DOOM AUG 21 - CARRY THE CLUBS SCORES IN STYLE

By Graham Potter | Thursday, August 26, 2010

Doomben, August 21, 2010.
Track - Slow 6. Rail - out 4m. Penetrometer - 5.25.
2MW Last year Handicap - 1020m.
Time: 59.85. (Carrying 56kg).
1 Carry The Clubs; 2 Aspiran; 3 Reizarb.

Carry The Clubs made a welcome return to the Darren Bell stable and he came out firing to shoot down his opposition at Doomben on Saturday.

The chestnut had come down from the North Queensland stable of Les Jamieson for the final two runs of his last preparation (in late January and early February) where he performed admirably landed a win and third place finish in town.

Carry The Bags then returned to his home base where he was given a solid break of four months by trainer Les Jamieson before returning to action. Two runs in McKay, a win in Rockhampton and an unplaced finish in Townsville brought Carry The Clubs to the end of his four-year-old season, when the decision was taken to send Carry The Clubs down to Brisbane again.

As he did last time, Carry The Clubs clearly enjoyed the change of scenery and was good enough to win first-up at Doomben.

Jockey Brad Stewart settled Carry The Clubs in fifth spot some 3.50 lengths off The Chanster who went out to set the target.

Aspiran tracked the leader while the third and fourth placed Purr Of Glory and Mister Celestial were the two other runners that Carry The Clubs would have to pass to claim victory.

The Chanster continued to lead all the way through the sweep to the home turn. Aspiran sat just outside and half-a-length to the rear of the leader while Purr Of Glory looked ominous as he stalked the two leaders, perfectly poised to strike.

Mister Celestial was wider on the track and Stewart was saving ground on Carry The clubs, still that 3.50 lengths off the action.

As Aspiran went up to put the test to The Chanster, Carry The Clubs angled out, but was held reasonably tight on the heels of Purr Of Glory by Mister Celestial. It was only when the latter weakened approaching the 200m mark that Carry The Clubs began to let down with meaning.

By that stage The Chanster was still holding Aspiran at bay, but inside the 180m the grey finally took the measure of the longtime leader and surged to the lead.

Purr of Glory had made a nuisance of himself the whole length of the straight, but he now lacked the extra required to reel in the Aspiran.

Carry The Clubs however had found his rhythm and, although still 2.50 lengths in arrears, he was now in full flight. As Carry The Clubs cut back the deficit with each passing stride Aspiran continued to fight on gamely and it was only in the final two strides that Carry The Clubs went up to take the advantage away from the grey to score a finely judged win.

Reizarb, who cornered two lengths behind Carry The Clubs took a while to warm up but he hit the line well out wider on the track to claim a creditable third place without troubling the main result.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Darren Bell: “He’s is a beautiful horse. If you look at him you can see why he has got that sort of record (eleven wins from twenty-five starts).

“He got a lot of confidence when he was racing up north and he is certainly more than a little bit competitive here.

“His first start for me he won. Then he ran third behind my grey horse, Monashee Dancer (back in February this year).

“Then he just went a bit sore in the feet. So, we sent him up back home. He had some time out, then they just campaigned him up there for a few runs and sent him back down to us. Les Jamieson sent him down to me in very good order.

“When she was last with me I really, really liked the horse and he’s come back a bit stronger this time.

“That was the normal racing pattern that the horse follows. He can probably race a little bit handier than that, but Brad (Stewart) just switches them off. He’s got beautiful hands. He was always confident. I was a bit worried, but he knew what he was doing.”

Jockey Brad Stewart: “Yeah, he’s got a very good strike-rate. You know, you can’t win that many races unless you’ve got the potential there.

“I had a nice run behind them today and he got out at the right time. He was too good.

“Yah, I’m doing alright. It’s a battle. It’s very competitive here at the moment, but it’s good. It keeps you on your toes and keeps you motivated.

“The weight’s still probably not quite where I want it, but we’re working on it every day. It will get better.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Carry The Clubs): 9.00 out to 10.00 in to 7.50.
Favourite (Aspiran): 3.70 out to 3.80 in to 3.30. Finished second

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Stewards acceded to a request from trainer L. Birchley to lift the slow-track bar on Falco Star today which had been imposed in January 2009.

Purr Of Glory was examined by the veterinary surgeon prior to the start at the request of jockey El-Issa when he noticed blood on the exterior of the bandage covering the horse's hock. Purr Of Glory was subsequently passed suitable to race.

Carry The Clubs (B. Stewart) was slow to begin.

Near the 800m, Mister Celestial (M. Hellyer) shifted in, taking Carry The Clubs in on to Falco Star (M. Cahill), which had to be steadied momentarily.

Carry The Clubs was held up in the early part of the straight.

Stewards sought an explanation from jockey M. Bennett regarding the disappointing performance of Backstabber.

M. Bennett stated that the horse was slow to begin and travelled only fairly to the first turn, which resulted in him settling in a more rearward position then he would have liked. M. Bennett further added that Backstabber commenced to hang out leaving the 800m, and after accelerating briefly in the home straight, compounded and proved disappointing.

Trainer B. Dodson explained that it was uncharacteristic for Backstabber to miss the start and that when M. Bennett was forced to ride the horse from a rearward position he was of the opinion that this did not suit the usual racing pattern of the horse.

B Dodson further added that whilst the performance was disappointing, he felt that it was as a result of the pattern in which Backstabber had to be ridden after being slowly away. A post-race veterinary examination of Backstabber failed to reveal any significant abnormalities.

A post-race veterinary examination of Falco Star failed to reveal any significant abnormalities.

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