PATIENCE REWARDED AS JOY TOO ALL TAKES HER RACE RECORD TO FOUR WINS FROM SIX STARTS

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, November 10, 2021

The aptly named Joy Too All continues to put a smile on the faces of her connections with their latest outbreak of happiness coming at Ipswich on November 10 where Joy Too All swept to an imperious win in a Class 3 Handicap over 1100m.

The victory, which was the five-year-old mares fourth win from only six career starts, could not have been more impressive, particularly as she was first-up, raced from the widest draw and was giving away a weight advantage to all but one of her rivals. (The runner-up Uno Amor, who was beaten 2.30 lengths, carried 5.5 kg less than Joy To All).

Ryan Maloney elected to take Joy To All ($2.15) back from the wide draw and the daughter of All Too Hard was last, some six lengths off the speed passing the 800m mark.

Joy Too All clearly seemed to be racing well within herself though, and she confirmed that impression as fact when she quickly made up ground without any apparent effort when racing wide in the sweep to the home turn.

All of six wide on straightening, Joy Too All had already halved the original margin deficit and the remaining three lengths that she had to make up was not even a serious challenge.

All it took was one flick of the wrists from Maloney and Joy Too All accelerated on cue, swamping her opposition in no uncertain terms in what already became an unequal contest halfway up the straight.

While it was only a Class 3 contest, all you can do is beat your opposition. Once you have done that … how well you beat your opposition becomes a consideration moving forward. As already mentioned, the victory could not be faulted.

In the case of Joy Too All, looking back also adds extra excitement to the winner’s prospects.

Maybe the encouragement was slightly muted early on when, in the twenty months between June 4, 2019 and February 9, 2021, Joy To All had five trials (of which she won two), but only raced on one occasion, finishing sixth on debut, when sent straight to town, over 1200m at Eagle Farm on December 13, 2019.

There isn’t a more patient trainer around than David Vandyke though. Not only that, but Vandyke has the expertise to use that time, when he is giving the horse time, to create a comfort zone for the horse to be able to progress. Vandyke has called it meeting the horse halfway.

Whatever you call it, it works for the most part for the stable and Joy Too All is a fine example of that … as you can see from what followed.

Joy Too All’s second start came on March 14, 2021, a full fifteen months after her debut run. This time she appeared on her home track at the Sunshine Coast and she bolted in to win a Maiden handicap over 1200m by clear-cut three length margin.

Just over a month later, on April 18, 2021, she won again over the same track and distance. This time it was in a Class 1 Handicap and the winning margin was 1.30 lengths over the second placed Glitter Strip who would go on to run fourth in the Gunsynd (behind Ayrton) and the Winx Guineas (behind Our Playboy) … both Group 3 races!

Joy Too All’s next mission was to take on a Fillies And Mares Class 3 Handicap over 1350m at Doomben on June 2, 2021. Up in Class and up in distance, Joy To All was not only trying to land a personal hat trick on the day, but she was also trying to complete a treble for David Vandyke after the stable had already enjoyed great success earlier on the card with two stable stars Orbisyn and Weona Smartone … and she certainly gave it her all.

Jumping from the widest draw (barrier 11), Ryan Maloney initially marked time shortly after the start to see how the race would unfold, but he decided fairly quickly to then push forward on Joy Too All ($2.15) because of the slow early pace, to the degree that the mare had found the lead by the 800m mark, narrowly ahead on Palaislipan ($6).

From there, Joy Too All and Palaislipan were the only two runners who were going to matter.

Joy Too All was never more than three-quarters-of-a length clear of Palaisipan as they carted the field along to the home turn where Palaisipan, under the guidance of Glen Boss, hugged the inside rail with Joy Too All some three wide to her outside.

In a stride for stride battle to the line, Palaisipan gained a narrow advantage inside the final 200m and, although Joy Too All stuck with her and dived late, Palaisipan clung on to win by the narrowest of margins. No cigar this time … but nevertheless a run fill of merit.

And Joy Too All duly set the record straight at her next start when resuming her winning ways to claim a telling two length victory in a BM68 Handicap over 1600m at the Sunshine Coast on June 13, 2021.

That result gave Joy Too All a race record at that time of three wins from five starts and it left her unbeaten in three starts at the Sunshine Coast with her record showing that she had won over 1200m and 1600m.

Joy Too All was then spelled and returned to race action some five months later where she won her latest start at Ipswich, in the run described earlier in the article.

That’s four wins from six starts now … all of the wins have come on soft going … with that one oh so narrow runner-up finish … a record which stands as a fine example of how patience can pay dividends.

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