A Nash Rawiller special has delivered back-to-back Gong wins for Gringotts.
If everybody goes left, Nash Rawiller goes right, and the star jockey was again at his navigational best with a memorable steer aboard grand campaigner Gringotts in the Gong at Kembla Grange.
With consistent rain falling throughout the afternoon and a track downgrade to heavy, most jockeys were looking for a wide path in the straight.
But after walking the track several times, Rawiller formed a different view and opted to stay to the inside aboard Gringotts.
"If I wasn't confident, I wouldn't have done it," Rawiller said.
"You've got to back your judgement.
"I've got to be honest. I was worried at the hundred (metres). I thought, geez, I haven't put them away. But I hadn't really gone for him either."
When Rawiller did go for Gringotts ($2.45 fav), the gelding responded, surging again to deny Estadio Mestalla ($5.50) and claim his second consecutive victory in the $1 million Gong (1600m) with New Endeavour ($16) best of the rest.
It followed Gringotts' effort to land successive victories in the Big Dance (1600m) and while he captured a Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) in between, trainer Ciaron Maher said the horse had never raced better.
His spring successes have also served to reward Maher's patience, the trainer opting to back off when Gringotts returned a couple of poor blood readings following his first-up effort in the Winx Stakes in August.
"What a beauty. God, he's a good horse," Maher said.
"I think he is in career-best form. I know he's won a Ryder, but I reckon he is in better form this preparation.
"He was dominant last start (in the Big Dance) and he was quite dominant today and because we missed a couple of races early in the prep he is still on the up."
Maher admitted he was surprised when Rawiller told him he wanted to stay to the inside given the pattern of the day, but he also knew better than to argue.
Rawiller is renowned for his unconventional tactics, perhaps most famously when he brought Think It Over down the outside fence in the 2022 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) and won.
"He said he walked the track four times, and he was keen to stay in. I was like, 'righto'," Maher said.
"You have to (back him). He's walked it four times, I haven't walked it once.
"He had a lot of faith in the horse. I was keen for Nash to stick with him and he's just a beauty. He puts himself on speed, he makes his own luck.
"He is just a trainer-owner dream horse to have."
The victory took Gringotts' prizemoney tally to over $6 million, and Maher said he would get a chance to add to that in next month's The Ingham (1600m) at Randwick.
