Lindsay Cadzow remarkably wins Strathalbyn Cup with $1000 purchase Stormsarrived

Trainer Lindsay Cadzow landed his biggest win in Sunday’s Strathalbyn Cup with a horse he purchased in an online sale for $1000.

Caitlin Tootell guides Stormsarrived to victory in the Strathalbyn Cup on Sunday. Picture: Makoto Kaneko

It’s an arduous journey on the road from Strathalbyn to Bordertown, but trainer Lindsay Cadzow did it triumphantly on Sunday night after Stormsarrived produced a blowout result to win the Strathalbyn Cup.

The $1000 bargain buy has stamped herself as one of the stories of the South Australian racing season, winning two city races, before pulling off a gritty performance to defy race favourites Wild Imagination and Midnight Mass in Sunday’s $107,000 country feature.

• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet’s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

It’s the landmark win of Cadzow’s training career, and he’s done it against the grain, snapping the mare up for the slender figure, and then outfoxing punters on race day to watch her score at $46 odds.

“We’re just heading into the pub now to have a drink to celebrate,” Cadzow, who lives half an hour South of Bordertown, said on Monday.

“We’re pretty tired from the excitement, we didn’t get home until after 8pm because of the 3½-hour drive.

“It’s the biggest race we’ve won, there was one at Bordertown which was named after my father which we won, which was quite a thrill – he was still alive at the time.

“And then the Bordertown Cup, so the Strath Cup is certainly the biggest race I’ve won.”

Jockey Caitlin Tootell and Kym Cadzow celebrate the Strathalbyn Cup win. Picture: Makoto Kaneko

• Jockey whacks rival hoop several times with whip

Formerly trained by Henry Dwyer, Stormsarrived was advertised on an Inglis Digital Sale in August of last year, and the four-year-old caught the eye of Cadzow’s wife, Kym, which was the making of a shrewd shopping coup.

“My wife saw her online and she’s a good judge of type,” he said.

“I liked the way she raced, we expected to pay at least $5000 minimum on what she had done with the seven starts and one win.

“The second and third horses were trained by good trainers, and they had done well after she won, so I thought the class is there and we’ll have a go.

“We put a couple of bids in and nobody else come back – we got lucky.”

While a few cards need to fall your way in acquiring a talented horse for $1000, a willingness to tackle a Benchmark 80 (2500m) at Morphettville first time out was ambitious race placement that paid off.

Stormsarrived scooted away for an upset win at $61 on September 14 last year, netting $35,500 for the Cadzow’s in less than three minutes.

Not bad for a $1000 investment, eh?

“The main reason she won the first city one is that there weren’t many nominations in the race and we thought we would get our money back,” Cadzow said.

“That put her rating up, and if she hadn’t have won that one we probably wouldn’t have been going to these bigger races.

“She’s proven competitive so we just keep on doing it.”

Wow! What a call, what a story! 👑

Stormsarrived, who was recently purchased for $1,000, just won the 2025 Strathalbyn Cup at $46 💰 pic.twitter.com/oiNlMhzBwb

— Racing.com (@Racing) January 26, 2025

• Stars set to step out at delayed Geelong trials

Stormsarrived’s nine starts for Cadzow have included another city win, saluting at $26, and the handler believes the formula for her success has been simply keeping the daughter of Akeed Mofeed happy.

“It’s just a happy environment I think, I don’t go to the track often, I’ve just got a few sand tracks around the scrub, and just about every day she’s looking at something different,” he said.

“Whether I’m galloping or just working (her) it’s a different track or different direction, it’s changed up all the time so she doesn’t get bored. Other than that, we just treat them like a horse.”

Sunday’s victory wasn’t just about the mare and her trainer however, it was also about the talented young apprentice in the saddle, Caitlin Tootell, who notched the biggest win of her fledgling career, that has reaped 51 winners.

“It was really nice, her dad (David) rode for us and won a few races for us many years ago,” he said.

“We gave her a chance, I think she’s had five runs for us for a win, a second, two thirds and a sixth – we’ll keep putting her back on.

“Caitlin’s a good up and coming young apprentice, she’s got a good head on her shoulders and is riding well to instructions.

“You’d nearly compare her to Jamie Kah (Melham), the way she rides with her feel and touch of the horse, Jamie rode for us a couple of times too in the early days – it’s a bit of a comparison there.”

Jockey Caitlin Tootell celebrates alongside Stormsarrived, Kym and Lindsay Cadzow on Sunday. Picture: Makoto Kaneko

• J-Mac's answer to racing’s burning question: Via Sistina or Romantic Warrior?

Stormsarrived settled third throughout Sunday’s 2050m race, with the trail behind leaders Nasho and Wild Imagination, before peeling out en route to a narrow win as Cadzow battled for a vantage point on the other side of the fence.

“I was in the wrong spot in the crowd and I didn’t see a lot of the straight, even with the big screen as people started jumping around,” he said.

“She got carted in nicely and worked up the hill to join the leaders, she was just too strong down the straight. She’s a very tough mare.”

Cadzow is now considering a tilt at the Group 3 Lord Reims Stakes (2600m) on February 22.

“We’re thinking we might have to have a go at the Lord Reims now, because her rating (now 77) jumped another 10 points yesterday,” Cadzow said.

“She’s done the distance, so we’re not worried about that, she’s fit, healthy and it will be a month between runs but she’s done that before and won.”

Originally published as Lindsay Cadzow remarkably wins Strathalbyn Cup with $1000 purchase Stormsarrived