It was a case of third time’s the charm for the ever-consistent Far Too Easy in The Kosciuszko, turning the tables with a powerful display to earn his place on the honour roll of the richest race for country-trained horses.
Prepared by David McColm in Murwillumbah, Far Too Easy found the back of leader Front Page, laying down the law with 150 metres to go as he accelerated away for a commanding 2.2l victory.
The triumph takes the son of Vinery stallion All Too Hard to over $2.3million in career prizemoney, having been purchased by Tresbland Pty Ltd for just $45,000 at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale from the Baramul Stud draft.
McColm explained post-race that the fairytale very nearly didn’t happen, with the horse overcoming a serious illness earlier in the year to take his place in the field.
“My dream has come true and not just for us, for this horse, he’s been such a special animal to all of us and he deserves his name in the Kosciuszko record books,” he said.
“We’ve been through a lot with this horse, he’s had his ups and downs. This year he got very ill and I never ever thought we’d be back for another Kosciuszko tilt.
“But he’s come through the day and he’s just, he’s done what he does and that is he tries.
“He was very ill, he was. It was dire for about three days.”
Having placed in both the 2022 (second) and 2023 (third) iterations of the race, Far Too Easy benefitted from the piloting of leading rider Craig Williams, who rode with intent to keep the gelding prominent in the running.
“All credit to Craig; he jumped on a plane, he flew up from Melbourne, you know, a lot of jockeys don’t do that. He took the initiative, he wanted to be a part of it and he wanted to see what he was like in the barriers and it paid dividends today,” McColm added.
Speaking after returning to scale, Williams was eager to underline the tenacity of Far Too Easy as a key factor in the win.
“David gave me the confidence. I rode the horse the other day and I just said to David, ‘This horse is flying.’”
“I rang him afterwards to make sure the horse is going well. He’s really happy with the weather they have there. I know he’s even adopted his plans because I had Michael Cahill as a backup to help me out one morning.
“I can only ride the product that I have. But I was that confident in the horse and well done to David and his team. That horse is such a nice horse, and it’s great to win such a big race on such a big race day around Australia.
“He actually looked at the winner of the Mounting Yard and then in the run, we could do what we wanted, he came underneath me. All I had to do was chase down a really gallant horse.
“That second horse is a really good horse. So it’s no mean feat. He made us half-a-kilo better than beating us last year. But today our horse was just in the right shape. He just delivered, and he made my job very easy. So thanks to the people behind the horse for doing a fantastic job.”
Far Too Easy is one of 25 individual Stakes winners for All Too Hard, who stands at Vinery Stud for $38,500 (inc. GST) service fee this season with payment on a live foal. For bookings or further information, contact Adam, Harry, McKoy or Peter on (02) 6543 8333.
