Godolphin are building a family tradition in The Hunter after Vilana joined half-sister Savatiano as a winner of Newcastle’s $1 million race on Saturday.
Vilana stamped himself as a group 1 winner in waiting in 2023 by running down Golden Rose winner In The Congo after a pair of perfect rides from Nash Rawiller on the winner and Tim Clark on the runner-up. They were separated by a neck at the post.
Clark once again showed himself as the master of pace in front on In The Congo ($6) coming into the straight, but Rawiller had Vilana ($4.80 fav) poised to pounce in the one-one and had enough horse to gain a decision.
Vilana (blue silks) shades In The Congo in the closing stages of The Hunter.Credit:Getty
“I felt like the winner a long way out, but he was made to work for it,” Rawiller said. “I just used his natural speed to get across in a lovely spot, and I knew he’d relax once he got there. It was just a matter of pushing the button.
“In The Congo is tough. It felt like we were going to beat it by a length, but he just kept coming with me. But he’s got a lot of class, my bloke. He’s on the way up.”
Clark had seen off Apache Chase, which held on for fourth, by the 250m mark, but that’s when Rawiller got to work on Vilana. Godolphin stablemate Gravina ($17) ran into third 1½ lengths away.
“I thought I had it,” Clark said. “I had a perfect run. He tried his heart out for me even when the winner came for me. He went again and he was incredibly brave.”
Back in the field, Tommy Berry took a harmless tumble from Eleven Eleven at the 100m. There were initial concerns that the horse had broken down.
“He seems all right. We will get him home and check him out,” Eleven Eleven’s trainer Greg Hickman said. “It looks like horse and jockey are all right, which is good.”
Vilana added The Hunter to the Silver Eagle from earlier in the spring, the South Pacific Classic from The Championships, and the Fred Best Classic from Brisbane.
He has won more than $1 million during the spring, and only a wide draw in the Golden Eagle cost him the chance to significantly boost that haul.
“He’s been a model of consistency; the trip away to Brisbane just did him the world of good,” Godolphin assistant trainer Darren Beadman said. “He really matured. it made him stand up and take notice.
“In the Golden Eagle, just the wide gate and the ground was probably a little bit firm and his action just didn’t look right.
“The team have placed him to perfection this preparation. It was wonderful to see the way he knuckled down and fought off a very, very tough competitor in In The Congo.
“We’ve been in the boxing ring before with him, and he really takes all of his competitiveness to get past him.
“In the end, it was quite painless in the run, and you’re always confident when it’s going to be a tight finish that Nash is going to get the best out of them.”
Rawiller has had a tough spring, including breaking his thumb and a suspension, but Vilana has delivered a good ending and it is an association he wants to continue.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in the horse from what he showed me in previous rides,” Rawiller said. “Unless you watch the steward’s replay, you wouldn’t really know what he encountered in the Golden Eagle.
“I felt that the last 100m there [in the Golden Eagle] I couldn’t knock him around he was feeling down a bit. Today he really stretched out beautifully on this lovely track.”
