Pateman out to find his Group 1 Mojo
Western Australia’s premier sire Playing God (Blackfriars) has been an asset to the majority of Perth’s trainers and the emerging stable of Mitch Pateman is no exception.
Jockey-turned-trainer Pateman will saddle up Mojo Rhythm, a five-year-old son of the Darling View stallion, in today’s Northerly Stakes (Gr 1, 1800m), the last of WA’s three Group 1s for the season and the final elite-level race in Australia for the calendar year.
For the relative newcomer to the training ranks, the Northerly will be the third time he has saddled up a runner in a Group 1, This’ll Testya (Testa Rossa) running third in last year’s Winterbottom Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and Mojo Rhythm a luckless fifth in the Railway Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) a fortnight ago.
The fact that Mojo Rhythm, a winner of four races from nine starts this year since joining Pateman’s stable, is even contesting the race says a bit about the rise of not only the horse but also the young trainer.
The five-year-old gelding won the RJ Peters Stakes (Gr 3, 1500m) third up from a spell on November 18 before tackling the Railway when not gaining a lot of room until late in the straight under Holly Watson.
“He is going super. He has gone forward in leaps and bounds this prep. He’s always been a horse with good ability, but he has raised the bar a fair bit this time in,” Pateman told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“You can probably argue that he was unlucky not to run first three [in the Railway Stakes], him and Trix Of The Trade, were probably both in the same boat. He does like galloping room, but he was held up for a while and once he got out he attacked the line well.”
Riding 749 winners, 13 of them in stakes company, during his time in the saddle, Pateman turned to training in 2021 and since then has carved out a solid start to his new profession, preparing 33 winners, four of them at black–type level and Playing God has had a lot to do with his early success.
Understandably, the man who trained Playing God to win the Kingston Town Classic (now the Northerly) twice, Neville Parnham, has had the most success with his progeny, preparing 25 individual winners of 72 races by the sire, led by last-start Railway Stakes winner and Northerly contender Bustler and the 2019 winner of this race, Kay Cee.
Steve Wolfe is next on the list, greeting the judge 35 times with offspring of Playing God while relative newcomer Pateman is seventh on the table, winning eight races with three Playing Gods: Mojo Rhythm (four wins), the Belgravia Stakes (Listed, 1200m) runner-up Almighty Class (one) and Challenge Stakes (Listed, 1500m) winner Feels Playful (three).
Pateman puts Mojo Rhythm’s turnaround in form since joining his stable down to a different training regime.
“The owners just contacted me to see if I wanted to train him [early this year]. I’d had a bit of luck with the Playing Gods before that, so they sent him to me and he’s done a good job,” he said.
“I looked at his form and I thought he could be a handy Saturday horse if we could get him right, but he’s exceeded the expectations we had of him.
“He’s a very sound horse with no issues at all. We’re very soft on him, he doesn’t do a lot and I’ve found that works with the Playing Gods. They don’t take a lot of work.
“He’s a really naturally fit sort of horse, so once we get him fit we tick him over and he races really well.”
Despite being considered a $51 chance by oddsmakers yesterday – the race is headed by interstate Group 1-winning raider Zaaki (Leroidesanimaux) ($2.50) and Alsephina (Star Turn) ($5.50) who Mojo Rhythm defeated in the Peters Stakes – the homebred gelding has the talent to defy his price, according to Pateman.
“He can travel into whatever race you put him in, whether that be it a 1200 or a 1600 [metres], it doesn’t matter, and that’s probably his biggest asset,” the trainer said.
“Even in the Railway last start, he travelled into the corner like no horse I’ve ever dealt with, he really towed the jockey into the race and that generally puts him in a good position to win races or run well.”
Pateman’s growing credentials as a trainer will reach new heights if his hand-me-down gelding can deliver in the Northerly, named after one of Western Australia’s greatest racehorses, and help the expansion of his business which now has about 30 horses in work.
“Just to win a Group 1 would mean the world, we only have three of them and this’ll be the third different Group 1 that I’ve had a runner in, so to win one of them would be great,” he said.
“We haven’t had a lot of luck in the first two, so hopefully we get a bit of luck on Saturday.”