SUNSHINE COAST REVIEW (SUN, OCT 19)

A review of the meeting held at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday, October 19.

The Bruce McLachlan stable flexed its muscles and went home with three winners on the day. Ready To Rise and Zibo were partnered by the stable’s number one jockey Sean Cormack, while Nathan Thomas did the honours aboard Johnny Cashless.

John O’Brien, the stable’s major owner, shared in the stable treble. O’Brien owns Johnny Cashless outright and is one of the co-owners of Ready To Rise and Zibo. Adding to O’Brien’s pleasure was the fact that he is also the breeder of Zibo.

I asked John O’Brien, if these results meant that the McLachlan stable was finally coming to hand after the stable had gone through a relatively quiet period.

“Bruce’s stable doesn’t run in and out of form,” answered O’Brien. “It just has a steady flow of winners. Believe me. I’ve been with him for twenty-five years. I know.

“We did make some sacrifices this time around,” continued O’Brien. “Because I’m from around those parts, we did take horses up to the Cairns carnival and that did set them back in terms of what those horses might have been doing locally.

Maybe that’s where the perception of things being quiet comes from. If you take eight horses out of commission it does make a difference. But no, as far as I’m concerned there’s no question of being in or out of form. It’s been business as usual.”

Apprentice jockey Jan Piper matched Sean Cormack’s haul of winners for the day to share the riding honours with a double. Piper scored on Debraith (for trainer David Gafa) and rounded off the day’s proceedings with a win on Arhondas (for trainer Natalie Hole) in the last.

Stewards had to deal with one protest. After weighing up the evidence, Craiglea Charm was confirmed as the winner of race seven for trainer Ray McCall, whose family rounded off a double one race later when McCall’s daughter Natalie Hole saddled Arhondas to victory.

Trainer Michael Lakey underlined his skill when he sent out the Ice Delight to her third win from only six starts.


Race 1:
3yo QTIS Maiden Plate - 1200m
1st - Ready To Rise; 2nd – Whataman; 3rd - Rogues

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Owner John O’Brien: “He is well-bred. Being by More Than Ready, Bruce (McLachlan) did think he would need some time to develop – and that’s just what we’ve given him. It was a pleasing result first-up.”

Trainer Bruce McLachlan: “He’s a really nice, very well-bred horse. I think he’ll go on to better things.”

Jockey Sean Cormack: “They forced me wide. I didn’t really want to give him a hard run because he was just coming back from a spell. I wanted to hold him back as long as I could ... but being held wide changed that plan, so things didn’t quite work out that way. To his credit, he got the job done though and he’ll take a lot of benefit out of that run.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Barmazal (J. Byrne) raced greenly in the early stages and as a consequence near the 900m Moubassin (N. Thomas) had to be steadied off the heels of Barmazal and shifted out bumping Ready To Rise (S. Cormack). Count Sylvester (C. Dixon) was inclined to hang out during the middle stages of the event. Ready To Rise, Grey Mark (R. McMahon) and King Of Spring (D. Griffin) all raced wide for the majority of the event. Passing the 600m Moubassin had to be steadied off the heels of Shot Bar which shifted in. Near the 400m Isadonis (K. Wharton) was momentarily held up for clear running before being eased wider on the track. The track rating was upgraded to Dead 5 following the running of this event.


Race 2:

4yo and Up Maiden Handicap - 1200m
1st – Debraith; 2nd - The Fifer; 3rd - Our Boy Lukas

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer David Gafa: “I’m shaking. This is quite an emotional win for me mate. I’ve been through so much with this horse. He’s had a knee-chip operation. He had a fractured sesamoid. He’s been out in the paddock so much because of his issues. But when he runs he is just such an honest horse. All of the perseverance has paid off with this win. It really means a lot to me.”

Apprentice jockey Jana Piper: “You know this trainer (David Gafa) has backed me since I started out. I have put in some bad rides for him, but he has never bagged me and has never stopped supporting me. I am just so pleased we could get this one together.
“We got a perfect run. The other horse actually headed me at one stage and I thought, ‘here we go, another second,’ but he kept fighting and proved too strong over the last 50m.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Craiglea Kate (K. Pope) raced wide for the majority of the event. Approaching the 200m Beachland (M. Paget) shifted out to improve and in doing so bumped Ivorbeatem (M. Heagney).


Race 3:

Class 2 Handicap - 1200m
1st - Ice Delight; 2nd – Zabullion; 3rd - Spanish Kiss

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Michael Lakey: “He really likes this track and he proved that once again. He was pulling hard last time over 1300m so I elected to drop him back in distance. Once he switched out into daylight, he had them covered most of the way up the straight but Jason (Taylor) had to stick to it and make certain because he is quite a difficult ride.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Near the 800m Krisalo (K. Wharton) was crowded for room by Zabullion (E. Wilkinson) which shifted in. Stormy Cruz (J. Brown) raced wide for the majority of the event. Leaving the 1000m Spanish Kiss (D. Griffin) had to alter course to avoid the heels of Zabullion which was inclined to shift out under pressure. The track rating was upgraded to Dead 4 following the running of this event.


Race 4:
Class 3 Handicap - 1400m
1st - Spin Zero; 2nd - Cole Trickle; 3rd - Chicago Boy

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Apprentice jockey Mitchell Speers: “He’s a stayer you know, so I wasn’t afraid to let him roll wherever he was comfortable doing it, particularly as I was told he was rock-hard fit so I didn’t worry about using him. I did think I had won it but I knew the other one (Cole Trickle) had made a dive, so I couldn’t be sure. He needs much more ground than this, so it was a good result.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Approaching the 700m Cole Trickle (O. Turpin) over-raced on the heels of Spin Zero (M. Speers). Near the 400m No Limitation shifted out and in doing so forced Chicago Boy wider, resulting in Chicago Boy shifting out and bumping Plenty Of Practise out on to Chaufuhr (E. Wilkinson).


Race 5:

Maiden Plate - 1600m
1st - Zibo; 2nd - Archway's Bliss; 3rd - Nice Looker

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Owner John O’Brien (who also bred Zibo): “Sean (Cormack) was the one who said that the horse needs to have galloping room because it has a huge stride. He got that today and the result speaks for itself, although I must tell you, when Sean brought the horse back I said to him, ‘before you say anything, we hate people who say I told you so.’ That settled that. Very happy with the win. It is always satisfying when you bred them as well.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Approaching the 1200m Give Away (N. Thomas) over-raced on the heels of Red Treasure (E. Wilkinson). Shreps (J. Piper) over-raced for a short distance approaching the 1000m. Nice Looker (S. Holcombe), Zibo (S. Cormack) and Ribless (C. Eaton) all raced wide for the majority of the event. Approaching the 400m Give Away improved up on to the heels of Red Treasure and had to be steadied. Near the 200m Mapadama (R. McMahon) shifted out under pressure and bumped Tic Toc Tiger (J. Taylor). Leaving the 100m Arcangela (R. Wiggins) was crowded for room by Thewayoflife (K. Wharton) which shifted in. As a consequence Arcangela shifted in and bumped Red Treasure.


Race 6:

Class 1 Handicap - 1400m
1st - Johnny Cashless; 2nd - Ken And Kim; 3rd - Through The Waves

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Owner John O’Brien: “Johnny Cashless has been a little bit of a problem child. We gelded him straight away. He was that type of horse. Then we had to deal with the problem of his being fractious at the barriers. He just remained a difficult horse to work with. Nathan Thomas put in a lot of time working with the horse to help him overcome his problems. Now, Sean (Cormack) would normally have had first choice of ride, as he does in the stable. Because of the work Nathan put in with Johnny Cashless, in this case, Nathan was given first option to ride him and I’m very pleased for him.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Whilst proceeding to the barriers Winxaarheart (S. Cormack) made contact with the false rail near the 1300m. The start of the race was delayed until that section of the rail was repaired. Winxaarheart was examined by the club's veterinary surgeon and passed fit to start. Leaving the 1000m Fenek Way (R. Wiggins), which had a tendency to over-race, shifted out. A short distance later Fenek Way shifted in tightening the running of Gracemere. Gracemere was held up for clear running for a short distance in the early stages of the straight.
When questioned regarding her riding of Ken And Kim over the final 50m, apprentice E. Wilson advised stewards that her whip had slipped from her grasp causing her to momentarily lose control, resulting in her being unable to ride her mount out fully to the finish of the race.


Race 7:

Class 6 Plate - 1200m
1st - Craiglea Charm; 2nd - Ima Joker; 3rd - Kanpeki

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Ray McCall: “There is a 1350m race in town in a couple of weeks and this was just meant to be a freshener for her. This was a touch short for her, but she fought all the way.”

Jockey Eddie Wilkinson lodged an objection, on behalf of the third placed runner Kanpeki, against both Craiglea Charm and Ima Joker.

Evidence submitted in the protest hearing included:
Eddie Wilkinson (rider of Kanpeki): “I took a run inside the last 100m. Initially there was plenty of room. Jockey Byrne’s horse (Craiglea Charm) then ran out. At the same time jockey Spinks’ horse (Ima Joker) ran in. The gap closed. That cost us the race.”

Jim Byrne (rider of Craiglea Charm): “I concede my horse did shift out two to three horse widths. To say that it cost them the race though is incorrect. I definitely didn’t hamper the other horse. At worst it was a minor brush.”

Andrew Spinks (rider of Ima Joker): I think the shift was minimal. Might have made contact, but I think it was more him with me, rather than me with him.”

Ray McCall (trainer of Craiglea Charm): “My mares moved out a fraction, but Jim’s put the stick away already. I think she’s holding them, if not moving away.”

Greg Kennedy (trainer of Kanpeki): “I disagree. I think Byrne only puts the stick away when he runs into my horse. We came from some six lengths behind so we had to be going better to get to them. We probably would have gone right through if the gap had stayed open. We were intimidated out of the run.”

The protest was dismissed.

Craiglea Charm’s time of 1.11.32 established a new class record.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
On return to scale E. Wilkinson, the rider of 3rd placegetter Kanpeki, lodged objections against Craiglea Charm being declared the winner, and Ima Joker being declared the 2nd placegetter, alleging interference over the concluding 200m. After taking evidence from all parties and viewing the official race video, stewards found that although there was a shift outwards by Craiglea Charm and a slight shift inwards by Ima Joker, the margin separating the runners at the finish as well as the degree of interference was not sufficient to warrant a change of the Judge's placings and therefore dismissed the protest and declared correct weight on the numbers semaphored by the Judge.
At the 800m Runaway Shadow (C. Reith) was tightened for room when racing to the inside of That’s Better (J. Piper). J. Piper was reprimanded under AR. 137(a) for allowing her mount to shift in when insufficiently clear.
Passing the 800m O’Tonda (B. Pengelly) was crowded for room when racing to the inside of Fleeting Echo (T. Chambers) which was inclined to lay in. O’Tonda was inclined to lay in under pressure over the final 300m. A post-race veterinary examination of O’Tonda (B. Pengelly) failed to reveal any abnormalities. At the request of trainer A. Williamson, Millers Wheel was examined by the club's veterinary surgeon who reported that the gelding had pulled up slightly distressed.


Race 8:

Class 1 Handicap - 1000m
1st – Arhondas; 2nd – Hurricaneprince; 3rd - Jamelden Cat

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Apprentice jockey Jana Piper brought the Natalie Hole trained Arhondas home with a rush to land her second winner at the meeting – a result which carries her clear at the top of the current jockey’s ladder at the Sunshine Coast. Arhondas, who was racing first-up, is a lightly raced four-year-old who was scoring here for the second time in only six starts.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Approaching the 700m Bionic Rock (M. Speers) was checked when racing between Jamelden Cat, which was taken out by Telerian (T. Chambers), and Hurricaneprince which shifted in and away from Arhondas (J. Piper). Room Two Sister was also inconvenienced in this incident. Near the 600m Bionic Rock, which was over-racing, at the heels of Jamelden Cat, shifted in tightening Room Two Sister, which resulted in Room Two Sister shifting out across the heels of Bionic Rock. Telerian and Bionic Rock were held up for clear running rounding the home turn. Leaving the 200m We’ve Got Issues shifted out and brushed Bionic Rock, resulting in Bionic Rock shifting out across the heels of Bellegal (R. McMahon).