Flying machine Simon Told Helen employed his trademark catch-me-if-you-can tactics to land a $100,000 first prize in tonight’s Group 1 Silver Chief final (525m) at The Meadows.
Trained at Little River by David Burnett, Simon Told Helen (Box 4) notched his fourth group race win with a display of dazzling early speed and mind-boggling mid-race acceleration.
His sizzling first and second split sectionals were 4.99sec and 17.40sec respectively.
And once again, he ran his rivals off their feet in registering his 10th win from 15 starts. His stakes spiralled to $261,105.
WATCH: Simon Told Helen (4) make it look ‘simple’ in the G1 Silver Chief.
Owned by the Emma’s Boys Syndicate, Simon Told Helen ($3.50F) defeated Aston Wizard ($7.80) by almost four lengths, with Tiggerlong Tonk ($26.60) – a recent finalist in the G1 Hobart Thousand final – a further one and a half lengths away third in 29.68sec.
An ecstatic Burnett rated it “the biggest win of his career”. “He’s a super dog and that early pace breaks them… He’s getting closer to Fernando Bale’s first split record (4.89sec) every time.”
And he added: “I think I’ve got 32 messages on my phone and they’re still going… It’s the first time we’ve been able to get them (all five owners) all together. I believe they’re talking about donating a percentage of the prizemoney to the bushfire appeal, it’s a great gesture.”
The January 2018 son of Barcia Bale x Who Told Lindylou has also won the G2 Queensland Derby, G3 Cup Night Sprint and G3 Great Chase. He was also runner-up in the G3 Silver Bullet.
It was his fifth successive win, and his fourth win from five starts at The Meadows.
Amazingly, his sire – Barcia Bale – had five finalists in this year’s final. He also sired last year’s winner, Barooga Brett.
Burnett also had Simon Told Helen’s litter brother Who Told Stevie ($5.00), who finished fourth in the final. His previous best result in the Silver Chief was sixth with My Silver Chisel in 2016.
