Simply in outstanding form, winning his past six starts, Manhattan Rain gelding Jigsaw added Saturday’s $1m G1 MVRC William Reid Stakes (1200m) to his win in the G1 Railway Stakes (1200m) in New Zealand two starts back.
Seeming to age like a fine wine, the rising 8yo gelding has never raced better, and what's interesting is that only once in those last six starts has he started race favourite.
Straight to the lead on Saturday in his usual racing pattern, jockey Logan Bates flew the gates and came across from the outside barrier to settle a length clear, but travelling a few lengths off the rails.
Leading into the home straight, Bates upped the ante on the Cindy Alderson trained gelding, and while it looked as if dual G1 winner Charm Stone would make it interesting, her run was short lived along the inside, as those from back in the field started to work home.
G1 Blue Diamond runner-up Devil Night was starting to work home down the outside while the Chris Waller trained Angel Capital was caught up behind runners back in the field.
As the line was reached, Jigsaw held a half length winning margin over the very unlucky Angel Capital who is still searching for his elusive G1 victory while Devil Night finish narrowly back in third.
Race favourite Jimmysstar (NZ) failed to flatter in the run to the line making up very little ground to be beaten into seventh, more than two lengths from the winner.
“It’s getting more and more unbelievable as we go along,” Alderson said post-race.
“I keep thinking it’s going to stop sooner or later. He’s not giving me any indications it’s going to stop. He’s just run exactly the same time as he ran last week, so he answered the back-up.
“It’s amazing for a small stable like ours to have the opportunity to have a horse like this at this stage of my career.”
Logan Bates has a great affiliation with the gelding and super excited to record G1 success in Australia aboard him.
“What a horse, just to come back from pretty much nowhere and, this preparation, I mean, you look at him now, he's just the ultimate professional,” enthused Bates.
“He relaxed beautifully, he was on the ball, and it was the query, backing him up, he's never ever done it and he's normally a horse better kept fresh, a month in between runs, and it's just a credit to Cindy and her team. They do a fantastic job.”
With more than $2.9m earnings from his 15 wins, and five placed efforts from 39 starts Mrs LB Alderson-bred Jigsaw is the best of three winners out of the three-time-winning Lonhro mare Demandz, herself a daughter of the Listed winner Loaded Command.
From the family of multiple G1-winning All Too Hard mare winner Steif Magnetica, Demandz has a yearling filly by Street Boss named Labyrinth, while foaled a filly in the Spring from the first crop of Darley’s Group 1 Newmarket Handicap winner Cylinder (Exceed And Excel)
Jigsaw is one of 41 stakes performers for the Geisel Park Stud-based Manhattan Rain, who has been represented by four individual G1 winners to date.
The G1-winning and G1-producing son of Encosta de Lago covered a book of 40 mares last spring at a fee of $5,500 (inc. GST) in Western Australia.
