Savatoxl (pictured winning the DC McKay Stakes) scored an upset win in the 2021 The Goodwood results. Photo: Jenny Barnes.
The Tony & Calvin McEvoy-trained DC McKay winner Savatoxl scored a boilover win in The Goodwood 2021 results beating home the Robert Sangster winning filly Instant Celebrity and highly-spruiked favourite Gytrash at Morphettville.
All the talk ahead of this year’s Group 1 $500,000 The Goodwood (1200m) was on Gordon Richards’ resuming Yes Yes Yes Stakes champion and The Everest placegetter Gytrash having his first run in six months.
Instead, all the post-race talk is on the fairy tale result for connections of the shock winner Savatoxl who was purchased for just $8,000 and who began his career with a host of wins up in Alice Springs from 2018 – 19.
The former Darwin-trained galloper was moved down to South Australia late last year to the McEvoy’s at Angaston and has now won four of his nine starts with the stable.
On May 1 the progressive Kuroshio five-year-old won the Group 3 DC McKay Stakes (1100m) at the Morphettville track by three lengths, but still he went around at $19 through Ladbrokes.com.au when stepping up in grade for The Goodwood.
Barend Vorster continued associations on the consistent gelding and gave Savatoxl a front-running ride settling right up on the speed behind early leader Dollar For Dollar before taking it up just before the home turn.
Phillip Stokes’ Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes winning filly Instant Celebrity presented as the danger on the straight charging up near the rails and given a beautiful ride by Jamie Kah.
But she wasn’t quite strong enough to run down the flying Savatoxl who held on to win by a dominant two lengths.
Gytrash may not have saluted for the punters, but he did well making-up late ground to come from last to third and round out The Goodwood trifecta after getting into a bit of trouble on the corner when Behemoth pushed him out.
The hulking Group 1 South Australian star Behemoth ran seventh in his swansong race before retiring to serve at stud.
A potential trip to Queensland for a shot at the Group 1 $1.5 million Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm on June 12 could now be on the cards for The Goodwood winner Savatoxl.
He is at $17 in the latest all-in 2021 Stradbroke Handicap odds at Ladbrokes.com.au – available in full here – with The Goodwood – Stradbroke double last achieved by Santa Ana Lane (2018).
2021 The Goodwood Results & Finishing Order
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Penalty | Starting Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | SAVATOXL | Tony & Calvin McEvoy | Barend Vorster | 2 | 56kg | $19 | |||
| 2 | 9 | INSTANT CELEBRITY | Phillip Stokes | Ms Jamie Kah | 2L | 11 | 55kg | $5.50 | ||
| 3 | 2 | GYTRASH | Gordon Richards | Jason Collett | 2.4L | 4 | 58.5kg | $2.70F | ||
| 4 | 4 | DIRTY WORK | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Jye McNeil | 3.7L | 1 | 57kg | $16 | ||
| 5 | 10 | PROPHET’S THUMB | Anthony & Sam Freedman | Damian Lane | 4L | 7 | 55kg | $21 | ||
| 6 | 5 | VIRIDINE | James Cummings | Damien Oliver | 4.3L | 9 | 56kg | $31 | ||
| 7 | 1 | BEHEMOTH | David Jolly | Craig Williams | 4.6L | 6 | 59kg | $4.60 | ||
| 8 | 3 | KEMALPASA | Richard & Chantelle Jolly | Jake Toeroek | 5.8L | 5 | 57.5kg | $12 | ||
| 9 | 7 | PRETTY BRAZEN | Tony & Calvin McEvoy | Luke Currie | 6.8L | 3 | 55.5kg | $41 | ||
| 10 | 8 | BEAU ROSSA | Will Clarken | Todd Pannell | 9.7L | 8 | 55.5kg | $16 | ||
| 11 | 11 | DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR | Tony & Calvin McEvoy | Jason Holder | 10L | 10 | 54.5kg | $61 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
