Irish Butterfly brought some joy to connections and punters alike yesterday after saluting in the Thoroughbred Club Handicap at Sandown, storming home late to reel in the field for his third victory from just 11 starts.
His get back and storm home late style of racing had drawn the ire of favourite backers of late, with the five-year-old son of O’Reilly having finished in the placings five times over his ten starts. Starting at the prohibitive odds of $1.60, punters again stepped in and with an ice-cold ride by jockey Damien Thornton, the gelding was able to find clear running in the long home straight to salute.
Hearts were in mouths though with 400 metres to go as they steadied up for the run home, with Irish Butterfly still last and eight lengths off the leader. But Thornton knew the engine he had underneath him and he put paid to his competition.
“It was really good to get the result today, he deserved it,” said Thornton.
“He should get a bit of confidence from that, he was very strong on the line too, so there is no reason why next prep he can’t get over a bit further.
“He relaxed well today, I could have been a spot closer, but being on the rail I decided to come back and get that little bit more comfortable getting off the rail and being three wide coming into the straight.
“It was actually a similar spot to last time he ran, except we didn’t have a horse outside of us, so it was just good to see him win.”
Henry’s patience payed off with the five-year-old, knowing he had the horse to get the job done, but as he knows too well, anything can happen on a raceday and they still need to get the job done.
“It was good to get another win on the board with this bloke, it was probably a long time coming and particularly this preparation,” said Henry.
“While it was only a benchmark 64 today, he had to do it the tough way, lumping 60.5 kilos and coming from a long way off them from the corner.
“He has tightened right up from his last couple of runs and will again from today’s run, but he might need a little break now to freshen him up, how long that will be I’m not sure just yet.
“I was really happy with the win today, it was a good win and it was probably better than it looked, and today he proved he can get past them.”
Irish Butterfly will now most likely miss the autumn with an eye to return when the softer tracks arrive to plunder more riches as he goes through the grades. For now, he remains a friend of the punters and let’s hope that continues to be the case for his connections.