Out of the darkness comes light

Bargain buy Eternal Darkness recently brought a huge ray of sunshine into the lives of his connections when he ended trainer Tony Chibnall’s 14-year wait for a first Melbourne metropolitan victory.

The $5,000 Inglis online purchase collected more than $50,000 in prizemoney and VOBIS bonuses after leading all the way at The Valley under Logan Bates but, perhaps more importantly for Chibnall, he registered not only a maiden city success but also a first juvenile triumph for the Kilmore horseman. 

Chibnall has been chasing both landmarks since saddling up his first runner – which also happened to be a winner – in a Sale Maiden all the way back in June 2011. He enjoyed Black Pearl Stakes (1200m) success at Geelong with Rainbiel and stable stalwart Deekay has placed at every Melbourne metropolitan track, but Eternal Darkness took just two starts to bring an end to Chibnall’s long quest.    

The 53-year-old only has a handful of horses in residence at his small stable, so he works on a relatively tight budget and cannot afford to splash the cash on high-priced yearlings at the sales. 

Hence why, when his part-time stablehand Trevor Rout offered up the opportunity to train the first thoroughbred he had ever purchased – a two-year-old by I Am Immortal which went through the online auction after failing to meet its $20,000 reserve price at last year’s Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale – he was only too willing to oblige.   

After an encouraging debut at Bendigo in early February, when Eternal Darkness was collared late by Danny O’Brien’s VOBIS Platinum Showdown (1200m)-bound colt Ornos, Chibnall elected to raise his sights and nominated him for the 2YO Handicap (1000m) at The Valley a fortnight later. 

Given a perfectly-judged ride by the in-form apprentice Bates, Eternal Darkness never saw another rival in finishing almost two lengths clear of Facilitate, who at $370,000 cost 74 times as much as the winner.

The evening was made even more memorable by the fact that Chibnall’s daughter Jordan, a talented harness racing driver who like other members of the family was generously gifted her share in Endless Darkness by Rout, also celebrated a winner at that night’s trots meeting in Launceston. 

“We’ve come so close to winning in town so many times that we thought it might never happen,” said Chibnall, whose horses all race in the colours of his beloved Melbourne Storm. 

“But it was worth the wait, and to do it with Trevor’s first racehorse and the first horse our son Lachie has ever owned made it even more special. With Jordan and her partner [fellow harness driver Conor Crook] down in Tasmania we haven’t all been able to get together to celebrate the win, but I’m sure it will also be worth the wait when we do finally get round to it. We’ve had to wait 14 years to get our first city winner, so I’m sure the celebrations can wait another few weeks!”

Eternal Darkness was immediately sent for a short spell and will return to Chibnall’s Kilmore stables in mid-March, ahead of a first-up tilt at the Inglis Gold Rush (1100m) at Bendigo on Saturday, 12 April.

“We had a look at The Showdown but we just thought that 1200 metres against some very fast horses might be a bit too much of an ask at this stage of his career,” said Chibnall, who credits his partner Nadene and daughter Alyssah – the stable’s “number one trackwork rider” – for being the backbone of his operation. 

“He’ll enjoy another week in the paddock, then we’ll give him two weeks on the water walker before starting to increase his workload in the build-up to the Gold Rush. He’s a pretty smart horse with plenty of upside, but he was very pig-headed when we first got him which is why he was gelded. 

“Shaun [Nolen], who breaks in all our horses for us, said at first he’d let you get on top of him but would then refuse to move an inch. So he caused him and us a fair few headaches, but eventually he dropped his attitude and learned to co-operate, and he hasn’t looked back ever since.    

“Obviously he’ll always have a special place in my heart after getting our first win in town, and hopefully he can run another big race in the Gold Rush. But I’ve been in the game long enough to know that you can’t get too carried away after one win.”