There are moments in racing where the result doesn’t tell the full story, and Sunday afternoon at Ascot Park Raceway delivered one of those in dramatic fashion.
Chiggsy produced a performance full of courage and determination to finish a heartbreaking second in the Group 1 Diamond Creek Farm / SBSR 2YO Classic, beaten by one of the smallest margins you’ll see at the elite level.
Early in the race, Chiggsy made a bold move to challenge for the lead but was unable to cross Roger That, driven by Carter Dalgety, who was able to hold the front and dictate terms.
Forced to take a sit in third, the race shape quickly turned against him.
Rather than waiting, Chiggsy was asked to improve and rolled forward to race parked for the final lap, a tough, uncompromising position in a Group 1, especially for a young horse.
What followed was a performance that confirmed exactly what type of horse he is.
Turning for home, Chiggsy dug deep. Under pressure, he fought relentlessly, matching motors with the leader stride for stride. In the final few metres, the pair went to the line locked together, neither willing to give in.
It took a tense two-minute delay in the rain for the judge to separate them.
When the result was finally posted, it was Roger That who had prevailed, by the barest of margins.
“Super proud of the horse, he just fought so hard,” said managing owner Andrew Fitzgerald.
“It felt like an eternity. I was out the back of the stand in the rain thinking I’d take a dead heat to be honest.”
With the margin so tight, there was still uncertainty even after the numbers went up.
“On the TV the margin didn’t look right to me, so the stewards took me upstairs to look at the official photo on the laptop. They let me put the mark where I thought the nose was, and there was still a tiny margin to Roger That. It might seem silly doing that, but with such a big ownership group and the following this horse has, I wanted to be able to go back to everyone and say with certainty, there was a margin. Plus it helps me sleep at night” said Fitzgerald.
While the result may read second, the performance told a much bigger story.
Racing parked for a lap and still going within inches of winning a Group 1 is no small feat, especially for a two-year-old still learning his craft.
For his large ownership group, it was another powerful reminder of the journey they are on. From the sales ring to a Group 1 photo finish, these are the moments that define racehorse ownership.
And in the way he fought all the way to the line, Chiggsy showed the same toughness, heart, and determination of the person he’s named after, a performance that carried far more meaning than just the result.
