Mitchell Pateman springs a minor surprise with I Love Ya Money upsetting the better-fancied stable elect

In-form trainer Mitchell Pateman was expected to walk away with the lion’s share of the $100,000 TABtouch Westspeed Platinum Spring Series Final (1600m) at Belmont, though it wasn’t with the horse most thought when I Love Ya Money caused a minor upset.

Punters piled behind Bosun ($1.70f), owned by the young trainer’s brother, Josh. However, that horse was forced back to last and I Love Ya Money was expertly positioned by William Pike into the one-out, one-back trail.

Pike eased the four-year-old three wide upon straightening and the chestnut let down to take the front with 200m to go.

I’m Nipote ($13) found a rails run to go to second but was no match for I Love Ya Money, who cruised to a length-and-a-half success.

Meanwhile, Bosun beat only three runners home.

“Definitely mixed emotions. I’m gutted for Josh,” Pateman said.

“But I Love Ya Money has been a model of consistency. He’s been up for a while.

“I didn’t think he had the class of the other horse.”

Pateman said the tactical edge of the winner made the difference, though they had initially been reluctant to travel so close to the lead.

“He probably had the run to win the race. They obviously didn’t make any ground (from behind) and he landed close enough,” he said.

“It was a funny sort of race. They looked like they ran along but then they didn’t get home (from the back).

“He was there to strike. It was a beautiful ride. He ended up one-out, one-back.

“That’s probably where I thought he’d be and Justin (Warwick, owner) thought he’d be.

“Willie was a bit hesitant to be that close again, but it obviously worked. He’s sat in that sort of position in the past and raced really well, so I wasn’t too worried once he got cover.”

Pateman said the gelding, who broke his maiden at the beginning of July and had been racing with relative consistency since, was due for a spell.

“I think he’s a horse that’s got plenty of upside. I’ll leave that (programming) up to Justin,” Pateman said.

“He has been up a long time, so he’ll probably need a break at some point.

“But he’s won the grand final today, so I’d imagine Justin will be pretty happy with that.”

Pike said despite conjecture over tactics, the horse’s initial pace made taking up a prominent role a natural selection.

“Things went my way today,” Pike said.

“I asked connections if they wanted to ride him back. Justin rang this morning and said, ‘it looks like the one-one is on offer’.

“I just said, ‘we’ll see how he jumps’. He just jumped smooth and clean and I couldn’t not take that good run that was there.

“I was always confident the horse would run well, especially at the mile. I really do think I had have sat even further back, it wouldn’t have mattered.”

Despite Saturday’s race being a modest affair, Pike asserted that the son of Gingerbread Man would continue to improve.

“He’ll get better as he matures,” he said.

“They play the game. Mitchell is training really well and he’s a horse with good upside.”

The success chalked up a third-straight for Pike on the afternoon, following the victories of Miss Veuve ($3f) and Silent Diva ($1.80f) in the events beforehand.

Miss Veuve tracked the pace from the one-one and was delivered late, while Silent Diva pinged home from last to make it two wins in as many weeks.