MV SEPT 11 - PERTURBO GOES INTO OVERDRIVE AT MOONEE VALLEY

By Taron Clarke | Sunday, September 12, 2010

Moonee Valley, September 11, 2010.
Track - Slow 6. Rail - True. Penetrometer 5.02.
Open Handicap - 1200m.
Time: 1-12.92. 600m Sectional: 36.65. (Carrying 53.5kg).
1 Perturbo; 2 True Persuasion; 3 Elusive Touch.
Margins: 0.2L x 0.1L.

Perturbo got back to his brilliant best at Moonee Valley on Saturday with a slashing victory on the Strath Ayr circuit.

Backing up from an improved run the week before in the Group Three Bobby Lewis Quality, Perturbo was able to return to somewhere near his best form and run down a quality field of restricted sprinters.

Jockey Ben Melham took the mount on the son of Jugah, and settled the Colin and Cindy Alderson trained gelding towards the rear of the field, some twelve lengths off the leader who was Confidence Reef.

The field of sprinters was strung out over fifteen lengths as they raced down the side of the track with Queensland galloper Woorim bringing up the rear.

The field bunched rounding the home turn and this allowed Melham to track up on to the back of El Mandon and close to within five lengths of the leader which was now the well supported commodity Elusive Touch, who was out five wide on the track.

Elusive Touch, under the urgings of Michael Rodd, held a slender margin over Devils Force and slicing through the field was True Persuasion.

Perturbo had balanced up the widest runner in the straight and Melham had produced the persuader on the five-year-old gelding and he was starting to chime in with giant strides.

In a driving finish Perturbo raced up to grab Elusive Touch at the 50 metre mark, with True Persuasion pushing up along the inside of runners.

The momentum that jockey Ben Melham had gained aboard Perturbo was too much for his rivals and the Cranbourne trained galloper packed too many guns in the run to the line where he scored by a slender margin over True Persuasion and the favourite Elusive Touch.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Cindy Alderson: “That’s the way he likes to race and I was encouraged when there was a bit of speed in the race. I thought he was a little bit big the other day after the Bobby Lewis Handicap, so I thought he needed to back up and he has backed up and paid for it.

“He has really come of age this horse. He had some problems early in his career with a sort of virus that we couldn’t get under control, but last year he seemed to shake it off and he has never been in better form.”

Jockey Ben Melham: “It was Cindy’s idea to back him up today and he had been racing well in probably better company.
“I was glad today to see a race with good natural speed up front. We didn’t have to ride him out of his comfort zone and he really showed that it suits him by his finish.

“They have been back and swooping. With the rail there in the true, it’s generally pretty even … the best horse can generally win, but I found the fence and came out when I made my run and he won well.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Perturbo): 18.00 out to 19.00.
Favourite (El Mandon): 2.60 out to 3.10 in to 2.60. Finished fifth.

Horse to follow: Queensland visitor Woorim didn’t have a lot of luck in his Victorian debut. Jockey Stathi Katsidis had the Robert Heathcote trained galloper at the rear of the field and never managed to gain clear galloping room in the straight. Not suited by the tight turning circuit, Woorim can definitely pay his way on a larger metropolitan track.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
On jumping away, Devils Force and Veewap bumped. Elusive Touch was slightly awkward at the start.

Drenalin raced wide without cover.

Inside the final 100m, Woorim had difficulty in obtaining clear running.

Over the concluding stages, Oroya Gold was checked when disappointed for a run between Woorim and Drenalin, which was giving ground.

Near the winning post, Rockpecker was racing in restricted room between Elusive Touch and El Mandon and as a result, Rockpecker got unbalanced when having bumped El Mandon.

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