Jigsaw delivers G1 William Reid Stakes success for Alderson
Veteran quick Jigsaw has embarked on a remarkable adventure with handler Cindy Alderson.
Skilful as a two-year-old and three-year-old, Jigsaw faltered during the central phase of his career but has completed the turnaround and emerged as a brace of Group 1 conqueror.
Transported over to New Zealand for success in the Railway Stakes at Ellerslie during January, granting Alderson and rider Logan Bates their debut Group 1 wins, Jigsaw pushed his run of victories to six by taking out the Group 1 William Reid Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield this Saturday.
Coming back only a week on from his win at Caulfield across the same course as the William Reid Stakes, Jigsaw ($5.50) set the speed wire-to-wire for a long-neck margin over Angel Capital ($8.50), with Devil Night ($81) just a short-half-head behind in third place.
In an odd twist, Jigsaw posted exactly 1.08.83 for the 1200m, identical to his time from the prior week's conquest.
Alderson persists in believing the extraordinary sequence of wins must cease at some point.
"But he's not giving me any indications it's going to stop," Alderson said.
"He's just run exactly the same time as he ran last week, so he answered the back-up.
"It's amazing for a small stable like ours to have the opportunity to have a horse like this at this stage of my career."
Among eight Group 1 victors in Saturday's lineup, Jigsaw jumped from the outermost stall.
Conversations with Bates prior to the event focused more on the quality of Saturday's competitors than the extreme wide barrier.
"We were never too concerned about him drawing a wide gate, especially with the start being in a straight line," Alderson said.
"He was able to control the race. He got an absolute flyer of a start and I thought Tropicus would go up and take us on, but they didn't.
"Charm Stone gave him a run on the corner, but he kept fighting all the way to the line."
After seven outings since September producing six successes, Alderson remains undecided on the duration of Jigsaw's current preparation.
"I keep taking it one day at a time," Alderson said.
"I've never backed him up, so that could be the end of the preparation as he's been in work for a long time, but he'll tell me.
"I know him that well. He won't do much for the following week and then he'll let us know.
"Looking at him out there, he's never looked better in his life."
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