Hood stops Platinum Volos from cheating as he romps to four length win at huge odds

When Platinum Volos walked straight into the gates at Otaki today, part-owner Neville McAlister pricked his ears.

One minute and 20 seconds later it was Platinum Volos who had his ears pricked as he bolted to the line four lengths clear of his rivals, a $27.80 winner.

“I thought at the time it might be a really good sign when he walked in by himself,” said McAlister. “He’s never done that before. It normally takes five barrier attendants to shunt him in.

“But he was clearly in a different mood from what he’s been in.

“With him it’s all about whether he wants to be there. Everything seemed to be different today, he seemed to be a happy horse.”

Happy he was and as far as 600 metres from home you could see Platinum Volos was absolutely trucking while his opponents struggled in the extremely testing conditions.

Commentator Tony Lee noticed the looming threat as he got right in behind the leaders turning for home and, once Charlotte O’Beirne worked him into the clear, he quickly put the issue behind doubt.

The win even surprised the stewards who quizzed trainer Lisa Latta about the huge form turnaround. Just two weeks earlier at Trentham he was back-pedalling 500 metres from home and plugged to the line 20 lengths from the winner.

Platinum Volos and Charlotte O’Beirne are four lengths clear and cruising in their upset win at Otaki today. PHOTO: Peter Rubery/Race Images.Latta explained the addition of a hood, a drop back to 1200 metres and a light weight all contributed to the improved showing.

McAlister believes the hood played the biggest role, rather than his ability to handle deep tracks.

“Bloody cheat, the hood surprised him,” McAlister relayed in a text soon after the race.

“We didn’t want to put any gear on him until we sorted out his barrier problems - the horse has been banned previously for refusing to jump from the gates - and we wanted him to have a couple of runs so everything was right first.

“But it obviously worked today. He wasn’t thinking as much.

“We also raced him out of his grade so he’d be on the minimum. Whether he’s not strong enough to carry big weights I don’t know.

“But it doesn’t matter what he races against, he’s got all the ability in the world, it’s all about the mood he’s in. The field he beat at Trentham when Opie rode him (the Wellington Guineas Trial in October, 2017) was infinitely superior to that lot today.”

But knowing his ability wasn’t enough for McAlister and John and Lynne Street to want to continue with the horse after he was banned last November for twice refusing to leave the stalls.

“John and I wanted to give up on him last year. Lisa was the only one who had any confidence in him.

“She took him home and looked after him during a five or six month spell and didn’t charge us.

“We wouldn’t still be racing him today had she not done that. He would definitely have been gone.”

McAlister says he’s not going to get too excited about Platinum Volos even now that he’s bounced back to his best after so long.

“We thought he might be hurting from something when he had the barrier issue but if he has just been cheating he’ll work out the hood pretty quickly.

“We’ll have to come up with something different. That’s why I thought a trip away from home might be the way to go.”

McAlister is keen on tackling a $30,000 race on the second day of the Riccarton Grand National carnival on August 7.

“If it got really heavy down there it would suit him. And it’s normally not an overly big field on the middle day.

“It just depends on how long he takes to recover from today’s run and when the truck is leaving.

“If he can run like he did today he’d be hard to beat. But you wouldn’t want to be punting him!”