Into The Night had 29 starts for 9 wins, 5 seconds and 2 thirds, winning over $800,000 in the process. Bought for $80,000 at the MM sales, he was syndicated for $100,000 so all of the owners did very well. His class is shown by the fact that 23 of his 29 runs were in Group or Listed company and he was always competitive.
Highlights of his career were:
- Winning the G2 QTC Cup over 1200m at Doomben and then backing up a week later to run 3rd in the G1 Stradbroke behind Private Steer from gates 11 and 15 respectively.
- Winning the 2002 and 2003 Listed Hilton International Stakes down the Flemington 1200m at carnival time. The second of those wins came under 58kg and he overcame a severe check at the 300m mark to pick himself up and win running away.
- Winning the Listed Starlight Stakes at Rosehill over 1100m.
- Being invited to run in the Hong Kong International Sprint where he started 3rd favourite but was run off his legs and finished 9th of 14 behind the flying Silent Witness and National Currency.
He also ran a number of placings in Group company, most recently when being beaten into 2nd place twice by Spark Of Life.
He was unlucky never to win at G1 level, as he should have won the Salinger but for an awful ride by Damien Oliver when he was beaten a long neck into 2nd spot by Ancient Song. Oli had 5 goes on the horse and couldn’t find the line. At his first run at G1 level he ran 4th in Belle Du Jour's Newmarket Hcp.
Wet tracks also cruelled our chances a few times, as he was a typical Rhythm in that regard being unable to run if the tap was turned on. Such as it was in both of his G1 Galaxy runs.
As an early horse he showed a heap of potential and we knew we had a good one. He was shinny for his first couple of preparations and didn't make the races but when he did he arrived with a bang. Sent out a 6/4 favourite in a 13 horse field in which he was the only first starter (he'd won a trial in fast time by 10 lengths) he was in more sh*t than a Werribee duck before the corner, nearly falling before picking himself up only to find that he was blocked with nowhere to go at the top of the straight. Not panicking, Shane Pawsey got him to the outside, gave him two slaps with the whip and he roared past them to win eased up by 3 lengths. Terrific stuff.
He's had bad feet all of his career so we've done well to have so much fun with him. Fortunately, we've been able to save him so that he can roam around on someone's property until the end of his days.
All good things have to come to an end so well done, Satch, and have fun in your new home.
I have an unraced 3YO I bred still in the paddock. He's a slow maturing type that we're about to bring into work to see if he can actually run or not. He's not that big. We think he can go fast, but we're not too sure how far he can do it for.
Cheers to all of the people who followed Into The Night's career.
