SUNSHINE COAST REVIEW (SUN, OCT 12)

A review of the meeting held at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday, October 12.

Race 1:

QTIS Maiden 3yo Plate - 1200m
1st - La Bandera; 2nd - Craiglea Falcon; 3rd - Prince Echelon

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Les Ross: “Improved run obviously. The extra ground and the going helped. Otherwise you could perhaps put it down to the fact that she is getting more experienced. She’d had three runs which some of the opposition hadn’t. It just goes to show you. You never know how close you are. Shane was ready to sack her after her last start.”

Co-owner Shane Lister: “I was ready to sack her. You should have seen me at the farm. If I could have found a dog I would have kicked it. I really expected her to do much better than she did last time. I raced her mother and she was pretty handy.
“This was much more like it. You take your wins when you get them because you never know how long it might be till you get the next one ... so I’m enjoying this.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Near the 800m, Implode (S. Cormack) improved onto the heels of Chillabundy (N. Thomas) and had to be steadied. Craiglea Falcon (A. Coome) was held up for clear running from the 600m until approaching the 400m. Implode raced wide throughout. N. Thomas, rider of Chillabundy, and C. Dixon, rider of Suntrader, reported their mounts failed to handle today's track conditions.


Race 2:

Class 3 Handicap - 1200m
1st - Diamond Sapphire; 2nd – Arsang; 3rd - Akoya

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Stewart Mackinnon: “It’s nice that she came back good after a break. Before the spell she had been racing over further, but I think we’ll stick around the sprints for a while. I’m still working her out.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Arsang raced wide from the 600m. Arsang, which was inclined to lay in from leaving the 400m, shifted in near the 150m, inconveniencing Craiglea Pearl (A. Coome).
When questioned, K. Pope stated that, in his opinion, Powerful Elements performed disappointingly. He added that the gelding travelled well until entering the straight, however when placed under pressure, Powerful Elements failed to run on. A post-race veterinary examination failed to reveal any significant abnormalities.


Race 3:

Maiden 3yo & Up Plate - 1000m
1st – Emition; 2nd -Hawk Hunter; 3rd - Kiss The King

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Liam Birchley: “He’s not a difficult horse to train, but he does have his issues and so he needs a bit of extra attention. He tends to run on his nerves. That’s why I had him in blinkers first time to try and restrict his view. So he probably didn’t need that incident on the bend. It wouldn’t really have helped with his education, but, those issues apart, he certainly confirmed that he has the type of ability we thought he had, which is good.”

Jockey Shane Scriven: “I thought the blinkers would have helped sort him out, but he wanted to run too fast too quickly after the start. I was still trying to get him to settle when something happened in front of me. It was scary. Thank God for aluminium. I thought we were going to go right through the fence but there it was, the aluminium was buckling, the horse was reefing and pulling. It wasn’t the sort of experience he needed at this stage of his career, but somehow we managed to survive that moment.
“We lost a lot of ground though and I really didn’t think we could still win. I thought that was it. But then I took him to the outside in the straight and he more I gave it to him the more he responded and we got there in the last stride.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Emition (S. Scriven) raced greenly in the early stages. D’Avignon (J. Piper) blundered near the 800m of its own accord.
E. Wilkinson, rider of Hawk Hunter was found guilty of a charge of careless riding, in that near the 700m he allowed his mount to shift in, resulting in Supremative (D. Barron) having to be steadied and shift in away from the heels of Hawk Hunter resulting in Lisaldatroy (M. Hughes) being tightened for room and having to be checked. S. Scriven, rider of Emition, which was following, was forced to take evasive action and as a result Emition had to be checked and became unbalanced, shifted out, forcing Hennessy Warning out, which resulted in D’Avignon being forced out across the heels of Box Seat (M. Heagney) and having to be checked. E. Wilkinson was suspended from riding in races for a period covered by 7 meetings, to commence at midnight, 15 October and to expire at midnight, 25 October 2008.
Near the 600m, Emition, which was unbalanced, shifted in and made heavy contact with the running rail, losing ground. Cheque For Freedom (J. Taylor) raced wide and hung in throughout the race, resulting in J. Taylor, having to stop riding and straighten the gelding near the 50m.


Race 4:

Maiden Handicap - 1400m
1st - La Mouette; 2nd - Hell Week; 3rd - Irishkiwi

WINNER FEEDBACK:
The Rob Heathcote trained La Mouette scored her breakthrough win in her eighth start. It was a hard-earned success as La Mouette had to draw on both her ability and character to see off the persistent challenge of the Gary Wells trained Hell Week in a thrilling stride for stride battle to the line.
La Moutte provided Heathcote with his fourth winner of the weekend. The trainer, who was away on a quick visit to Tasmania and Melbourne, had sent out three winners on Saturday. On the Fridge won at Eagle Farm while Pyper’s Image and Kentish Rose were successful at the Gold Coast.
La Moutte was also jockey Jim Byrne’s fourth winner of the weekend following his hat trick of wins in back to back races at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Near the 1200m, Wynarae (L. Rolls) shifted in, resulting in Irishkiwi (S. Cormack) being taken in on to Fifibelle (R. McMahon). In this incident, Archway’s Bliss (M. Hughes), which was racing back and to the inside of Fifibelle (R. McMahon), had to be steadied. Leaving the 1000m, Irishkiwi, Shake The Lantern (J. Piper) and So Long (M. Paget) all commenced to over-race when the pace steadied. As a result, Shake The Lantern shifted out abruptly to avoid heels and then raced wide from that point onwards. So Long continued to over-race until a point approaching the 600m. La Mouette (J. Byrne) raced wide throughout.


Race 5:

Class 1 Handicap - 1600m
1st – Monchenglabach; 2nd - Box Seat; 3rd - Reigning Kings

WINNER FEEDBACK:
The Bruce McLachlan yard has been struggling to fire in recent times. Monchenglabach gave them reason to smile and provided positive evidence that a corner might have been turned as the four-year-old took no prisoners when scoring in a most authoritive fashion.
Stable jockey Sean Cormack had the gelding towards the rear of the field in the early part but the pair wasn’t prepared to lie in ambush for too long. Cormack asked Monchenglabach to improve his position in the sweep to the turn, which he did in effortless fashion, and then they merely continued their run and hit the lead earlier in the straight than most pundits would have expected.
For a moment the thought lingered that Cormack might have made his move too soon, but that doubt was quickly erased as Monchenglabach quickly opened up a winning lead, to the extent that Cormack was able to totally ease his mount down over the concluding stages and he passed the post with plenty in hand.
It was an impressive win under the steadying burden of 58kg.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Box Seat (M. Heagney) reared at the start, losing ground. Near the 1200m, Femme Lien (M. Paget) had to be steadied when Vettori’s Image (K. Wharton) shifted out to avoid the heels of Refined Desert (G. Baker) when the pace slackened. Approaching the 700m, Raining Kings (O. Turpin), which was racing in restricted room to the inside of Hoodini (M. Hughes), was forced to steady when Refined Desert (G. Baker) shifted out momentarily. Femme Lien (M. Paget), which was following, also had to be steadied. Isti Polly (J. Kropp) raced wide throughout.


Race 6:

Class 6 Handicap - 1800m
1st - Derry City; 2nd - Chicken Bob; 3rd - Winmara

WINNER FEEDBACK:
The Lawrie Mayfield Smith / Luke Rolls combination continues to enjoy a huge strike-rate and they added to their list of winners when Derry City reeled off a second successive victory. The gelding scored with a minimum of fuss, sitting just off the speed in the box seat until Rolls was ready to pull him out and ask him to stretch out. It was a solid performance from all involved in the victory.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
La Marianne (M. Hughes) was tightened for room at the start between Chicken Bob (R. McMahon) and Derry City (L. Rolls), which shifted out. When being steadied La Marianne was inclined to shift out rounding the first turn.


Race 7:

Open Handicap - 1000m
1st – Nexgen; 2nd - Mi Cielo; 3rd - Messiaen

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Mick Mair: “He’s a good horse fresh so I thought he would go fairly well. But he’s never run 1000m before so I didn’t really know what to expect. I would have been happy with a place so the win was a bonus.
“He’s got bad legs so the give in the ground probably helped him and also helped bring the leader back to him. It was a bit of a worry when the leader opened up quite a gap, but there is little you can do about it when you’ve got a back- marker. You can only hope that the leader stops for a .... something, so that you can nail him, otherwise there is little you can do about it. He’s best distance is 1400m and that’s probably where he’ll go next.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Trainer M. Mair was fined $200 for failing to put a stable return in showing the removal of blinkers from Nexgen. Leaving the 400m, Nexgen (K. Pope) shifted out to improve and in doing so made contact with Suntanned forcing that horse wider on the track. Black Suit (G. Baker) raced wide throughout.


Race 8:

Class 1 Handicap - 1200 m
1st - Gun Salute; 2nd - Tycoon Ken; 3rd - Waitaseq

WINNER FEEDBACK:
The combination of trainer Barry Baldwin and jockey Danny Craven, who had struck earlier in the week with Greenhide, was again on target when Craven gave Gun Salute a confident ride from a wide alley to claim the last race of the day. The win was full of merit as Gun Salute was winning first-up after a five month layoff and was racing over a distance well short of his best.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Shortly after the start, Fransciscan Friar (A. Badger) was tightened for room between General Purple (K. Pope) and Waitaseq (M. Heagney), which was taken out by Liberty Mist (C. Reith), which shifted out. When the pace slackened approaching the 800m, General Purple and Fransciscan Friar both commenced to over-race. Gun Salute (D. Craven), Tycoon Ken (B. Calkin) and Ashland (T. Dicey) all raced wide throughout.
When questioned, K. Pope stated that, in his opinion, the performance of General Purple was disappointing, and that after having good run in transit, the gelding failed to respond to his riding. He added that General Purple was inclined to lay in over the concluding stages. Trainer T. Hall stated that the horse was disappointing and confirmed that it was his intention to spell General Purple.
A post-race veterinary examination of Leed, which pulled up quickly after the winning post, failed to reveal any significant abnormalities.