IPSWICH REVIEW (THURS, APR 09)

A review of the meeting held at Ipswich on Thursday, April 9.

Track - Slow 7. Rail - out 6.5m.

Race 1:

3yo & Up Maiden Handicap - 800m
1st - Hay Baby; 2nd - Bagatelle Park; 3rd - Millsie Moo

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Peter Stokes: “We bought her as a three-year-old and broke her in. We gave her the three starts first prep and she went shin sore. She was shin-sore a lot last prep, so we put her out. She’s over that now. We went 800m first-up, but she’ll run 1200m eventually this filly. She’s got some ability. She might be a bit restricted but she’ll win a few.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Hay Baby): 2.70 out to 3.00.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Amperes (S. Galloway) and Joyful Lady (B. Thomson) were both slow to begin. Near the 600m, Modern Eyes (S. Drake) shifted inside the line of the false rail, then shifted out and had to be steadied to avoid the heels of Shelaq (B. Evans), which shifted in and away from Bagatelle Park (N. Evans), which in turn shifted in. Leaving the 300m, Amperes was forced to steady and shift in to avoid the heels of Millsie Moo (D. Griffin), which shifted out. Screaming Ombre (G. Thomson) and Lightning Blue raced wide throughout. A post race veterinary examination of Lightning Blue revealed the gelding to have been galloped on on the off-hind cannon.


Race 2:

2yo QTIS Maiden Plate - 800m
1st - Fields Of Plenty; 2nd - Catallion; 3rd - Promo Girl

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Rex Lipp: “She’s very well bred that filly. She is a half-sister to a Group 1 placegetter in Hong Kong – Royal Delight. He ran third in the big Goup 1 they have in December. He ran third behind Absolute Champion. It wasn’t last year. It must have been the December before. He raced here before Hong Kong. He won three races here I think. So she is well bred. She had a few issues as a youngster. She was very small and immature early ... so we just waited for her. Patience, you know. It’s the cheapest thing you’ve got in racing. She was second-up here. She got galloped on first-up which explains that performance. If you go back to her previous prep you’ll see she has got a bit of ability. It was a good run in the Meynink.”

Fields Of Plenty could well be one for the notebook. The Exceed And Excel gelding is lightly raced. This was only her fifth start. She had three runs in her first prep, during which time she was never shy to put her ability to the test. Her first run was in the Magic Millions feature at Toowoomba (a race won by Fairchild). She then lined up for the Meynink (where she finished 3.80 lengths behind the smart Double Heart) and finally was beaten 7.00 by the more than useful Sarge In Charge (who went on to run second in the Karaka Millions in New Zealand).

Jockey Kenji Yoshida: “He travelled very good but, when I let him down, because he is green, he hung in and I had to stop riding and straighten him. My horse is a little bit lazy, but he was strong in the finish.”

Scott Galloway, the rider of the second placed Catallion, lodged a protest against the winner.

Jockey Scott Galloway (giving his grounds for objection): “My horse was going well outside the leader. I nursed him around the corner. I hadn’t gone for the horse yet. I started to knuckle down inside the 200m. I gave him a few back-handers, being a first-timer to get him to wind up his run. The horse on the outside has come in and bumped me quite hard and knocked him off his momentum, you know. I had to re-gather him up ... and probably that horse got a good long-neck to half-a-length on my horse. By about the 50m mark I got the horse going again and he got back to within a head of that horse. He wasn’t given every opportunity from that horse making heavy contact with me and he didn’t have a fair chance in the race to finish off. He was just starting to build up and then he was knocked off his feet. You can see on the head-on and lateral film the impact was ... it wasn’t a brush, it was quite a heavy bump and it cost me every chance of winning the race.”

Jockey Kenji Yoshida (responding to Galloway’s statement): “My horse definitely come in. Do you believe your horse come out at that same time.

Jockey Scott Galloway: “No. Your horse has run in, probably three horses. My horse was going quite straight at the time.”

Jockey Kenji Yoshida (making his statement): “My horse started quite well. Coming down the straight, once I started to take him up, he was pretty green, and my horse shifted in. When my horse shifted in, Scott Galloway’s mount has come out and they have just brushed each other. I say my horse was coming from behind Scott Galloway’s horse and going right past it. We got a little bump at the time. My horse, actually, he was going away from the other horse. I think Scott Galloway’s mount had every opportunity ... he had every chance to ride him out to the finish.

Jockey Scott Galloway (responding to Yoshida’s statement): “I heard him say his horse was going away from my horse. Do you believe we were head to head from the bump to the winning post?”

Jockey Kenji Yoshida: “... from the bump to the winning post?”

Jockey Scott Galloway: “When we made contact ... after that, were we head to head?”

Jockey Kenji Yoshida: “After the bump, my horse got away from you a little bit.”

Jockey Scott Galloway: “If that is the case. You beat me a head. I mean that is what I’m saying ... I think I’ve taken ground off you.”

Jockey Kenji Yoshida: “Yes, but I had to stop riding and straighten up. I couldn’t use the stick.”

Trevor Bailey (trainer of Catallion, the second placed finisher): “Look he (Kenji Yoshida) might not have been able to use the stick and that, but at the end of the day the horse took our line of running. He’s come in from three or four horses out on the turn to come in contact with ours. First run in a race and on a soft track, he just needed that bump to put him off balance for such a big horse. I believe if the horses hadn’t come in contact, it would have been very close in the end. It wouldn’t have been a long-head. It would have been touch or go whether we won or the other horse won. But when the other horse took our line of running and come in contact, it just made it that ... well for a big horse ... his size and a first run in a race and the conditions in the ground ... it was a contributing factor to the result.”

Rex Lipp (trainer of the winner Fields Of Plenty): “When the contact happened, the horse on the inside ... if you watch the green strips on the track, which I believe would be straight ... the horse on the inside has probably gone out a strip-and-a-half and my horse has come in and the two of them have come in contact. Then, when Scottie did get his horse balanced, he did hit it with the stick and I believe in the last 50m of the race he wasn’t improving at all.”

The protest was dismissed.

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Fields Of Plenty): 3.50 out to 4.40.
Favourite: (Promo Girl): 1.80 out to 2.20. Finished third.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
The start of this race was delayed after Pride Of Heart broke through the barriers and galloped a considerable distance. Pride Of Heart was declared a late scratching at 1 pm on veterinary advice. Connections were advised that a warning was being placed on Pride Of Heart regarding its barrier manners.
On return to scale a protest was lodged by S. Galloway, rider of the 2nd placegetter, Catallion, against Fields Of Plenty being declared the winner, alleging interference in the straight. After taking evidence from the parties concerned, stewards found that near the 200m, both horses made contact as a result of shifting ground. Bearing in mind the margin between both horses at the finish, stewards dismissed the protest and correct weight semaphored on the Judge's placings.
Gentilly Girl (L. Rolls) and Coloured Veil (Z. Landry) were slow to begin. Shortly after the start, Saint Faustina (K. Forrester) had to be steadied when racing between Tessitura (L. Cheshire) and Promo Girl (L. Cassidy), which shifted in. Coloured Veil (Z. Landry), which was inclined to hang out rounding the home turn, improved on to the heels of Valvetron (D. Craven) near the 200m and had to be steadied and shifted out, hampering Reelblu (R. Goltz). Reelblu (R. Goltz), which raced wide throughout, had to be steadied over the concluding stages when reluctant to take a run between Tessitura (L. Cheshire) and Frisco Lights (D. Griffin). Valvetron (D. Craven) had difficulty obtaining clear running in the early stages of the straight. Promo Girl, Fields Of Plenty (K. Yoshida) and Gentilly Girl raced wide throughout.


Race 3:

Class 1 Handicap - 2150m
1st - Moon Chaser; 2nd - Cinquacasino; 3rd - Don't Back Down

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Jockey Ron Goltz: “It was a massive drop back in class to where he has been racing (Moon Chaser went down to multiple winner Drumshanbo in a Class 6 at Eagle Farm in the run prior to this). He got back, but he always had them covered. It was just ... with the weight and the track being a bit slow, it made it a bit hard working around the corner, but he was always in control.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Moon Chaser): 1.50 out to 1.95.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
D. Craven sustained a seemingly harmless fall when from Epicred when proceeding to the barriers. Sigurd (C. Reith), Moon Chaser (R. Goltz) and Kaadeema (L. Cheshire) were tightened for room at the start between Epicred (D. Craven) and French Venture (J. Murphy), which shifted in. Kaadeema lost ground in this incident. Moon Chaser and Gold Gleam (S. Kennedy) raced wide from the 1300m onwards. B. Evans, rider of, Cinquacasino (B. Evans) dropped his whip near the 600m. French Venture (J. Murphy) raced wide throughout.
Stewards questioned S. Galloway regarding the disappointing performance of Foreign Lass. He stated that, in his opinion, the horse did not travel well at any stage during the event and was under pressure after leaving the 800m. Trainer B. Smith confirmed his disappointment with the performance of Foreign Lass, adding that he would recommend to connections that the filly be now sent for a spell. A post race veterinary examination of Foreign Lass revealed the horse had sustained a minor laceration to the off hind leg.


Race 4:

F&M Maiden Handicap - 1350m
1st - Alyssa Jean; 2nd - Often Wrong; 3rd - Flamboyance

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Apprentice jockey Brent Evans: “I rode her a couple of times now for a couple of seconds. She’s been unlucky a few times. She’s been thereabouts for the last few start, you know – fifth, fifth, fifth. In town she ran a real nice race and I knew if she repeated that today she would be hard to beat. She did. She just led them up and then kicked away.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Alyssa Jean): 5.00 in to 3.40.
Favourite (Markhee Miss): 5.00 in to 3.10.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
The start was delayed due to Markhee Miss being caught up after entering the barriers. Markhee Miss was examined by the veterinary surgeon and cleared to start. Ecclesia (J. Murphy) was tightened for room on jumping away between Alyssa Jean (B. Evans) and Lilly Lilo (B. Stewart), which shifted out. Funny Feeling (G. Geran) was also tightened at the start between My Space (Michael Palmer) and Tickle Me (S. Drake), which shifted in. Markhee Miss (J. Byrne) was inclined to hang out throughout the event. Ecclesia (J. Murphy) and Often Wrong (K. Yoshida) raced wide throughout. Lily Lilo (B. Stewart) lost its near-fore plate in running.


Race 5:

CG&E Maiden 3yo & Up Handicap - 1350m
1st - Diamond Del; 2nd - Levi's Bid; 3rd - Bedouin Legend

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Michael Jeynes: “The horse has been going good. He’s just been in a few races that haven’t suited him. The inside draw helped today. The instructions to Brent (Evans) were to go forward, but after he missed the kick ... well, we had a Plan B, you know. We’d been riding him quiet in the bush and I knew he’d hit the line if he rode him quiet. The horse has been going good and Brent’s a good rider.”

“Apprentice jockey Brent Evans: “I rode the horse last start and he was a very unlucky fourth. I pretty much rode him exactly the same there. He missed the start there, got unlucky, got unlucky and I brought him down the outside and ran home and ran fourth. Today again he missed the start. I got caught amongst a couple of runners I didn’t want to be amongst. I got disappointed (for a run) probably three times from the 600m to the 400m which made it very difficult. I ended up just cutting my losses and going straight to the outside and he got up in the last couple of strides. So it was a better win than it looked.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Diamond Del): 4.40 out to 4.80 in to 4.60.
Favourite (Levi’s Bid): 3.00 out to 3.10 in to 2.70.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Diamond Del (B. Evans) was slow to begin. Life’s A Battle (B. Thomson) blundered on jumping away, losing ground. Nice Looker (S. Holcombe) jumped away awkwardly. Near the 1100m, Bedouin Legend (G. Baker) raced with its head in the air whilst being steadied. Approaching the 1000m, Altavida (C. Small) shifted out, making contact with Orhtac (R. Goltz). Orhtac then shifted in, hampering Altavida (C. Small), which had to be steadied. Levi’s Bid (L. Cassidy) and Bedouin Legend raced wide from the 600m. Our Gold Minto (S. Apthorpe), which was inclined to lay out rounding the home turn, improved onto the heels of Orhtac (R. Goltz) and had to be steadied. Oceans Of Fire (B. El-Issa) was momentarily held up for clear running rounding the home turn. Diamond Del (B. Evans) was momentarily tightened for room rounding the home turn and had to be steadied between Oceans Of Fire and Bedouin Legend, which shifted in. Nice Looker raced wide throughout.


Race 6:

F&M Class 1 Handicap - 1100m
1st - Sweet Marie; 2nd - Coco Mademoiselle; 3rd - Magnetic Appeal

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Apprentice jockey Brent Evans who completed his first treble outside of Toowoomba): “She’s a nice horse. She came up to Toowoomba ... and I won on her when they brought her up to Toowoomba.” (that was Sweet Marie’s last win and it came five runs prior to this Ipswich success). “They put me on when I claimed 2kg. I rode her once for a win. Then they took her to the Gold Coast so I couldn’t ride it and other places where I wasn’t riding. Then the trainer spelled her and brought her back and resumed and put me on it. She raced well, got a beautiful run and we got the goods.
“Yeah, it’s good riding a treble. You don’t ride many of them. I’ve ridden three hat-tricks at Toowoomba. Before this I don’t even think I’ve ridden a double at Ipswich. I’ve been riding a winner at each meeting at Ipswich, but I haven’t gone past that until now. The treble has really lifted me. It’s a really good feeling. But I won’t get carried away. I’ll just keep taking things one step at a time.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Sweet Marie): 6.00 out to 8.00.
Favourite (Magnetic Appeal): 2.20 out to 2.60.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Dash’s Princess (Michael Palmer) and Just A Glamour (N. Evans) came together on jumping away. Irish Joy (M. Milford) and Yamarjie (L. Cheshire) also made contact at the start. Near the 700m Phoenix Belle (G. Geran) commenced to over-race and shifted out, forcing both Kindred Hope (C. Small) and Disyaseethat (M. O'Brien) wider on the track. Magnetic Appeal (D. Griffin) was held up and had to be steadied on a number of occasions behind the heels of the tiring Kindred Hope between the 600m and 400m. Just A Glamour (N. Evans), which was following, was also forced to be steadied as a result. Leaving the 400m, Yamarjie had to be steadied when racing between Irish Joy and Just A Glamour (N. Evans), which shifted out to improve. Irish Joy raced wide throughout.


Race 7:

C G &E Class 1 Handicap - 1100
1st - Gorm The Old; 2nd - Warbrik; 3rd - Rowland Commander

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Bryan Guy: “He was second-up today. He won second-up his last preparation. We bred him. He is a half-brother to General Patton. We owned the mother ... as a matter of fact she died having him. So he was brought up by a foster-mare ... one of those draft horses. So he has done a great job the little bloke. We just put him out for that time between preps (five months) because he just wasn’t mature enough. There were no issues or injuries. He just needed some time.”

Jockey Larry Cassidy: “When he jumped, it was like he had hit himself ... when he jumped out of the gates. It was like ... I don’t know ... maybe it was something like he hit his funny bone. He felt strange. I thought he might have a cut on his leg or he might have over-reached. That was my first impression. Then, when I dug him up and chased him forward after that, I thought his action was very, very ordinary ... and then he dipped. I thought, what is going on. I thought he may have hurt himself, but as we went a little bit further his action started coming back again. He got comfortable and actually ended up winning quite easily. That brings me back to the funny-bone option. Horses sometimes hit themselves coming out of the gate, like if you hit your funny-bone. You know what is like. It was like he felt something for a short time and then it went away. “

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Gorm The Old): 4.20 out to 4.60 in to 4.00.
Equal favourite (Rowland Commander): 3.00 out to 3.50. Finished third.
Equal favourite (Ninety Degrees): 5.00 in to 3.50. Finished ninth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Arbuckle (C. Reith) was slow to begin. Warbrik (B. Thomson) jumped away awkwardly. Ninety Degrees (N. Yamada) raced ungenerously during the early stages. Near the 650m, Warbrik shifted out and had to be steadied from the heels of Lightway (D. Griffin). Lightway had a tendency to hang out rounding the home turn. Warbrik made the home turn wide. Arbuckle raced wide throughout. A post race veterinary examination of Arbuckle revealed the gelding to have cardiac arrhythmia. Connections were advised that veterinary clearance, including the results of an ECG, would be required prior to the gelding's next race start.


Race 8:

Class 2 Handicap - 1350m
1st - Lilleelavee; 2nd - Street By Street; 3rd - Lucky Omens

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Apprentice jockey Matthew Palmer: “The race turned out perfectly for her. Two went pretty quick in front. We just had the drop on them. We were basically just comfortable running behind the two up front. She travelled nice throughout and she hit the line strongly when she let down. She did have to work a bit at the end – one was coming quick – but she got there. She was suited to the step up in distance (from 1200m to 1350m). I think she is going to step up to a mile next time and that should suit her as well.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Lilleelavee): 5.00 out to 6.00 in to 5.00.
Favourite (Lucky Omens): 4.60 in to 3.00. Finished third.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Mean Machine (L. Cassidy), which jumped away awkwardly losing ground, was then tightened for room shortly after the start between More Than Primed (C. Whiteley) and Lilleelavee (Matthew Palmer), which shifted in. Kinsmate (G. Geran) jumped away awkwardly. Crimson Fire (R. Goltz) was slow to begin. Stawell Dash (B. Stewart) raced wide in the early stages.
When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of Mean Machine, L. Cassidy stated that despite settling back further than anticipated after some tightening at the start, the gelding did not respond to his riding as expected when asked for an effort, and was of the opinion that Mean Machine may not have been entirely comfortable on the rain-affected going. The explanation was noted. A post race veterinary examination of Mean Machine failed to reveal any abnormalities.
A post race veterinary examination of More than Primed revealed mild lameness in the near-foreleg. Connections were advised that a veterinary clearance would be required prior to its next race start.

STEWARDS RACE DAY SUMMARY EXTRACT:
Summary of action concerning thoroughbred horses:
Horses swabbed:
All winners, Bagatelle Park.

Warnings/bars
Race 2. Pride Of Heart - Broke through gates – Warning.
Race 7. Arbuckle - Cardiac arrhythmia - Vet. Clearance, ECG - LR36(b).
Race 8. More Than Primed - Lame near fore - Vet. Clearance - LR36(b).