Trainer John Salanitri hasn’t had many jumpers go through his stable but whenever one arrives he invariably lands a feature race win.
Don’t Be Shy won Saturday’s Australian Steeplechase at Sandown almost 10 years after Salanitri’s last jumper Derringer won the Grand National Hurdle at Flemington.
“We never saw the best of Derringer as he had soundness issues but I’m glad I’ve got another one in Don’t Be Shy to take his footsteps,” Salanitri said.
Ridden by Lee Horner, Don’t Be Shy ($16) scored by three lengths from Gold Meldals ($6) with King Kamada ($6) 3-1/2 lengths away third.
Along with his racing manager, and brother Frank, the pair mapped out the program for Don’t Be Shy’s win on Saturday.
“A lot of work goes into these horses and it’s a pretty emotional win,” Salanitri said.
“I must admit going into this race I was a little bit concerned as I would have liked to have got one more hurdle run under the belt, but Frank seemed to think this was a better option and it’s turned out that way.”
Salanitri said Don’t Be Shy was jumping early in her career as part of her education and had always shown ability.
“She’s got a big following in the stable and she’s quite exciting to watch over the jumps and hopefully she can keep pleasing us,” Salanitri said.
“There’s a number of races we can look at but I was going to be guided by how she went today as to where we go.”
The $2.60 favourite The Dominator (John Allen) fell when leading at the second last jump with Spying On You (Rob David) coming down over the top.
The Dominator was reported to be lame in the near fore leg by Racing Victoria stewards and pulled a shoe while Spying On You was given a clean bill of health by vets.
Both riders escaped unscathed.
