian Hurdle and the Australian Steeplechase, they are absolutely time-honoured events, so it’s super special.”
Pateman was full of praise for Maher and his stable, crediting them with a spot-on training effort to bring Stern Idol to peak condition for the feature steeplechase.
After an underwhelming flat run at Sandown earlier this year, Stern Idol contested two hurdle events leading into Sunday’s race, carrying significantly less weight than the 73kg he shouldered this time.
“He could have run in steeplechases earlier in the year, but he would have carried big weights, and he might have won one, but it’s too hard all the time,” Pateman said.
“He ran him in races where he was better weighted and today was a target.
“The way he settled, he knew where he was and the trip he had to run out. He was chilled and its testament to the horse and the training.
“He went his own rhythm. He travelled sweetly and wasn’t getting keen at all and I wasn’t leading from the get-go.
“I was happy for that to unfold. I wasn’t keen to lead all the way with 73 kilos, which could have been his undoing.
“He absolutely winged the second-last. If you could get some footage of where he took off from and where he landed, it would have been a couple of car lengths.”
The win equaled the weight-carrying record Pateman achieved with Stern Idol in last year’s Brierly Steeplechase (3400m) at Warrnambool, marking yet another significant milestone in his career.
Sadly, the race ended in tragedy as Treasured Crown was euthanised following a fall at the second-last jump. Jockey William McCarthy escaped injury in the incident.
