SUNSHINE COAST REVIEW (SUN, MAR 1)

A review of the meeting held at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday, March 1.

STEWARDS SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT EXTRACT:
From SCTC meeting, 28.2.09

Race 3. Stewards today concluded an inquiry into the reason for Foxie Em being checked near the 150m. Jockey M. Heagney, rider of She’s Got Game, was subsequently found guilty of a charge of careless riding, in that approaching the 150m, he failed to stop riding and straighten his mount which shifted out under pressure when insufficiently clear of Foxie Em, resulting in the rider of that horse being forced to check its momentum and shift in across the heels of She’s Got Game. M. Heagney was suspended from riding in races for a period covered by 7 meetings, to commence at midnight, 6 March and to expire at midnight, 15 March 2009.

Race 4. Stewards today inquired into the whip use of jockey N. Thomas, rider of Christi’s Idol. N. Thomas subsequently pleaded guilty to contravening AR137A, in that he used his whip excessively on a horse out of contention. N. Thomas was fined $100.

From QR Deagon Offices, 26.2.09
Trainer Mr R. Heathcote was found guilty of a charge under LR43, in that he employed Ms M. Sharp as a trackwork rider from 12 December 2008 up to and including 19 February 2009 when unlicensed. Mr Heathcote was fined the sum of $100. In assessing penalty, stewards took into account Mr Heathcote's exemplary record in relation to matters of this nature.

Ms M. Sharp was found guilty of a charge under LR 85(e), in that she was not the holder of an appropriate licence whilst employed by Mr Heathcote as a trackwork rider between 12 December 2008 and 19 February 2009. Ms Sharp was also fined the sum of $100.


Race 1:

QTIS 3yo Class 2 Handicap - 1200m
1st - Rovert; 2nd - Arctic Echo; 3rd - Navigation

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Ray McCall: “We rode him quietly last start and he bolted in. So obviously we thought we would do the same thing today. That leader set a fair target, but he picked it up pretty quick actually. We gave him that good spell (between August 08 and January 09) because, last time in, he was just immature. That’s why he didn’t win. He was running places, but he would run up to them and didn’t know how to go on with it.”

Jockey Damian Browne: “Basically we employed the same tactics as last time (when Rovert scored his Maiden win), although I wasn’t planning on being that far back. He was a bit tardy coming out. He seemed to relax pretty good at the back and he let down well. I rode a horse that beat him three starts ago – Heartsun – and he is a classy horse ... and the horse that beat him before that, Sholit, went on to win in town. So his form right through is pretty good and he’s got the opportunity now to string a couple together.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Rovert (D. Browne) jumped away awkwardly and shifted out, making contact with Pashionately Yours (S. Richardson). Approaching the 300m, Lots Of Allure (K. Pope), which had been forced to race in restricted room to the inside of Gold Energy (J. Brown) for the majority of the race, was forced to steady when tightened for room between that gelding and Oceans Twenty (M. Palmer), which shifted out. Rovert (D. Browne) was inclined to shift in under pressure near the 200m. Gold Energy raced wide throughout.


Race 2:

3yo & Up Maiden Handicap - 1000m
1st - Hootson; 2nd - Sarsfield; 3rd - Silverlinity

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Jockey Kenji Yoshida: “He was pretty good. I thought I’d hit the front a bit early at the 200m. I was worried he would start looking around, but he fought on well. I think he will get further if he is ridden a bit more quietly.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
No Quarter (A. Best), Sarsfield (S. Galloway) and Spanish Silver (E. Wilkinson) were all tightened for room and lost ground at the start between Manihi Freeze (R. Hancock), which shifted out, and Our Girl Giggles (D. Van Bekkum), which shifted in. Burbury Road (A. Taylor) began awkwardly. Shortly after the start, Burbury Road raced ungenerously and lost ground as a result. Burbury Road had to be steadied from heels approaching the 600m and then commenced to hang out until near the 400m. Spanish Silver (E. Wilkinson), which was racing to the outside, was inconvenienced and forced wider on the track as a result. Trainer B. Baldwin was advised that Burbury Road must perform satisfactorily in an official trial prior to its next race start. D. Van Bekkum, rider of Our Girl Giggles, accidentally dropped her whip near the 300m.


Race 3:

3yo & Up Handicap - 1400m
1st - Vistula Belle; 2nd - No Fear Of Heights; 3rd - Gruff

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Joe Gleeson: “She was third-up here. She stepped up in distance last time and only got beat a half-head. I’d say she just showed a natural improvement from that run. She was probably just a run short last start. She also had to cope with heavy going and a wide barrier on that occasion. Today she’s ... yeah ... she’s done it easy. She was probably a little bit further back than I thought she would be, but I just left that up to the jockey (Matthew Palmer).No, it ended up ‘sweet as’ . I’ll probably step her up again soon. She’ll go to a mile.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Aneef (A. Pattillo) was slow to begin. Approaching the 800m, On Motion (M. Heagney) commenced to over-race and had to be steadied from the heels of Royal Virtue (A. Best). Near the 350m, Bold Prospector (D. Van Bekkum) had to be steadied when tightened for room between On Motion (M. Heagney) and Mon Trist (N. Thomas), which shifted out. N. Thomas, rider of Mon Trist, was reprimanded for this incident. Slip Up (K. Pope) and Bandolier (S. Galloway) raced wide throughout.
Trainer J. Gleeson pleaded guilty to a charge under AR175(s), in that he did permit the use of reins which upon inspection by stewards were, in their opinion, both unsuitable and unsafe, in that the stitching in particular and outer coating of the reins had been compromised. Mr Gleeson was fined $400.


Race 4:

Class 1 Handicap- 1600m,
1st - Through The Waves; 2nd - Brief Intention; 3rd - Don't Back Down

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Frank Phillips: “We’ve been trying to get a result with him for a long time, and it hasn’t been working. He’s just been getting beaten on the line. So we thought we’d try it back and he nearly got beaten again on the line. At least this way he put in a bigger effort which counted in his favour in the end. He relaxed alright and, when he (Damian Browne) asked him, he responded stronger than he did riding him up handy. He had a better kick.”

Jockey Damian Browne (who completed a double on the day): “He’s been racing on the pace a bit and he hasn’t been finishing his races off. So we thought we would try something different with him today. He over-raced a little bit early, but he sort of had them covered pretty easy at the furlong. I thought I was going to win by a couple of lengths and again he tried to get out of it a little bit. He seems to only have a short run on him and when he races closer to the pace he doesn’t seem to find the line as well. It seemed to work today, the different riding tactics.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Don’t Back Down (M. Dorrington) and Flying El Moxie (S. Galloway) were both slow to begin. Nearing the 1300m, Flying El Moxie had to be checked from the heels of Count Ivor (C. Kearney), which raced ungenerously with its head in the air during the early and middle stages. Approaching the 400m, Bellamour (A. Pattillo) was momentarily tightened for room between Don’t Back Down (M. Dorrington) and Brief Intention (A. Merritt), which shifted out. Don’t Back Down (M. Dorrington) raced wide for the majority of the event.
When questioned regarding his riding tactics adopted on Raining Kings over the final 200m, apprentice Turpin stated that after being momentarily held up on the heels of the tiring Continual, he felt the horse failed to run on and was unable to take advantage of a run which momentarily presented itself to the inside of Continual and to the outside of Sir Reason. Stewards noted the explanation.


Race 5:

Class 6 Handicap - 1600m
1st - Seen’Em Coming: 2nd - Winmara 3rd - Fools Rush In

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Jockey Scott Galloway: “He had a good barrier. He was always going to get a good run. We came off the fence before the corner there and put paid to them straight away. He raced up here the other day in an Open company race, so he was due. He had the tongue-tie on for the first time today as well which seemed to help the horse a bit. He’s been racing over 2000m and I think they’ve realised that he can’t stay and that 1600m is about his ideal trip.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Trainer's representative Mrs K. Jones was advised that Fissile, which finished tailed off and has shown poor form in recent starts, would be barred from TAB venues until it shows improvement in its form. Seen’Em Coming was slow to begin. Opticks (M. Abe) raced wide throughout.


Race 6:

Class 2 Handicap - 850m
1st - Arhondas; 2nd - Ladros; 3rd - Contested Bid

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Natalie Hole: “He’s very good first-up. He’s won every start first-up except his very first run. He broke down in his first start when he got beat. Beyond that, he’s had three starts first-up for three wins now. I just told him Mitchell (Speers) that, as long as he was travelling, to have him where he was happy. I knew he kick on and I couldn’t be more pleased.”

When the race time was posted, it indicated that Arhondas had broken Vanity Queen’s track record that had stood since 1992.

Trainer Natalie Hole: “I knew she would run some time, but I didn’t think she’d be that quick!”

Hole was right. Ardonhas was not that quick. The race time was amended to read 48.42 seconds, 0.30 seconds outside the old record – still a useful run on a dead track.

Apprentice jockey Mitchell Speers: “He showed a lot more speed early than we thought ... and then he quickened up again off a fast speed, you know it’s hard to do that. I thought I would be behind them, but I ended up in front of them. He just had the natural speed and that took care of matters.”

Speers still thought his mount had set a new track record. The error was pointed out to him.

Speers: “Oh he’s changed his mind, has he?”

Speers happily accepted the time alteration – it didn’t change the result. What it did do though was add food for thought to the argument about the absolute accuracy of the timing devices recording race times at various racetracks. Allowing for the level of technology available in this day and age, that accuracy should be a given, but many punters remain sceptical about the overall efficiency of the service.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Queen Of Danes (K. Pope) blundered on jumping away. Anglingforsuccess (R. Hancock) and First Night Fever (E. Wilkinson) came together on jumping away, making heavy contact. Love Hit Me (O. Turpin), which blundered on jumping away, lost further ground when tightened for room between Barbintary Eye (M. Milford), which shifted in, and Pinszah (A. Pattillo), which shifted out. Queens Of Danes (K. Pope), which was inclined to hang out from leaving the 700m, improved on to the heels of Ruakiwi Roller (R. Hinricks), which lost ground after shifting in and making contact with the running rail of its own accord. Queens Of Danes continued to hang until approaching the 400m. Arhondas (M. Speers) shifted out under pressure in the home straight, resulting in Crazy Woman (J. Piper) being inconvenienced near the 100m. A post-race veterinary examination of Ruakiwi Roller revealed the gelding to be lame in the off-foreleg. Trainer I. Malcolm was advised that he must provide a veterinary clearance for the horse prior to its next race start.


Race 7:

Open Handicap - 1000m
1st - Braebrook; 2nd - Nessuno; 3rd Pelltro

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Tony Sears: “Yeah, we were pretty confident coming into this. In his last couple of runs in town he has been extremely unlucky – and that against the likes of Sommersea Drive. We thought he was a pretty good thing today.”

Jockey Tony Pattillo: “I rode him pretty cold. I rode him in his last four starts. I won the first one on him on the Cushion Track and it was a grinding win. The next few starts I was sort of inclined to make him grind home and I came to the conclusion that I’d been letting him go too early. It took me three rides to work him out. Today, I sorted him out and we got the points. He was doing it at the right point today. He wasn’t doing it on straightening, he was doing it getting to the line. Things just worked out our way today and I got to ride him the way I wanted to.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Lackadosh (A. Badger) was slow to begin. Braebrook (A. Pattillo) was held up for clear running from approaching the 400m until leaving the 300m. Pelltro (J. Brown), Nessuno (C. McIver) and Kalinga County (O. Turpin) raced wide throughout. Court Adjourned (N. Thomas) lost its off-fore plate in running.


Race 8:

Class 1 Handicap - 1200m
1st - Chelle's Alibi; 2nd - Karalius; 3rd - Spanglish

Apprentice jockey Mitchell Speers (who completed a double on the day): “She’s a stayer resuming. She travels pretty well anyway – she leads her staying races. Because she was fresh she travelled nice and had a bit of a sprint today. Early on in her career she didn’t show much, but she just keeps on improving. She really improved that much this time in and is getting stronger, although she’s still a bit weak looking. She hasn’t run many times because she has been that immature, so she has a lot of room for improvement. She’d run 2400m you’d think. After a couple of more runs she’ll be a dandy stayer.”

Apprentice M. Speers was fined $100 for accepting dual engagements on Chelle’s Alibi and Reasoning. Lee Kova was examined by the club's veterinary surgeon at the barriers and cleared to race. Cotto was examined by the club's veterinary surgeon at the barriers after the gelding stood on a nail. Cotto was subsequently declared a late scratching at 4.50 pm on veterinary advice. Spenit (M. Heagney) was tightened for room at the start between Flying Mossman (I. Coombes), which shifted out, and Isti Polly (K. Yoshida), which was taken in by Karalius (J. Piper). Near the 800m, Spanglish (R. Hinricks) was forced to race in restricted room and had to be steadied when racing between My Whippy (N. Thomas) and Skifort (A. Spinks), which shifted in. Passing the 600m, Spenit improved on to the heels of Rowland Commander (D. Brown) and had to be steadied. Leaving the 500m, Chelle’s Alibi (M. Speers) shifted out to obtain clear running, forcing Ready Asset (A. Merritt) out, which resulted in Flying Mossman (I. Coombes) being inconvenienced. Over the concluding stages, Frenardi had to be steadied when tightened for room between Spanglish, which shifted in, and Karalius, which shifted out. Skifort and Isti Polly raced wide throughout.

STEWARDS RACE DAY SUMMARY EXTRACT:
Horses swabbed:
All winners.