BIRCHLEY TREBLE THE HIGHLIGHT AT DOOMBEN

By Graham Potter | Friday, May 1, 2009

Trainer Liam Birchley kicked off the month in style by saddling a treble at Doomben.

Birchley won three out of the first four races. His winners were Ella Marie, Kalakua and Northern Praise, all lightly raced three-year-olds who seem to have a fair future. As does the Mel Eggleston trained Big Girl’s Don’t Cry, who arrived with a rattle to secure her third win from three starts in a Class 2 event over 1660m. It is particularly noteworthy how Big Girls Don’t cry has coped with the step up in distance on each occasion, going from1200m to 1400m to 1660m.

Jim Byrne and Brent Evans each landed a double on the day to share the riding honours.


Race 1:

3yo Fillies & Mares Maiden Plate - 1350m. Time: 1-20.63. Track: Good 3. Rail: Out 11.5m.
1 Ella Marie; 2 Ms Mickdandee; 3 Shocking Blue.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Liam Birchley: “The mother was a good sprinter, but she seems to want ground. That’s why I started her at 1350m here first-up. I’ll probably step her up from here and see if she has got some sort of future over ground. She hasn’t got that really good turn of foot, but she hit the line well.

“She is a real momentum horse and hopefully the extra distance will suit. She might be an Oaks type of horse, but she just won’t be ready in time. She’s probably got that type of potential, but she would need to be up to about 1800m or 2000m now for that to be a consideration. There’s just not enough time left.”

Jockey Michael Cahill: “I didn’t really want to be where I was in the run, but I didn’t really have a lot of option. At least I was tracking the favourite and that brought me into the race. She was always going to be in the finish if she got a bit of luck. She was determined to go to the line. She just needed the breaks. When they came she was able to capitalise on them. She didn’t shrink from the gap. She’s a nice filly in the making and she’s got a good temperament.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Ella Maree): 3.60 out to 4.00.
Favourite (Ms Mickdandee): 1.60 out to 2.25. Finished second.


Race 2:

3yo Fillies & Mares Maiden Plate - 1350m. Time: 1-21.88. Track: Good 3. Rail: Out 11.5m.
1 Kalakua; 2 Carigano; 3 Razzled.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Liam Birchley (who completed a quick race-to-race double): “I bought him at the Ready-To-Run Sale for $36000. I just really liked him as a sort of a staying type of horse. He’s been working with the first race winner (Ella Maree), so I knew he would be competitive. He was still a little bit behind her in fitness. All I said to Brad (Stewart) - I didn’t give him any instructions - I just said to Brad, if he gets any sort of run I think he will win, but I’ll leave it up to you what you do. He was confident enough to go quite early. He is a promising horse.

“Again, just like with the first race winner, I’m a bit behind the eight-ball as far as the up-coming feature races are concerned. He was a slow maturing horse and he is just not forward enough to go to the Derby. So, maybe we’ll look at something like the Grand Prix, you know. He’ll probably go up to 1500m or 1600m next. Probably just go through his classes. We’ll just keep his confidence up. Like I say, he has been a bit slow maturing. It’s not the end of the world. If they ask you for time, you’ve got to give it to them, you know. Then they’ll reward you. If I could get him to the Grand Prix I would be more than happy.”

Jockey Brad Stewart: “He’s got lots of ability. I reckon there was five or six times though when he just kept switching on and off, you know. That’s why I sort of woke him up a little bit earlier than I wanted, because I didn’t want to get to him when he was still flat-footed. It was pretty good.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Kalakua): 2.50 out to 3.00 in to 2.80.
Favourite (Razzled): 2.50 in to 2.20.


Race 3:

3yo and up Fillies & Mares Maiden Handicap - 1250m. Time: 1-10.73.
Track: Good 3. Rail: Out 11.5m.
1 Daytime Drama; 2 Sugar Cube; 3 Acting Up.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Michael Lakey: “The horse has been a handful from day one - very, very highly strung. Our apprentice, Alexandra Kitson probably gets on best with her. She rides her a lot and gets on really well with her. She was a real handful as a baby. She sort of wanted to drop her head and clear out all the time. It’s thrown everyone. I wouldn’t say it is a buck-jumper. She just takes fright and tips you off. It hasn’t been easy, but she’s a winner now.”

Apprentice jockey Brent Evans: “I was very confident. I just bounced out. I wanted to cross to the paint in front. They wanted to make me do a bit of work, so I just relaxed and stayed out three deep for a while. I mean I had the whole back straight to get there. Then I crossed and she relaxed under me. When I asked for her effort, she just took off. Yeah, it was a nice win. She was just too good for them.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Daytime Drama): 2.20 out to 2.40.
The winner was the favourite.


Race 4:

3yo and up Colts, Geldings and Entires Maiden Handicap - 1200m.Time: 1-11.25.
Track: Good 3. Rail: Out 11.5m.
1 Northern Praise; Bootooloo: Sir Mossman.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Liam Birchley (having now saddled a treble on the day): “They just handed it to him on a plate. The rest just sort of backed off and let him do what he wanted to. He dictated and they just let him dictate. He had no choice but to win. He is a reasonable horse. I think he will handle a bit more ground. He has been a little bit slow to work things out. Like the one gate today and the blinkers really made the difference. He probably needed the blinkers first-up last time (on debut). He struck a slow track though, so first-up on that he did a good job without winning, you know.”

Apprentice jockey Brent Evans (who completed a race-to-race double on the day): “Oh mate, the lead that I got was just unbelievable. The last two races was a bit of daylight robbery – particularly this one. The way the race was run there was no way he could get beat.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Northern Praise): 1.50 steady.
The winner was the favourite.


Race 5:

2yo Maiden Handicap - 1200m.Time: 1-11.28. Track: Good 3. Rail: Out 11.5m.
1 False Accusation; 2 Game Power; 3 Golden Success.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Bryan Guy: “He’s not a bad horse. He ran fourth in the Consolation race at the Magic Millions. He let them all up inside him in the Magic Millions. I reckon if he stayed on the fence he’d probably win. The jockeys thought the going was better away from the rail that day so he swung out and the first three place-getters went up along the inside. Anyway, he’s done a good job here. He’s first-up from an outside barrier carrying top weight. He couldn’t do any more. He was gelded while he was out and the gelding has improved him out of sight. The best thing was the way he hit the line. He wasn’t doing that as a colt.”

Jockey Jim Byrne: “Yeah, they made us work a bit. I was going to try and settle in behind them, but the fact is, as soon as I started to try to lock him away, the pace slackens and I’m three deep you know. So I just had to keep pressing forward. He did a good job in the straight.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (False Accusation): 2.20 out to 2.60.
The winner was the favourite.


Race 6:

Class 2 Handicap - 1660m.Time: 1-41.13. Track: Good 3. Rail: Out 11.5m.
1 Big Girls Dont Cry; Strawberry Ripple; Papal Joy.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Mel Eggleston: “We are trying to get her into the Oaks and the Doomben Roses and we just hope to pick up enough prize-money, you know. One of them fell right back in her face over there and put her back. At that stage I didn’t think she could win ... but she did ... and it doesn’t matter how far you win by. That’s the best they can do. They can only win and she’s doing that. She had the heavy track to contend with at the Coast. She’s gone to a mile at only her third start. So we can’t complain.”

Jockey Dan Griffin: “We took up a nice position. They are setting her for the Oaks. I wanted to see if she’d get the distance, so I just wanted to give her a nice clean run. They kept coming back on me and it was hard to get a guide whether she was going to see it out, because I kept stop-starting her, you know. In the end, like the win was probably a bit better than it looked. I took off at the 700m mark. Michael Cahill (on More Than Primed ) stepped up his momentum. He had the same idea. He had his rolling quicker than I was and he gave me no real room and went around me. You allow for her being held up there and the win just gets better and better. Then she’s come right down the outside, stayed true and fought on to the last stride. When she stretched I thought we might have got it, but I knew it was the bob of a head. She’s gutsy alright.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Big Girls Don’t Cry).
The winner was the favourite.


Race 7:

Class 1 Handicap - 1200m.Time: 1-10.08. Track: Good 3. Rail: Out 11.5m.
1 Gundy Son; 2 Downsize; 3 Pea Eye Cee.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Robert Heathcote: “The big difference with him this preparation is he has been gelded. He was a real handful last prep ... remember the day he did a bolter around Eagle Farm. The thing that pleased me today was he relaxed, he did everything right, he sprinted to the line hard. Joe (Bowditch) pressed the button and he just went. I think he’s a horse who could measure up to a Saturday, city class, three-year-old Carnival race. We haven’t got rid of all of his nonsense with the gelding. He is still a bit of a lad. I give a bit of credit to Peter Spargo. He is the only track-work rider who sits on him. He does an excellent job with him. He just knows what the horse needs. Oh, he can be a real challenge. There are a lot of people who could not ride this horse in track-work, I can tell you that. So, yeah, it was very pleasing. Even his run the other day in town was good on that wet track. He’s a Falvelon and they don’t handle it. So that was also a good effort.”

Jockey Joe Bowditch: “He showed a good turn of foot. He surprised me how quick he let down when I asked him. I just popped him out to work around the leaders and the next thing he’d got there easy enough. He kicked on good. The horse is only second-up so there is still a bit of improvement in him. We just had a beautiful run. You couldn’t ask for things to work out any better.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Gundy Son): 3.60 out to 4.60.
Favourite: (Surrounded By Sin): 4.20 in to 3.30. Finished tenth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of Brookie Babe, apprentice J. Jones was of the opinion that the performance was affected by the fact that the filly was obliged to work hard in the early stages of the event to obtain a forward position.

Stewards questioned apprentice L. Rolls regarding the tactics adopted on Surrounded By Sin today as compared to its previous racing pattern of the gelding. Apprentice Rolls advised stewards that the instructions from the trainer today were to allow the horse to settle in a mid to rearward position as a result of the wide barrier. He stated after being unable to obtain a midfield position he elected to restrain the horse to a position at the rear of the field. The explanation was noted. A post-race veterinary examination of Surrounded By Sin after the event revealed the horse to be sore in the off foreleg. Connections were advised that a veterinary certificate of fitness must be presented prior to the gelding racing again.


Race 8:

Class 5 Handicap - 1110m.Time: 1-03.94.Track: Good 3. Rail: Out 11.5m.
1 Overanxious; 2 Equates, Rockem.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Jockey Jim Byrne (who completed a double on the day): “Yeah, we had a bad barrier but, you know what, they went that fast anyway. That helped us out a lot. He is a horse that can relax too, so it worked out well. We just pushed out wide for a run in the straight and he turned it into a good win.”

Price fluctuations:
Winner (Overanxious): 7.00 out to 8.00.
Favourite (The Boxer): 4.00 out to 3.50. Finished fifth.

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