Spotlight On: Savage Seas

Just how good is Savage Seas? Or more accurately, just how good can Savage Seas be?

The exciting freshman pacer caused the biggest boilover at the recent QBRED Breeders Classic race night at Albion Park when taking the ‘glamour’ division, the two-year-old Colts and Geldings Final in dramatic fashion.

Savage Seas claimed the Group 3 $50,000 feature downing the heavily fancied Bettor One, Bet Hes Sweet, Hunt For Glory and Yippee Kiyay in a time of 1:54.0 for the 1660m event.

The winning margin was a short half-head while a half-neck separated second and third.

“Getting a winner, let alone a feature winner when you don’t expect it, well, they’re clearly the most enjoyable. We were so thrilled, the whole team behind him, and we celebrated and thoroughly enjoyed the moment,” owner, breeder and trainer Ben Crosby said.

“Going into the final, we had some sneaky confidence. We knew he’d trained on well following the heat run but our confidence was dented a little when the draw came out but, we knew Nathan (Dawson, driver) needed to produce an 11 out of 10 to win it.”

The winning drive is just one of many elements that resulted in a major triumph.

But when pulling apart the winning performance of Savage Seas, that’s when you get the true understanding of the feat achieved.

Facing the starter for just the second time in his career, he scrambled to make the final after finishing fourth on debut in the qualifier 10 days earlier, and that’s all connections needed.

With their ticket to the big dance stamped, connections were hoping for some luck from the barrier gods.

It didn’t eventuate. He got barrier seven, the outside of the front line, while the bulk of his key rivals drew favourably.

Dawson produced magic, landing one out/one back cover from the wide draw.

Admittedly, the erratic behaviour in the score-up from Parisian Hustler assisted Dawson landing a prime position.

At the top of the home straight, race favourite Bet Hes Sweet and Bettor One were locked in a titanic struggle while Dawson pointed to the outside with Savage Seas.

Under vigorous urgings, Savage Seas responded gamely for Dawson and managed to pinch the prize from a gallant Bettor One while Bet Hes Sweet finished third after leading.

Savage Seas is a gelded son of champion sire Captaintreacherous from the talented race mare and now excellent producing mare, Morethanmeetstheye (13 wins, $112,000).

Morethanmeetstheye burst onto the scene back during the 2013 season when she was Group 1-placed in the Nursery Pace Final while winning the Group 3 QBRED Breeders Classic 3YO Fillies Final the following season.

In short, he’s bred to be good.

Savage Seas, aka Jake, ranks as a full brother to Group 1 winners Captain Shuffles (3YO QBRED Triad) and Frankie Ferocious (Chariots of Fire).

Naturally, hype was always going to follow this precocious talent given his bloodlines, but early on things looked a little sketchy.

“It’s hard to compare him against his brothers, they’re all different. Jake is cleaner going compared to the other two while Frankie is the better type of the three. When we broke him in, Nikki (Chalk) and Dad (Billy) said he was very colty; he loved to bite and strike you, which made him difficult to handle,” Crosby said.

“We had to geld him but we encountered another issue. It was discovered he had undescended testicles, so we had to put him under and do the operation. It wasn’t ideal but it had to be done.

“We liked him all along, but he was very green and very unsure of himself. When we took him to his first educational workout at Albion Park he got beat over 70m, which shocked us. 

"But we tinkered with his gear and his next outing was much better. He only qualified with Nikki driving the week before the Breeders Classic heats; we were racing the clock to make the series.”

Natural improvement was obvious for those close to the horse. He made big inroads every time he was taken off the Crosby property at Haigslea.

“His first start was good, all things considered, and he thrived off that run in that fast time (1:54.5). His work leading into the final was as good as any young horse has worked around our property,” Cosby said.

“Nikki has been with him all the way along, she’s played a pivotal role in his development, really ironed him out and continues to work with him day in and day out.

“I was proud of everyone after winning the Breeders Classic. It’s a team effort - the horse, Nikki, Dad and Nathan for his expert drive. It was a perfect storm.”

And who was the first person to greet Jake after taking the feature? None other than his trusted companion, Nikki Chalk.

“I actually cried after it dawned on me he had won. I suppose it’s a lot of emotion given we work so closely with these beautiful animals,” Chalk said.

“I liked him from the very beginning, I don’t know why, but he was always feisty and stubborn yet manageable as a colt - but he’s been a lot better since he was gelded. He’s trained out of a paddock, and he mainly works on his own but he’s becoming more of a racehorse each day. He’s growing up.”

Chalk is no stranger to horses and harness. Her husband, Dale, is a former driver while her father Alan ‘Bunger’ Johnson is a legend around the traps of Queensland.

Chalk was a one-time travelling companion of former champion stayer Flashing Red.

Throughout her career, she has driven 81 winners while training 32 of her own.

With Savage Seas winning the 2YO QBRED Breeders Classic Final, he’s already achieved something his big brothers couldn’t do: taking a feature as a two-year-old while Morethanmeetstheye won a Breeders Classic Final as a three-year-old.

Hopefully, the best is yet to come, which begs the question, how good could he become? Only time will tell.