The Captain impresses for Gary Clarke again, winning the Silks Darwin Weight-For-Age in Darwin

GARY Clarke – who always likes to keep a lid on his high-performing stable – could not wipe the smile off his face after The Captain’s 2 ½ length victory in Saturday’s $34,000 Silks Darwin Weight-For-Age (1200m) at Fannie Bay.

Gary Clarke’s The Captain was super impressive yet again on Saturday, saluting in the $34,000 Silks Darwin Weight-For-Age (1200m) at Fannie Bay. Picture: Caroline Camilleri

THE Captain just keeps inspiring for champion trainer Gary Clarke.

Clarke – who always likes to keep a lid on his high-performing stable – could not wipe the smile off his face after his 2 ½ length victory in Saturday’s $34,000 Silks Darwin Weight-For-Age (1200m) at Fannie Bay.

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“I’d like to have a stable full of horses like him. He just loves to race and he loves to win,” said Clarke after the reigning two-time Darwin Horse of the Year saluted, with star jockey Jarrod Todd aboard.

Incredibly, Saturday was his 14th win from 27 starts in Darwin for the Clarke stable, for the super consistent and evergreen eight-year-old gelding.

He set the tone early and by the turn the rest of the field was never going to catch him.

Phil Cole’s Pioneer Sprint champion Smuggling (jockey Wayne Davis) finished second.

“Jarrod and The Captain make a good combination,” Clarke said.

“Not many can do that (what the horse has achieved in Darwin with the Clarke stable).”

Clarke is now confident his superstar sprinter can carry his fine form into the Palmerston Sprint on July 31.

“He’s finished second and third in the Sprint before, but never won it,” he said.

Saturday’s result meant The Captain has well and truly moved on from arguably the only weak spot of his magnificent career – performing well in Alice Springs.

Smuggling won the 2021 Pioneer Sprint in the Red Centre, with The Captain finishing second-last.

“He doesn’t seem to like the dirt in Alice – the surface is probably a bit more shifty than it is here in Darwin, and he loves running in Darwin,” Clarke said.

“He’s been near-perfect in Darwin. If they don’t show up for the Palmerston Sprint, he’s more than capable of winning.”