DOOM JAN 4 - THE PHILLIP COX STABLE BOUNCES BACK WITH A WINNER

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Doomben, January 4, 2012.
Track - Good 2; Rail - out 6m (1000 - 375m); out 4m (remainder).
Class 3 Handicap (Fillies & Mares) - 1110m.
1 Snippets Secret; 2 C'Est Lorraine; 3 Product; 4 Starlistic.
Time: 1-03.85. Last 600: 34.03.

Anybody who has had even a passing involvement in the racing game will know it to be a rollercoaster ride of intense proportions. The euphoria can be extreme. The disappointments can be devastating.

Trainer Phillip Cox and the stable connections were dealt those extremes of contrasting emotion in the last five days as they suffered the sad loss of a stable favourite in Secrets Untold and enjoyed the win of Snippet’s Secret, who showed courage in scoring a first-up win in a pressurized finish at Doomben on Wednesday.

Snippet’s Secret did shorten in the betting from 12’s to 10-1, but she was still easy to back and she repaid those who had faith in her ability by stretching out under an equally determined and aggressive ride from Tim Bell to secure the honours.

Bell pushed Snippets Secret out from the break and she led briefly before Around The World came around the outside from her wide draw to put her nose narrowly in front in a line of three … Commanding Lass raced in-between these two runners … until the home turn.

Commanding Lass quickly cried enough on straightening which left Snippets Secret, who had held the inside line, and Around The World, who was three wide, fighting it out at the head of affairs. That became a battle of attrition as these two runners matched strides before Snippet’s Secret found an extra gear to see off the challenge of Around The World with 150m left to run.

But the result still had not been secured. Both the favourite C’Est Lorriane and Product threatened to cut back the margin, but Snippets Secret was simply not going to be denied and she maintained his winning effort all the way to the line.

It was a landmark win for apprentice Tim Bell, who has now out-ridden his city claim. This is just another sign of the rapid progress this talented rider is making. His current total of thirty-one winners for the season puts him a full twenty-three winners ahead of his nearest rival in the Apprentices Premiership table and he is currently in third place in the Brisbane Jockey’s Premiership, ahead of the likes of Colless, Cassidy, McMahon and Hammersley. (Munce and Byrne fill first and second place respectively).

Sure, Bell has the backing of Patinack, but you still have to guide the winners home, and few can argue that he is doing a very good job for a young man in demanding position in an intimidating industry.

This was Snippet Secret’s fourth win from sixteen starts. The mare has been tried up to 1200m (she has a third placing to her credit over that distance) but, interestingly enough, her four wins have all come over very similar distances … two wins over 1100m and two wins over 1050m.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Phillip Cox: “Talks about the lows and the highs of racing. It’s all happened to us in the last five days.

“We were hopeful that we could win today and it’s obvious what a win would mean to us after Saturday.

“It was just so good to see the colours in front and not on the ground.

“It was what I dreamed of to make up for last Saturday.

“She’s a five-year-old mare now. She’s had a lot of feet problems. Wayne Nugent, my farrier, has done a great job with her. He been my farrier for sixteen, seventeen years.

“Her feet are a lot better. She use to walk like a crab sometimes and we knew there would be improvement in her when she was not hurting in her feet.

“I was a bit confident today because she has got a bit bigger and stronger than she was. She’s grown and thickened up.

“I thought if she didn’t in today I would have been pretty disappointed.”

Jockey Tim Bell: “That’s the last of my claim so it is going to be uphill battle from now.

“Well, maybe not so much of a battle, because I am confident that I am riding in good form at the present time, but dropping that 1.5kg’s now puts you in the same category as some of the most senior riders in the country up here with the likes of Chris Munce and Jim Byrne.

“In the positive sense though, I know it confirms I’m making progress and let me assure you I will be working my bum off to get more winners.

“This one (Snippets Secret) ran pretty well. Actually it probably burnt both ends of the candle a little bit.

“It jumped out … showed a lot of toughness to sustain such a long run, because they had us three deep without cover early and I just opted to push forward. So there was a bit of pressure. I just took a sit when the leader came from the outside.

“Coming to the top of the straight I was a pretty confident that I had a bit left in the tank. But I tell you, she showed a lot of guts and effort to continue on as she did.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Snippets Secret): 12.00 in to 10.00.
Favourite (C’Est Lorriane): 2.80 out to 3.20 in to 3.10.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
The start of this race was delayed when C'est Lorraine, which lunged at the gates prior to the start being effected, was inspected by the veterinary surgeon and passed suitable to race.

Miss Shabangabang (E. Kehoe) over-raced at the heels of C'est Lorraine (C. Munce) for a short distance approaching the 800m.

App B. Richardson the rider of Around The World reported that she was unable to restrain her mount in the early stages and as a result raced wide outside the speed.

Approaching the 100m Commanding Lass (App J. Letherby), which was tiring, had to be momentarily steadied from the heels of Starlistic (R. McMahon), which shifted out to improve.

Queen Thyra (J. Byrne) raced wide throughout the event.

R. McMahon the rider of Starlistic was fined the sum of $200.00 for returning to scale over his declared weight

Following the running of this event the track was upgraded to a Good 2 retrospective.

More articles