EAGLE FARM REVIEW (WED, FEB 25)

A review of the meeting held at Eagle Farm on Wednesday, February 25.

STEWARDS SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT EXTRACT:
From BTC meeting, 21.2.09
Stewards today continued an inquiry into the reason for Mataranka (B. El-Issa) being checked near the 350m in race 8 at the above race meeting. At the inquiry today evidence was taken from B. El-Issa, M. Palmer (Bernado) and apprentice B. Evans (Jachaze). After hearing all evidence and viewing the film, B. Evans was found guilty of contravening AR137(a), in that he rode in a careless manner by permitting his mount to shift out near the 350m under riding when not clear of Mataranka, causing that horse to be checked and lose ground. B. Evans was suspended from riding in races for a period covered by 9 meetings, to commence at midnight, 28 February, and to expire at midnight, 11 March.


Race 1:

3yo Maiden Plate - 1300m
1st - Starsplash; 2nd - Master Of War; 3rd - Circumnavigate

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Alan Bailey: “She is a well bred filly. She got into a fair amount of trouble in both of her previous starts. I just gave her a break after that. She’s a Galileo. She’s a little bit hot and that break just gave her time to settle down a bit. This was good comeback.”

Jockey Chris Whiteley: “She was first-up here. I’ve ridden her all three runs. She just needed that break (Starsplash was resuming after being out of action for five months) and has come back a nice little horse. She’s trialled a couple of times and has trialled well. I had a nice run behind the favourite the whole way and she hit the line real good. She’ll obviously take benefit out of this run. I think she’ll just go through here classes. I can’t say she is destined for big things, but I do think she’ll win a few more.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Starsplash): 4.80 out to 5.50.
Favourite (Dubai Storm): 3.30 steady. Finished seventh.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Lauxes (J. Bowditch) and Master Of War (G. Baker) came together at the start. Shortly after the start, Beautiful Moon (B. Evans) and Dubai Storm (S. Galloway) both raced in restricted room between Dapper (R. McMahon), which shifted in, and Craiglea Kara (A. Taylor) which shifted out. As both horses continued to race in restricted room for some distance, Beautiful Moon commenced to get its head up and raced ungenerously and shifted in and away from Dapper, tightening Dubai Storm. Near the 1100m, Lijudaro (R. Goltz) was tightened for room by Master Of War (G. Baker), which shifted out, and Dubai Storm (S. Galloway), which was taken in by Beautiful Moon (B. Evans) when that horse shifted in and away from Dapper (R. McMahon). As a consequence, Tell Jean (T. Treichel), which was trailing, clipped the heels of Lijudaro and blundered, and Starsplash (C. Whiteley) was inconvenienced. On straightening, Dapper (R. McMahon) shifted out to improve and brushed Beautiful Moon (B. Evans). Near the 350m, Dubai Storm shifted out to improve and made contact with Starsplash. Lauxes (J. Bowditch) hung out for the majority of the race. Beautiful Moon raced three wide for the majority of the event.


Race 2:

3yo Maiden Handicap - 1500m
1st - All Show; 2nd - Incendio; 3rd - Croix De Fer

Trainer Robert Heathcote (who saddled the quinella): “This was her fifth run for me. She has always promised to run well. Her last run was a cracker. Larry Cassidy rode her with 57.5kg. He got off and said, put a claimer on and this thing will win and, lo and behold, he was right. We had a doubt about the 1500m, but 57.5kg down to 52kg makes a big difference. But look, she is a solid, honest horse. She has been knocking at the door. I said to the owners, she’ll win in town. She is a Show A Heart mare and she’ll be worth a quid as a broodmare.”

Apprentice jockey Chris McIver: “We had a wide gate. I wanted to go forward. We jumped out. I knew I was going to get to the lead, but it was going to take a bit of time. So I was patient and slowly moved across and got to where we wanted to be. I held her up as long as I could down the straight. When I went for her, she kicked and had a big heart and kept kicking.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (All Show): 4.20 in to 3.80 out to 4.40.
Favourite (No Hurry): 3.00 out to 3.20. Finished eleventh.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
As R. McMahon was to be over-weight, A. Spinks was substituted as the rider of Natane. R. McMahon was fined $200. Apprentice M. Hellyer, rider of Ellen Rosina, was found guilty of a charge of careless riding, in that near the 300m he permitted his mount to shift out when not sufficiently clear of Croix De Fer (G. Baker), which resulted in Croix De Fer having to be checked. Apprentice Hellyer was suspended from riding in races for a period covered by 8 meetings, to commence at midnight, 28 February and to expire at midnight, 11 March 2009. Near the 100m, Croix De Fer (G. Baker) shifted in under pressure and bumped Ignition Miss. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of No Hurry and the riding tactics adopted, jockey B. Pengelly stated that he had been instructed to have the horse positioned forward, however the horse jumped away awkwardly with its head in the air and missed the start. He added that as a consequence he settled at the rear of the field rather than be caught wide. B. Pengelly further stated that at various stages of the race No Hurry seemed somewhat reluctant to travel, and when asked for an effort on straightening, the gelding failed to finish the race off as expected. Trainer B. Smith confirmed the instructions to have the horse placed closer to the lead and agreed that the performance today of No Hurry was disappointing. The explanation was noted.


Race 3:

F&M Maiden Handicap - 1200m
1st - Salice; 2nd - Player Run; 3rd - Hello Boss

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Liam Birchley: “We just found through a series of trials and her run that, when she gets back in the field, she just doesn’t go as well. Just loses her way. So we put the blinkers on and she was comfortably up with the speed today and was able to run her own race. We are sort of in a funny spot with regards to where we go with her now. The Carnival - well it’s too late to spell for it. I’ll have to sit back and give her another run or two and see how she improves ... and then give her a little ease up or something. Whether she is worthy of considering for the Carnival is hard to say. That wasn’t much of a race, but you can only win it. The next couple of runs will tell the story.”

Jockey Shane Scriven: “Mate, we thought she could win. She has always shown ability. Her first start was very disappointing. We put the blinkers on her this time and a few of the boys have been doing a fair bit of work with her and it’s obviously made a difference. In her first run she was slow to go and did everything wrong and just plugged along to the line. She was completely different then to what we knew she could be. Today’s was more like the type of effort we knew she could produce.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Salice): 4.20 out to 4.80.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Carry On Dancer (O. Turpin) missed the start. Player Run (B. Evans) was tightened for room on jumping away between The Pocket Rocket (A. Erhart), which jumped inwards, and Salice (S. Scriven), which jumped out and away from Kiss Kiss (R. Goltz), which also jumped outwards. Lindo Falcao (C. McIver) was slow to jump. Approaching the 1000m, Player Run (B. Evans) had to be steadied when cramped for room between Kiss Kiss (R. Goltz), which shifted out slightly when being eased away from the heels of Zero Suspicion (M. Palmer), and Duvivier (B. El-Issa), which shifted in. B. El-Issa, rider of Duvivier, was advised to ensure he is clear when shifting ground. Near the 1000m, The Pocket Rocket (A. Erhart) shifted in and away from Pearly Beach (J. Taylor), resulting in Salice (S. Scriven) having to be checked. Salice then shifted in abruptly, causing severe interference to Zero Suspicion (M. Palmer) and Hello Boss (C. Whiteley). As there were a number of contributing factors involved, stewards were unable to apportion blame to any particular horse or rider for the incident.
A post race veterinary examination of Lindo Falcao, which appeared to be disappointing revealed the horse to have a respiratory problem.


Race 4:

CG&E Maiden Handicap - 1200m
1st - Night Rogues; 2nd - Shake The Lantern; 3rd - Colin's Choice

Trainer Alan Bailey (who only brought two runners with the track and went home with two winners): “He is a very good horse, this horse. He has had a lot of problems. When I first worked him, Charming Rogue could never beat him. Never. But he had all the problems in the world. He had a hair-line fracture in his leg ... and there were problems with his joints. That’s why we had to put him away for such a long time. Since he’s come back he’s been getting there slowly. He’s going to go better than this I can tell you, but, because of the setbacks he has suffered, he’ll probably never get back to being as good as he was.”

Apprentice jockey Brent Evans: “Yeah, I copped early interference out of the gates. I wanted to cross but I got dictated to from the outside (by Dive Bomber shifting in sharply). The two on my inside had to take hold and come back out a bit. I mean it wasn’t real good what happened, but it ended up being good for me. We actually found ourselves in a beautiful position and he just sort of worked into it the whole way and got a beautiful run up the inside. I think it is going to be a very nice horse.”

Night Rogues was only having his second race start. He debuted in December 2007 and was out of action for fourteen months.

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Night Rogues): 3.00 out to 3.10.
Favourite (Belltone): 2.00 out to 2.05. Finished seventh.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
American Gangster (C. Reith) was slow to begin. A. Taylor, rider of Dive Bomber, was found guilty of a charge of careless riding, in that near the 1000m she permitted her mount to shift in, which resulted in Night Rogues (B. Evans) being taken in on to Shake The Lantern (N. Thomas), which shifted in, resulting in Roswald (M. Hellyer) and Shake The Lantern severely checked. Stawell Dash was also hampered in this incident. A. Taylor was suspended from riding in races for a period covered by 10 meetings, to commence at midnight, 28 February, and to expire at midnight, 11 March 2009.


Race 5:

4yo and Up (E&G) Class 3 Handicap - 1500m
1st - Haverford; 2nd - Mackunda; 3rd - Snackman

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Paul Richardson: “He’s had three seconds in a row before this. He just kept running into bad luck, you know. Bog track last start and when he straightened well back here I thought, oh shit, we are in trouble again. But maybe we learnt a thing or two today. Maybe that’s how he has got to be ridden. We’ve been riding him a lot closer, you know. Even today, I told Chris (McIver) I wanted him to be just off the pace and then take it easy from there. He’s got into trouble and had to get back, otherwise he would have been caught wide. But anyway, I very pleased. It is a very encouraging result. The people that bred him were a little bit dubious about coming to town. There is always a doubt about whether you are up to it when you step up to city racing. But she has got breeding on her side. The mare (Regal Chamber) ran third in the Golden Slipper. She’s the mare that put General Nediym back into fourth place.”

Apprentice jockey Chris McIver (who completed a double on the day): “He jumped with them, but being first time on the track he wasn’t comfortable and couldn’t quite go with them early. We got back to last and I was a bit worried, because I now had to ride him back to front. But we didn’t have any problem finding a run and as soon as he got into the clear he found another gear and took off.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Haverford): 10.00 out to 12.00.
Favourite (Mollington Grange): 2.60 out to 3.50.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Norse Code cast a plate and was attended to by the farrier prior to the start. Leaving the 1100m when the pace steadied, Norse Code (R. McMahon) commenced to pull hard and then shifted out, making heavy contact with Davion (S. Scriven). Davion then became unbalanced and shifted out, forcing Mollington Grange (L. Rolls) and Gee Whiz wider on the track. Mollington Grange and Gee Whiz were both then forced to race wide around the first turn and raced wide for the remainder of the race. Haverford (C. McIver) and Snackman (O. Turpin) were held up in the straight until after leaving the 200m. Stresso (C. Reith) had difficulty obtaining clear running in the straight.


Race 6:

4yo & Up (Mares) Class 3 Handicap - 1500m
1st - Lucky Toss; 2nd - Plenty Of Practise; 3rd - Starelie

Trainer Tony Gollan: “We thought she’d get back and settle back there. She’s got no early speed. I was probably a touch worried that 1500m might be a bit short for her ... but this was the best race I could find for her at this time. I think she is an above average mare. I’ve only had her for the three starts prior to this run, so she’s being going well for me (three wins from four starts). She’s going to go on to win a better race than this.”

Jockey Jason Taylor: “That was a good, convincing win in the end. Since Tony (Gollan) has had the horse she’s appears to be relishing things. She is just flying. They warned me ... they said she would possibly get back a bit in the run, so I wasn’t too worried when that happened. When she got to the 600m she slowly picked up the bridle. Then it was just a matter of finding the clearing and away she went. The 1500m was probably a bit short for her. She is a ten furlong horse.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Lucky Toss): 4.20 out to 4.20 in to 4.00.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Near the 300m, Cajun Moon (M. Hellyer) had to be steadied to avoid the heels of Starelie (R. Wiggins) when that horse shifted out to improve. Cajun Moon (M. Hellyer) raced wide throughout.


Race 7:

Class 3 Handicap - 1200m
1st - Blue Jupiter; 2nd - Fulham; 3rd - Sweet Sassi

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Liam Birchley: “He won like he won two runs ago with Shane (Scriven) on. The run in-between wasn’t as good. The reason for that is I really don’t think he is a kids horse. I’ve had a kid on him three times and he has just gone terrible. He is a horse you have to stand over a bit, and the apprentices struggle to get the best out of him. I thought today he had a great chance because of the pace of the race on paper. I knew they would just fly and that the race would be one by a sweeper and that he would be one of those.”

Jockey Shane Scriven: “He won pretty easy again today. The other day he gave me a few little worries there at the furlong, but today he had them covered. Liam (Birchley) had done his homework and he assured me they’d fly in the race. So, it worked out nice ... a little bit slow to go, found the fence, weaved our way through, got him to the outside and he did the rest. He was always the best horse in the race. We just needed that bit of luck and we got it. It was good.”

This result game the Liam Birchley / Shane Scriven combination a double on the day.

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Blue Jupiter): 10.00 out to 13.00 in to 12.00.
Favourite (Mossbemad): 8.00 out to 8.50 in to 4.40.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
As D. Craven was currently under suspension, R. Wiggins was substituted as the rider of Falvalea. Blue Jupiter (S. Scriven) jumped away awkwardly and missed the start. Damnation (M. Hellyer) was slow to begin. Spanish Sister (A. Spinks), Unintentional (J. Jones) and Seething Duck (J. Taylor) raced wide for the majority of the event. Star Touch (G. Baker) got its head up approaching the home turn and commenced to over-race and raced ungenerously for a short distance. A post race veterinary examination of Star Touch failed to reveal any significant abnormalities.

STEWARDS RACE DAY SUMMARY
Summary of action concerning thoroughbred horses:
Horses swabbed post-race:
All winners, Master Of War, Incendio, Mackunda, Plenty Of Practice, Fulham.