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Live sport on SN this weekendSmooth Operator pockets tidy bonus for Riverton Cup victory
Kevin Robertson, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk • April 4th, 2026 6:35 pm
Smooth Operator winning the Riverton Rural Transport Riverton Cup (2147m) | Photo: Monica Toretto
Progressive stayer Smooth Operator not only rewarded his connections with a Riverton Rural Transport Riverton Cup (2147m) victory to savour on Saturday, but also added a $50,000 bonus to the $46,000 winning stake for the time-honoured Easter staying feature.
The Stephanie Faulkner-prepared six-year-old was one of several runners in line for the major spoils in the Southern Cups Bonus scheme, the last of five races that made up the series that had the $50,000 winner-take-all prize up for grabs.
The five points he earned from a win in the Invercargill Cup (2600m) back in February had him third on the points table and with double points on offer on Saturday his 10-point win took him clear of his opponents and put plenty of icing on his victory cake.
The win wasn’t without its struggles as the son of Turn Me Loose had to fight with all his might to get past local runner Riviera Rebel, who had made all of the pace in the contest and was still trucking along strongly with 200m to run.
Rider Tina Comignaghi got to work on the Timaru visitor and Smooth Operator knuckled down to grab Riviera Rebel within the shadows of the post to take out the event by three quarters of a length at the line.
Faulkner had been confident she had her charge back to full fitness after an illness had affected him when running fifth in the Listed Dunedin Gold Cup (2400m) at his most recent start.
“He was a bit off after Dunedin,” Faulkner said. “He ran really well that day considering he had a respiratory tract infection afterwards and it took a long while to recover.
“He had a trial to take the edge off him for today. He loves his racing and he is very serious (come raceday).”
That attitude was clearly obvious in the closing stages as Smooth Operator refused to yield when challenging and once he had headed his rival there was no pegging him back, something that Comignaghi was thrilled about.
“I’ve never won this race before so it was great to do that and especially on this horse as he is just so brave,” she said.
“He was strong all the way as he really went to the start with a full head of steam and when I asked him in the straight he just kept giving for me.
“I had a good run and all I was hoping was that Riviera Rebel would take me into the race as I was travelling better than the others. When we got to the straight, I got a nice split and when I asked my guy he really surged.
“Riviera Rebel made it close but I always thought I had him covered.
“He (Smooth Operator) wasn’t himself at Wingatui and was making some noise, so to have him back to his best today was very special.”
Bred by Go Bloodstock Australia Pty Ltd, Smooth Operator was initially purchased out of KB Bloodstock’s 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale draft by Shaune Ritchie for $32,000, and he had four starts for the Cambridge trainer before heading south to Stephanie Faulkner.
