Promising Savvy Spy demonstrated an impressive burst of closing speed to race clear of his rivals in the Ranvet Handicap (2400m).
But just as Tim Clark was bringing the emerging four-year-old back to the mounting yard, the gelding suddenly did a side-step that caught the jockey unaware and left him on the turf near the winning post.
It was a harmless fall with Clark suffering nothing more than a bruised ego.
Savvy Spy knows the secret to winning! A trifecta of wins to the @GaiWaterhouse1-Bott gelding! 🕵️♀️
@GroupOneT
bds @clarkyhk @aus_turf_club https://t.co/cotbzpLgIX
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 7, 2026
“I was posing for the photo or something, I wasn’t expecting that,” Clark said when interviewed by Sky Thoroughbred Central’s Corey Brown post-race.”
Understandably, Clark wanted to make light of the incident but he was more inclined to talk up Savvy Spy after his strong win.
Savvy Spy ($2.30 favourite), trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, sprinted clear late to win by one-and-a-quarter lengths from Saint Emilion ($9) with Mr Fabulous ($21) one-and-a-half lengths away third.
“He is going about things the right way,” Clark said.
“He settled even better today, he really went to sleep for me and when he can do that, then he can show his really good turn of foot.
“In these staying races, a turn of foot will take you a long way. I think he is going to keep getting better with each preparation.”
Tulloch Lodge stable representative Neil Paine said Savvy Spy is not typical of a Waterhouse and Bott-trained horse.
“He is not like one of Gai and Adrian’s horses as he usually gets back in his races,” Paine said.
“We found the key to him. When we were riding him on the pace, he wasn’t finding the line. Since we starting to ride him ‘quiet’ he is finding the line and showing good acceleration late in his races.”
Then trainer Nacim Dilmi gave top jockey Tommy Berry a 10/10 rating for his winning ride on Probability Theory in the Singapore Pools Handicap (1400m).
Berry seized the moment early when he fired Probability Theory out of the outside barrier (8), crossed the front of the field, found the fence then took hold, settling third on the rail behind leader Rose Aye.
From this point, Berry was in control of the race and eased Probability Theory ($11) around the leader before running down Rose Aye ($8.50) to win by three-quarters of a length with Wootton Lass ($16) two lengths away third.
“What a ride by Tommy,” Dilmi said. “He rode the mare perfectly and got the job done, it was a 10/10 ride.
“She’s a nice mare building a good record (five wins from nine starts) and I will just look to keep taking her through the grades.”
