From maiden to Cairns Cup winner in 18 months

Tutelage completed a stunning 18-month ride for connections with a fairytale win in the Cairns Cup on Saturday afternoon.

Tutelage completed a stunning 18-month ride for connections with a fairytale win in the Cairns Cup.

Mossman owner Joe D’Addona took a gamble when he purchased the gelding from the Godolphin draft in 2019 – but it paid off in a big way at Cannon Park on Saturday afternoon.

Tutelage engaged $2.40 favourite Namazu in a thrilling duel down the Cannon Park straight before kicking clear over the final 200m to win by a length over the fast-finishing Maquereau.

The five-year-old has been a revelation this preparation, winning five races and missing the placings on just two occasions from his 11 starts.

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But Tutelage wasn’t always destined for success.

The former James Cummings-trained gelding had more trials than actual race starts when he arrived at the Tolga yard of husband-and-wife training duo Janel and Ronnie Ryan in late 2019, and was more than 20 lengths off the pace in his last trial at Rosehill Gardens.

To the untrained eye, Tutelage might have been considered somewhat of a donkey, but to D’Addona he presented a good-value buy.

“We bought him as a tried horse from Godolphin and he only had one start for a second last in Victoria,” he said.

“Godolphin give you a very good run-down on the horses and whether they’ve got any racing problems and things like that, and also he was well bred.

“He was only a three-year-old and only had the one race, and that breed takes a bit of time to develop.”

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Add the Ryans to the mix and you have a recipe for success, D’Addona said.

“I don’t think you can get much better,” he said.

“The commitment they put into their horses … they only got a small band but they really give them hands-on treatment. I wouldn’t have them anywhere else.”

D’Addona and wife Janice couldn’t be on track on Saturday. They were in Townsville after Janice had brain surgery last week.

Fellow owner John Abernethy said it was a special win.

“Joe and Janice, who are related to my wife, they’ve both had sickness in the last couple of weeks,” he said.

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“Particularly Janice has had a cancer issue, but she had a very successful operation, so that’s fantastic.

“Joe’s had a shocking back for the last couple of weeks so he’s incapacitated.

“It’s fantastic for them.”

Abernethy, who is based in the Hunter Valley, said a two-and-a-half-month journey to make sure he could be at Cannon Park on Saturday was well worth it.

“It’s been a long-term plan to get here – and we got here,” he said.

“We came into Queensland about two-and-a-half months ago and were sat on the Gold Coast for two months to make sure we could get up here.

Jockey Rhiannon Payne and owner Joe D'Addona with Tutelage after the gelding won its first race in January 2020 at Cannon Park. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

“We’re up here for a few more weeks, so we might do the Amateurs – we might win the other Cup as well.”

Stable representative Ronnie Ryan said Tutelage’s rise through the grades had been impressive.

“He’s gone from a maiden to winning a Cairns Cup in 18 months, so it’s been a good ­effort,” he said.

Jockey Chris Whiteley said he was delighted to ride a winner for the Ryans.

“They’ve always supported me for the last 20 years since they’ve been training and it’s fantastic to reward them with a Cairns Cup win,” he said.

It is the Ryans’ fourth Cairns Cup win, following on from Pretty Fox in 2001, Seafight in 2015 and We Just Love It in 2018.

Originally published as From maiden to Cairns Cup winner in 18 months