Patrick Payne has trained his first winner of the 2024 Adelaide Racing Carnival to kick off what could be a big day for the stable, with Jake Noonan piloting Bold Soul (+300) to victory in the Group 3 Chairman's Stakes at Morphettville.
With the likes of Seonee and Wings Of Song set to represent the stable in two of the feature races later in the program, Bold Soul will have settled the nerves for the Victorian trainer, as his three-year-old gelding turned the tables on Air Assault (+360) and Warmonger (+170) from the Port Adelaide Guineas last start.
As expected, Air Assault jumped to the front and led the field at a solid tempo, while the other two favoured runners settled towards the rear of the field.
However, when the leader turned into the home straight, it was clear that he was starting to take smaller steps and the swoopers were starting to gain on the leading division.
Noonan allowed his mount to balance up and the son of Embellish let down with a strong finish to take over and claim victory in the final strides of the race, with Just Berrilliant (+10000) and Air Assault fighting out the placings and finishing in that order.
Although Patrick Payne was unavailable for a post-race interview, Jake Noonan spoke about the win of Bold Soul.
“I didn't put enough trust in the horse last time when he hit that flat spot. Today I just trusted the horse and Paddy just instilled in me to do that,” Noonan said.
“If he gets out of his ground, don't worry about it and if he hits a flat spot, don't worry about it.
“It's a nice track and he's got time to balance up and hit the line if he's good enough, he should close well.
“The horse, when he hit that flat spot, I didn't rush him through it, I gave him the chance to pick himself up and then from the 400, 500-metres out, I felt like the winner a long way out.
“I had the stick in the left all the way and was ready for him to hang in, but for me he went pretty straight and flattened out in the last 100 metres and got there.
“I wasn't worried who I was following and I just wanted to ride my horse.
“He rolled along the other day and I put the trust in him to get the first half right so he can finish off the second half.
“I said to Paddy he looks great in the yard and he gave me a hip and shoulder as to say, ‘what are you trying to say'.
“Paddy and his team have great credentials and his deeds speak for themselves. This horse looks in great order.
“This horse has had a Tasmanian prep, but they don't have a hard time in Tassie.
“They get trained down at the beach with Adam Trinder and they're in a good environment.
“That allows three-year-olds like this to have that sort of preparation and to come here and be in good order.”