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Weatherbys Super Sprint preview | Kieran Cotter on his Newbury contender Son of Corballis
Adam Houghton chats to Kieran Cotter, who will be seeking the biggest payday of his training career so far when Son of Corballis lines up in Saturday's Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury.
Rewind the clock to 2018 and the idea of winning a big pot like the Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury would have been little more than a pipe dream for County Laois trainer Kieran Cotter.
In a training career already spanning more than two decades of having runners under Rules, Cotter was a man who'd only ever had a handful of low-grade horses to go to war with, and even his figures on the Flat in Ireland in 2018 – five winners from 41 runners and total earnings of €46,700 – were a significant improvement on anything he'd achieved previously.
But that was then. Now, Cotter can look ahead to Saturday's Super Sprint with legitimate hopes of scooping the £122,925 on offer to the winner, buoyed by the growth of the yard in recent years to the point where Newbury contender Son of Corballis is now one of roughly 25 horses in his care.
Already this season Cotter has amassed nine winners (from 67 runners) and €146,860 in total earnings – the fifth year in a row he's made it into six figures. And while the Super Sprint would still be easily the most valuable race Cotter has won in his career to date, he certainly wouldn't be winning it out of turn given events of the last couple of years.
"We’re an overnight success after 40 years!" Cotter joked when summing up the improved fortunes of his team. "We’re a relatively small yard, but we’ve got some very nice horses here now and we’ve been having a good season.
"We’d be used to campaigning in the lower tiers, the 45-65 bracket, and that’s a seriously tough bracket. We just weren’t getting horses of the proper calibre, but we were fortunate enough that it turned a corner. The guys at Stack Media Ltd [owners of Son of Corballis] have pumped some proper money into it and they had some really nice horses last season.
"That's what it's all about. It might sound a strange thing to say, but it’s nearly harder in the 45-65 bracket. When you run in these better races, you’ve got good horses, smaller fields and you’re running for big money. We’re enjoying it and it’s great to be able to go and compete in races at the premier tracks."
Son of Corballis ready to step up at Newbury
Never before has Cotter had a runner at Newbury, but he is understandably hopeful that Son of Corballis, an improving colt who looked potentially smart when making it two from three in a Listed race at Tipperary last time, can make an impact in the Super Sprint.
Son of Corballis returned an SP of 25/1 at Tipperary, but Cotter had good reason to believe that he'd perform much better than when finishing down the field in another Listed race at Sandown on his previous start.
Cotter explained: "It was no fluke at all at Tipperary and he probably would have been second favourite if he hadn’t run at Sandown. They just wrote him off on the back of one poor run which there were valid excuses for.
"The plan was to go to Sandown and hopefully win or finish in the money. We were then going to put him in the Goffs London Sale with an entry to run at Royal Ascot. But that didn’t go according to plan. A few things went wrong and he came home sick.
"He still finished seventh and had several winners right beside him. He did that when he was sick, so we knew we had a good horse. It took a bit of time to get him back on track, but he showed what he can do at Tipperary."
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Son of Corballis won't be a 25/1-shot at Newbury on the back of that run, though it's fair to say that this will be comfortably his toughest test yet, with Queen Mary runner-up Relief Rally and the Eve Johnson Houghton-trained pair of Bobsleigh and Juniper Berries heading the opposition.
For Cotter, though, it's simply a joy to have a horse worthy of his place in the line-up for such a valuable heat, the culmination of a plan which has been a long time in the making.
"We’re hugely looking forward to it," Cotter summed up. "It’s a big pot and it’s been his aim since the day he was entered nine months ago. Subsequent events have led us to believe he’d be very competitive. It’s great to come over and have a chance at it because it’s a serious amount of money.
"He ran in cheekpieces at Tipperary and won, so we saw no reason to take them off. He only does enough and tends to save himself, which is often the sign of a good horse. Hopefully he does enough on Saturday!
"I’m sure the others will put it to him, but he did beat Alabama at Tipperary who’d run a very good race at Royal Ascot from a poor draw. We’re up there with them – we’re in the mix and we’re prepared to go there fighting."
Consisent Macilda Picotte close to return
Cotter also had news of stable star Matilda Picotte, a filly who has already punched above her weight having finished third when sent off at 33/1 for the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in May.
Not seen on a racecourse since finishing a well-held fourth behind Little Big Bear in the Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock later that month, Matilda Picotte is being prepared for an imminent return to action at Goodwood where she'll try and cap her trainer's rise with a first Group-race success.
"I’d say her run in the Guineas took its toll on her a little bit at Haydock," Cotter explained. "We gave her a month out at grass and she’s come back in serious order. We’re absolutely delighted with her now and the plan is to go to Goodwood for the Group Three Oak Tree Stakes.
"We’re looking forward to having her back out again and she hasn’t ducked any challenges since she first ran. She’s competed at the highest level and always run with merit. I don’t think she’s ever been out of the frame.
"She deserves to get a big pot and we’d like to give her the chance to win her Group race. Hopefully, she’ll be very competitive in Group Three company and we’ll see where we go with her after that."
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