San Domenico Stakes: In The Congo too slick for high-profile rivals as Golden Slipper winner Stay Inside struggles on return

Underrated sprinter In The Congo dented a few reputations in the San Domenico Stakes, including Golden Slipper winner Stay Inside and Paulele.

In The Congo and Tim Clark led the San Domenico Stakes from start to finish. Picture: Getty Images

In The Congo used his natural speed to full advantage and upset some high profile three-year-olds rivals at Kembla Grange on Saturday.

All the hype leading into the Group 3 $160,000 San Domenico Stakes (1100m) was about the showdown between returning Golden Slipper winner Stay Inside and last-start The Rosebud winner Paulele.

But the underrated In The Congo, trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, burst out of the barriers and led throughout to claim the feature sprint from the fast-finishing Paulele and Captivant.

“We took bad luck out of the equation,’’ Bott said.

“We used that tactical speed that In The Congo has got and from the nice draw that helped.

“He didn’t necessarily have his own way throughout but I thought it was a great effort to really fight them off and dig deep late.”

IN THE CONGO goes all the way to win the Group 3 San Domenico Stakes from Paulele.@[e-mail]/rn1V1PIFC1

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) August 28, 2021

For Henry Field and the team at Newgate Farm, the San Domenico was a triumph of sorts as they own the first and third placegetters – but what of their other colt, Stay Inside?

The first shock of the race was when Stay Inside settled at the rear of the field early before making his wide on the turn, looming up for a few strides by fading late to run fifth.

Stay Inside’s unplaced finish inevitably had some thinking of the so-called Golden Slipper curse but trainer Michael Freedman wasn’t about to hit the panic button.

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An examination of the sectional times showed Stay Inside recording the fastest 200m sectional of the race when he ran 10.82sec between the 400m and 200m, while he ran his final 600m in 33.7sec, the second quickest behind Paulele’s 33.63sec.

“Stay Inside had an awkward draw and our plan was to ride him conservatively early because we felt he might have ended up three wide,’’ Freedman said.

“I thought overall he was a bit below par but those sectionals times are interesting.

“It’s difficult to assess off one run as they went slow and made it a dash home, too.

“He was first-up after four or five months so we will see how he pulls up but all going well he will go to the Run To The Rose in two weeks.’’

Co-trainer Adrian Bott and Neil Paine with the San Domenico Stakes trophy after the win of In The Congo. Picture: Getty Images

The immediate race program for In The Congo ($7) is still to be determined despite his tough win by a neck from Paulele ($1.95 favourite) with a head further back to Captivant ($17) who finished strongly for third.

Bott could continue In The Congo towards the Golden Rose (1400m) later next month but the trainer is more inclined to make use of the colt’s greatest asset, his sheer speed.

“We will have a chat with Henry Field and connections, map out a plan, but we’d like to keep him to the sprint distances,’’ Bott said.

“Certainly he’s a real out and out speed horse I feel. He may stay up here for a race like the Roman Consul Stakes with eventually the Coolmore Stud Stakes being the ultimate aim.”

In The Congo, a son of super sire Snitzel, improved his record to two wins (and two seconds) from four starts, and Bott said the colt showed his quality by holding off a series of challengers in the straight.
“I knew he would dig in deep, he is that type of horse, he showed that in his previous run,’’ Bott said.
“He is very courageous when the pressure is on so it’s great to see him pull out plenty. He has taken a good bit of work.

“There is so much speed and natural ability there. Just harnessing it the right way but he’s putting it all together now and certainly is going to progress the right way.”

Tim Clark, rider of In The Congo, agreed the three-year-old colt is a “real short course horse”.

“Paulele probably beat him on his merits the other day but it was just disappointing that he didn’t get to show his wares because he got held up badly,’’ Clark said.

“But today the race set up as though he was going to get the lead and he was going to be able to make his own luck and we would find out if he was good enough or not.

“We knew what we were going to get from him. It was a matter of whether he was good enough. He showed today that he definitely is.”

Clark felt In The Congo can only continue to improve with more race experience.

“I still feel he has a bit more to give,’’ Clark said.

“He couldn’t get away from them at the top of the straight then he waited for them to come to him and went again.

“He has good upside. He has always been an impressive little horse and is very tough.”

James McDonald, rider of Paulele, said the race developed into a sprint home which proved the Godolphin colt’s undoing.

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RACE 2

Royalzel defied the betting drift to grip on and win the Midway Handicap (1300m). The Gary Portelli-trained galloper was $1.95 in the morning but blew out to peak at $2.60 just minutes out from the jump. Eventually he would start $2.50. Overall, Royalzel was clearly the one punters wanted with 57 per cent of the total investment riding on him. He held nearly seven times as much as anything else. Oxford Tycoon ($14-$9.50) nearly pulled off a nice betting move after it had good support at the each-way odds.

BETS: Oxford Tycoon $1500 @ $9.50; Royalzel $1,600 @ $2.60, $2000 @ $2.50, $1500 @ $2, $2000 @ $1.95, $2127 @ $1.90, $1500 @ $1.90.

RACE 4

Our Intrigue arrived in time to knock off the big mover in the NSWROA Trophy (2000m). It was Waller and McDonald with Our Intrigue ($23-$26), however, Off Shaw was the one punters zeroed in on. Off Shaw went $9.50-$6.50 and was only nosed out on the line by the winner. Mankayan ($3.30-$3.90) ran on for third. He was easily the most popular runner and held 44 per cent of the total investment.

BETS: Mankayan $2000 @ $3.90, $3000 e/w @ $3.80/$1.70, $2000 @ $3.70, $1500 @ $3.70, $1000 @ $3.60, $1,000 @ $3.50.

RACE 5

Coastwatch got out late but still went around as favourite in the Fujitsu General Ming Dynasty (1400m). Waller and McDonald combined again to see their talented gelding go from 43.10 in the morning to start a $3.80 top pick. Although favourite it wasn’t the most popular with Subterranean ($4.80-$5.50) holding slightly more. The pair dominated the hold though with nearly half the total investment on the race riding with them. Yulong Turbo was the big mover throughout the week. After opening at $15, it jumped a $7.50 chance.

BETS: Coastwatch $1000 @ $3.80, $1000 @ $3.40 TWICE; Subterranean $1500 @ $5.50, $1000 @ $5.50.

RACE 6

In The Congo was very solid in betting despite holding only a fraction of the money that the favourites did in the XXXX San Domenico Stakes (1100m). The Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained colt hovered around the $6.50-$7 mark throughout the day. Paulele was sensationally backed all week and that didn’t stop today. The Godolphin rep went $2.25 and was crunched into $1.95 favourite. Stay Inside went $2.10 all the way out to $3.30. The two favourites were responsible for 77 per cent of the money.

BETS: Paulele $2725 @ $2, $2000 @ $2, $5000 @ $1.90; Stay Inside $1800 @ $3.20, $3000 @ $3, $8000 @ $1.60 PLACE.

RACE 7

Punters were spot on in The Agency Illawarra Premier’s Cup (2000m) with Harpo Marx delivering the goods. Opening the day at $6, Harpo Marx came into $4 off the back of strong support and the fact the pre-race favourite Heart Of Puissance was a late scratching. The Bjorn Baker-trained stayer went around as the most popular horse in front of Spirit Ridge ($4.80). Of the others, Mubariz ($8-$5.50-$6) was a noted firmer late.

BETS: Harpo Marx $1500 @ $4.60, $2000 x $3000 e/w @ $4.60/$1.80; Spirit Ridge $4500 @ $4.40.

RACE 9

The money for Andermatt started on Wednesday and those who jumped on collected handsomely in the ATC’s Most Winning Owner Godolphin Handicap (1000m). TAB went up $6 when markets first opened and it was the first horse backed, the price then firming into $4.40 by Thursday. Money continued later in the week and today, the James Cummings runner was $2.70 which is the price he would jump at. Such was the dominance of the son of Snitzel in the betting that he commanded 51 per cent of the market and was more than four times as popular as the second pick in the market, Majesti Shot ($4-$3.80). Overall, TAB suffered a terrible loss on the race.

BETS: Andermatt $10,000 @ $2.70, $5000 @ $2.70, $3000 @ $2.

Originally published as San Domenico Stakes: In The Congo too slick for high-profile rivals as Golden Slipper winner Stay Inside struggles on return