THE GOLD COAST WRAP FOR THE JULY 15 MEETING

By Graham Potter | Monday, July 17, 2023

FROM THE GOLD COAST, JULY 15, 2023:

A POLYTRACK MEETING.

SEE SEPARATE LEAD STORY: (covering races five, six and seven)

A CALLOW V CALLOW HEADLINE ACT AT THE GOLD COAST

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The Chris Anderson trained Centarus scored a win on debut when taking out a QTIS Two-Year-Old Handicap over 1150m.

The chestnut son of Star Turn has clearly been a work in progress for some time having started out with trainer John O’Shea, for which he had no less than five trials between October 2022 and June 2023 ... without racing ... before transferring to the Anderson yard where he had another trial on July 4, before being given the green light to officially start his racing career.

Starting at $5, Centarus went back after being caught wide from the number six barrier draw early and he raced all of nine lengths off the tearaway leader, the $1.85 favourite She Is All Magic, as that runner took the field down the bac straight and through the sweep to the home turn.

Centarus had cut that deficit to five lengths on straightening, but, with the leader not stopping, it still needed a sustained, focused run home from the debutant to have even a sniff of victory and Centarus produced the effort that was required in a manner which was impressive in both the acceleration he showed and his focussed commitment to the cause when it looked like he might run out of the time he needed to be able to snare She Is All Magic.

In the end victory was achieved by a 0.40 length margin under a patient and well-judged ride by Dan McGillivray.
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There was singing in the winners’ enclosure with jockey Craig Robertson conducting the singalong by the winning connections from the saddle after the $6 chance Surin Beach had upstaged the $1.90 favourite I Am Voodoo in a Colts, Geldings and Entires 0-58 Handicap over 1200m.

Like Centarus before him in the opening race on the card, Surin Beach was having his first start for his new trainer and Jason Patton had him spot-on for his stable debut.

Also, like Centarus, Surin Beach settled well back in the early part, easily seven lengths off the lead and, in truth, you wouldn’t have wanted to have money on him when he was still six lengths adrift of the action on straightening when the favourite hit the lead looking set to claim the victory that the betting boards had predicted.

Nothing much had changed by the 200m mark, but the complexion of the race was about to change completely over the final 100m.

With I Am Voodoo starting to feel the pinch from his early effort (he was always up with the speed before making an early move for home), the majority of the chasing pack started to close up markedly on the now struggling leader and, of those, it was Surin Beach who came home best of all, finishing with a rattle to claim a last stride victory ... which was enough to set off the joyful vocal harmonies which serenaded Surin Beach as he came into the winners’ enclosure.

The son of the Irish bred Excelebration, Surin Beach had raced four times without success prior to relocating to the Patton yard, but now put that important first win was on the scoreboard ... a result which also translated into another notable win for former jockey (now Gold Coast based trainer) Jason Patton with Surin Beach being Patton’s fourth winner from his last thirteen runners ... giving the stable a 31 percent winning strike rate since Zoomurudi saluted on April 29.

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Trainer Vishan Venkaya thought his horse had won. Trainer Tony Georgieff also thought the result had gone that way, actually congratulating Venkaya on the win, but it was close ... very close.

For the second race in a row on the day, the decision came down to a last stride bob of the head in this Maiden Handicap over 1540m ... with the photo ultimately showing a margin in favour of the Georgieff trained Aiden ($6) over the Venkaya trained Jester Statement ($14).

Wins come in different sizes, shapes and forms but, for Georgieff this one came with obvious satisfaction as Aiden is the only horse he currently has in training.

Both of the runners involved in the finish raced towards the rear of the field in the early part. They were still well back in the sweep to the home turn, but Jester Statement had pulled a two length advantage over the Aiden at that stage after the latter had to ease off heels in the running and go back to last.

When the speed went on early, both runners made up ground out wide on the track approaching the home turn with Jester Statement towing Aiden up towards the lead.

Jester Statement continued on and she soon joined issue with Blue Swimmer ($7.50) for the lead on straightening ... and, when she got the better of that one with 200m left to run, Aiden was still over three lengths away ... but starting to close ground fast.

That gap between them diminished with every stride with Aiden really revved up, until it all became a question of whether the post would arrive soon enough for Jester Statement to hold on and, as they flashed through the line together, it was almost too difficult to call the result with the naked eye.

A great finish with Aiden and Micheal Hellyer getting the judge’s nod to claim his first win at his seventh career start.

*Trainer Vishan Venkaya’s feeling of disappointment at seeing his runner touched off in the last half-stride would have changed to pleasure when, just four days later, he took Jester Statement to Ipswich on the short back-up, where he scored a rails-hugging, come from behind win to score at a starting price of $16.

Jockey Karl Zechner, who was on Jester Statement at teh Gold Coast, would also have been happy at the mares change of fortune.

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The $3.20 joint favourite King Kryptos shed his Maiden ticket, winning over 1110m by what, in the end, turned out to be a comfortable 3.50 length margin.

Emily Lang’s 3kg claim in the saddle obviously helped the cause of the Bryan Dais trained runner (King Kryptos had a 5kg weight advantage over the second placed Fly With You), but the son of Smart Missile still had to produce the goods and, the way the race unfolded, King Kryptos’s resolve was tested on several occasions along the way.

The number one barrier draw was useful, but Lang had to make use of her mount early to hold the rail advantage. Then, midrace, King Kryptos had to be restrained to avoid running onto heels ... and then, when he straightened in third place, three lengths off the leader, the Dais trained runner still had to pull a two-party trick to land the odds and he duly set about that with meaning.

Firstly, there was the no small matter of reeling in the two horses in front of him and, secondly, once he had done that by taking their measure with 100m left to run, it was a matter of sustaining his run to ensure it would be a race winning effort.

King Kryptos, who had campaigned in city class races in four of his six starts prior to this run, passed every one of those tests with credit to claim a well-deserved win.

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Trainer Ben Hull and jockey Rikki Jameson scored one for Tegan Harrison in the last race when they played their respective roles in All’s Fair saluting in a Class 1 Plate over 1800m.

Hull is married to Tegan, who was only released from hospital on Thursday, after being admitted with severe concussion and a fractured clavicle following a fall at Grafton on July 9 and Hull was sure the result would bring some cheer to the sidelined rider.

All’s Fair was able to complete a positive form countdown with this, her second career win. She had finished third on June 17, second on July 1 and then, happily, franked that progress by going one better on Saturday.

Using gate one to every advantage, Jamison had All’s Fair beautifully positioned early, racing in second place, just a length back, tracking the leader. All’s Fair did go back to third after that though and was possibly looking in danger of getting too far out of her ground approaching the home turn as Pagato ($9) continued to set a strong pace up front.

That concern for All’s Fair’s followers remained in place on straightening where the Hull trained runner still had all of five to six lengths to make up.

That margin was down to three lengths coming through the 200m mark with All’s Fair now building significant momentum, and that was when any concern about her chance of winning evaporated.

Such was her acceleration, All’s Fair made up all of those three lengths in a mere 100m, taking the lead and control of the race coming through the 100m mark, from which moment the result was never in doubt.
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