Asphalt might turn out to be a big steal for trainer Joshua Krispyn after the Maschino four-year-old destroyed his opposition at Bunbury last Sunday.
Under gloomy skies Asphalt shined brightest, scoring an emphatic win under hot jockey Brad Parnham and delivered favourite punters with an easy watch.
Asphalt surged to the front with 150m to go and was never in danger of being run down, bounding away to win the MGIB Maiden (1400m) by a whopping seven lengths.
After narrow runner-up finishes at his previous two events, Asphalt’s maiden win at start number four could not have been completed any easier.
Although a maiden, the way that Asphalt put away his rivals gives Krispyn and his small stable confidence that he's found a horse with a bit of upside.
In one of those sliding door moments, Asphalt came to Krispyn after Bellbridge Park breeders Michael and Siobhan Campbell offered the gelding to several other WA trainers.
When those negotiations amounted to zero interest and fell through, Krispyn was thrilled he was next in line.
“Michael asked me if I wanted him and I grabbed him,” Krispyn said to Racing WA.
“I don’t know the full story, but I think Micky offered him to a few trainers.
“I looked at his breeding and Maschino’s are going good.
“I thought it was a no brainer, and I needed one at the time.
“I’m very surprised no one took him.”
Asphalt continued a lucrative 48 hours for Parnham; he also had wins aboard Scenic Wings and Ginger Baker in the feature: the Listed South-West Cup (2200m).
A day earlier at Pinjarra he scored on top three-year-old Repossession in the Listed Beaufine Stakes (1000m), the first leg of a running double after Timeless Gem closed out the meeting.
Krispyn said if Asphalt is as good as he thinks he is and can be, he would have been disappointed if he wasn’t a part of Parnham’s weekend winning haul.
“I would have been pretty disappointed if he didn’t get the job done,” Krispyn said.
“He had been running well in a few stronger class races than that.
“It was good for the owners to see him salute like that.
“Early days when I first galloped him, he was pretty green and new, but the way he extended and quickened up, he gave me a good feel of a nice horse.
“To be honest, I was pretty confident going into the race.
“It’s good to have a nice one in the stable again.”
Those stables are now at Bunbury, for a second time, a recent change for Krispyn after acting as stable foreman for ace trainer, Stephen Miller.
Time spent with WA racing royalty wasn’t long, but the experience and knowledge gained under his astute and reputable horsemanship skills are incalculable.
“I trained here earlier before they changed the track, I came back in November,” Krispyn said.
“I was lucky enough to work for SJ (Stephen Miller) and learned so much from him.
“I’ve worked for a lot of trainers over east and here and he is the one bloke who I probably learned the most from.
“I’ve got five or six yearlings and things are starting to roll.
“The hard work is starting to pay off.”
Julio Santarelli