THIS MUDLARK CERTAINLY DOES

AS Paul Perry so aptly put it: “Some do and some don’t”!

The iconic Newcastle trainer was talking about horses handling heavy tracks – and fortunately he has one who clearly belongs to the former category.

That’s Cruel Summer, who again revelled in the heavy ground at Canterbury today to post his sixth victory, four of which have been on his preferred surface, including three in town.

Ridden by Rachel King, Cruel Summer ($5) drew the inside barrier in a field of only five in the Benchmark 72 Handicap (1250m), and never left the fence.

King rode him along from the jump to stay in touch, then pushed him through a gap on the corner when the leader and eventual third placegetter Debello ($4) drifted away from the inside.

Whereas the $2.15 favorite Brave One skirted the field and was widest on the home turn, he had his chance but couldn’t match the Newcastle sprinter, who forged clear over the closing stages to score convincingly.

In doing so Cruel Summer boosted his earnings to nearly $400,000; a tidy return indeed on the $50,000 Perry paid for him at the 2020 Magic Millions yearling sale at the Gold Coast for his wife Cassie and Alison Newton, a member of long-time family clients, to race him.

“I liked him when I saw him,” Perry said this afternoon, no doubt having taken an even keener look at him as he was sired by the trainer’s international trail-blazer Choisir, who carried off Royal Ascot’s famous sprint double in 2003.

“Who knows why Cruel Summer likes the heavy?,” Perry said.

“Some do and some don’t.

“But I can say he has had a liking for the ground from early on.”

Remarkably, Choisir never saw a heavy track in 23 starts which yielded seven wins and 11 placings, and earnings of nearly $2.3m, before beginning stud duties in the Hunter Valley.

But a closer look at Cruel Summer’s dam’s pedigree provides an insight perhaps into his mudlark prowess.

He is the second foal of Summer Song (retired from breeding last October), and her sole victory was on a heavy track at Kempsey in June 2015 in a 1900m Class 1/Maiden Plate as an odds-on favorite.

And what about her sire Sebring, who like Choisir, is no longer with us.

He won five of his only six starts – and was unbeaten twice on heavy ground; both of them on 10-rated tracks in Group 1s, the 2008 Golden Slipper Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill Gardens and then Sires (1400m) at Royal Randwick.

Perry, heartened by Cruel Summer’s previous run after a freshen up (when 12th in a Benchmark 88 Handicap, 1200m at Randwick on April 19 as a $101 outsider), was confident his gelding would race well today.

“He wanted to be there the other day and raced up on the pace in a much stronger race and was beaten less than four lengths,” he said.

“That was a big drop back today to a midweek Benchmark 72.

“Whilst this rain is about, I’ll try to run Cruel Summer again as soon as possible.”

Multiple Group 1 winning trainer Perry had hoped to clinch a Canterbury double a few races later with three-year-old filly Totoka ($8.50), who had bolted in on resumption at Scone on April 14, in the Benchmark 72 Handicap (1100m) for fillies and mares.

Whilst she didn’t win, her effort to come from last and finish second to Photograph ($6.50), who quickly set up an unassailable break in the straight, was full of merit.

“Totoka got back to a place from where she couldn’t win,” Perry said.

RacingNSW stewards later reported Totoka was bumped by the winner at the start, and then inconvenienced by another runner near the 250m.

. Perry’s city success followed victories for fellow provincial trainers John Bannister (Newcastle) and Angela Davies (Gosford) at Quirindi a day earlier.

Bannister’s Jason Darren ($1.60 favorite), after seven minor placings, broke through in the Maiden Plate (1450m) for comeback jockey Jess Drury, and Davies’ Cashaway Gold (also $1.60 favorite) took the Class 1 Handicap (1000m) and is now unbeaten from two starts for her new trainer.

Story John Curtis, April 30, 2025 - Pics Bradley Photos