Crossing a 151-1 winner off the bucket list

A rank outsider heading into the race, Crossaro crossed the line just ahead of the field to take out the first at Yarra Glen on Friday. Picture: COURTESY OF RACING PHOTOS

By Lance Jenkinson

There are movies based on days like Pakenham horse trainer Glenn Cross experienced at Yarra Glen on Friday.

Cross has trained 10 winners across his career, including five in a fruitful 2020, but this is one he will remember fondly for a long time to come.

Crossaro, a horse named after co-owners and neighbours Cross and Guido Cerchiaro, was given little hope of saluting in the first race on the card at Yarra Valley Racecourse.

Cross should be biased, but even he could see that Crossaro’s recent form had been ordinary.

The punters absolutely gave Crossaro no hope, ballooning his odds out to 151-1 by the start of the race.

“This horse all along has been nothing to get excited about,” Cross admitted.

“The price reflected his form.”

Cross’s best case scenario for Crossaro was for the horse to settle fourth out of the gates and show his staying power.

That was the instruction relayed to jockey Jordan Childs before the race, but like Cross says, a horse race is “not like baking a cake”, plans can change.

Those instructions got blown out of the water when Crossaro was slow out of barrier four and settled at the tail of the field.

“I didn’t really want him to lead, but I said you’d want to be in the first four because he hasn’t got an electrifying sprint, so you can’t ride him like Winx,” Cross said.

“As it turned out, he missed the start by a length-and-a-half, he was slow away and he ended up in the back four in the field.

“They went quick in front and then they stopped, so it played into our hands.”

Childs and Crossaro sensed an opening once the leaders tired late.

Often maligned for his inability to go up a gear, Crossaro launched in the shadows of the finish line and did the unthinkable, taking out the 1950-metre race from Johnny Reb and High Maintenance.

It was an incredible run from Crossaro – one that could prove to be a defining moment in his racing career.

“It was a good effort,” Cross said.

“He surprised me a little bit because he’s been a really late-developing horse mentally and physically.

“He’s shown me little glimpses, but I’ve never stood back and said ‘this is a bloody good horse’.

“All of a sudden, kaboom, he pulled it out on Friday in the run and showed me he’s a really good stayer.

“It tells me there’s a future and I could win a few more races with him.”

The story of Crossaro is a story of persistence.

While Cross’s patience has been tested, he never totally gave up hope of Crossaro turning his sketchy form around.

Cross now wants to strike while the iron is hot with Crossaro, promising another run from one of the best stories out of Pakenham.

“I’ve had three years of him breaking in, in work, out of work, in work, out of work, so it’s a long haul,” Cross said.

“While he’s in form and fit, you want him to keep the momentum going.

“It takes a long time to get them to that level.”

Crossaro will likely never be at such juicy odds again.

Cross will likely never train a horse to victory at such big odds again.

That is what makes this story special and one that Cross will be telling people long after he retires as a horse trainer.

“I don’t know when I’m even going to get another horse win at those odds,” he said.