MV OCT 23 - ELLERTON AND ZAHRA STRIKE AGAIN

By Taron Clarke | Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Moonee Valley, October 23, 2010.
Track - Dead 4. Rail - True. Penetrometer 4.61.
1300 Australia Stakes 3YO Open Handicap - 1200m.
Time: 1-11.68. 600m Sectional: 36.85. (Carrying 55.5kg).
1 That’s Not It; 2 Happy Trails; 3 Lone Rock.
Margins: 1.0L x 0.4L.

Co-trainers Matthew Ellerton and Simon Zahra saddled up another Black Type winner when roughie That’s Not It delivered a surprise victory in the Listed 1300 Australia Stakes over 1200 metres on Saturday afternoon.

Originally the co-trainers had planned for the son of Foreplay to start at the Sale Cup meeting on Sunday, but they elected at acceptance time to chase Black Type and the pair were rewarded with a solid victory.

A $16,000 purchase at the 2009 Inglis Classic Yearling sale, punters sent the colt out the outsider in the nine horse field at $20.00 on the back of a sound third behind Sleepers at Caulfield two weeks ago.

Favourite for the event was the speedy Dutchy’s Lass for Bendigo trainer Shaun Dwyer and jockey Michael Rodd.

The field jumped away well and the first to show out was the favourite Dutchy’s Lass. Showing all her customary speed, Rodd sent the daughter of Dutch Harry straight to the front a length and a half clear of Pellizotti and Shiny And New out three wide on the track.

As soon as Rodd found the front on the favourite he dropped anchor in front and this caused the field to bunch up behind him.

Michael Walker on Shiny And New took the opportunity to get his mount in one off the fence and the pair moved up outside Dutchy’s Lass.

Midfield one off the fence was the eventual winner That’s Not It for Chris Symons. Symons kept the colt out of trouble and commenced his run as the field approached the home turn.

Symons stoked That’s Not It up around the home turn and as Multahem dropped off to his inside, Symons was able to roll back to the fence and save ground and close to within three lengths of Dutchy’s Lass.

The favourite Dutchy’s Lass gave a strong kick off the camber at the top of the straight and held a two length margin over Shiny And New who was not responding to the hard riding of jockey Michael Walker.

Railing up hard and making good ground was That’s Not It. Chris Symons had saved ground around the turn and angled out off the leader’s heels inside the furlong.

With the whip in the left hand Symonds drove That’s Not It to the front at the 100 metre marker over favourite Dutchy’s Lass and wide out on the track came Lone Rock.

The Ellerton-Zahra trained galloper strode clear of the tiring Dutchy’s Lass and Lone Rock to put the result beyond doubt.

Happy Trails jumped up out of the ground in the final 75 metres to snatch second, but That’s Not It gave jockey Chris Symons a well-deserved Listed victory by a length over Happy Trails with a further three quarters of a length back to Lone Rock in third.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Matthew Ellerton: “Good to pick this up along the way. We were originally going to go to Sale tomorrow but decided Thursday morning that we'd come here.

“He's still learning. He's a bit raw. He's a rolly-poly sort of colt. We were a little bit worried when the rain turned up because essentially a dry-tracker.

“I thought rolling back to the fence might not have suited him because he's still learning and he might have got held up.”

Jockey Chris Symons: “Matty (Ellerton) wanted me to ride him conservative. He's going to run him over 1400 metres next start, so the idea was to get him to switch off, which he did, and see if he could tackle the line.

“It definitely was a good win. It was a bit risky going back to the inside, but I didn't have many options coming around the turn.

“Dutchy's Lass … I knew it takes a while for it to give up fighting, so it took me through and he did a courageous job.

“There's a little bit of kickback from the track, they're just knocking the top off it. He's a horse who doesn't really handle the wet, but he handled that okay because it's quite firm under foot.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (That’s Not It): 11.00 out to 20.00.
Favourite (Dutchy’s Lass): 5.00 out to 5.50 into 4.60. Finished fourth.

Horse to follow: Happy Trails flashed home to grab second to turn in a real eye catching performance. This horse can certainly figure in a decent race over the carnival with his finishing burst clearly suited to a larger surface such as Sandown.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
The Ruffian and Happy Trails bumped on jumping away.

Lone Rock got unbalanced and had to be restrained to avoid the heels of That’s Not It near the 1000m.

Near the 700m That’s Not It, which was over-racing, shifted out slightly and brushed Lone Rock which then got its head up when being restrained.

Lone Rock raced wide without cover throughout.

G Schofield (The Ruffian) explained that his mount was making good ground over the concluding stages but did stop riding prior to the winning post as he felt that his mount was going to be put in restricted room by Shiny And New which was shifting in.

Whilst the Stewards accepted G Schofield’s explanation, he was reminded of his obligations to ride his mounts out hands and heels to the winning post.

M Walker rider of Shiny And New advised that the filly felt short in its near-fore leg during the race.

C Brown reported Blink was a touch slow to muster and never felt comfortable on the rain affected going and as a result he was unable to race in a forward position.

D Dunn reported Multahem never travelled well at any stage and, despite being tongue tied, raced with its tongue to the outside of its mouth.

More articles