MV OCT 23 - ELITE FALLS OPENS HER ACCOUNT

By Taron Clarke | Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Moonee Valley, October 23, 2010.
Track - Dead 4. Rail - True. Penetrometer 4.61.
Inglis Banner 2YO SW - 1000m.
Time: 1-00.19. 600m Sectional: 36.51. (Carrying 55kg).
1 Elite Falls; 2 Masthead; 3 Manor Lady.
Margins: 2.3L x 0.2L.

John O’Shea’s well-bred youngster Elite Falls opened up her account with an impressive victory in the first race on Cox Plate Day at Moonee Valley.

The daughter of super sire More Than Ready out of multiple Black Type winning mare Niagara Falls was having her second racetrack start after a seven length fifth in the Listed Gimcrack Stakes at Randwick over 1000 metres.

Nash Rawiller took the mount on the bay filly after having partnered her in her only barrier trial run at Randwick back in September.

Sent out a solid third elect in the market behind Gold Coast trained first starter Pensive Dream, Elite Falls jumped away fairly from barrier eight and Rawiller elected to settle the filly down in the second half of the field as the speedsters jostled for positions up front.

Manor Lady held the fence from Pensive Dream to her outside and three wide was Mirror Man.

Back in the second half of runners was Lee Freedman’s first-timer Masthead. Ridden by Danny Nikolic, Masthead got on to the heels of runners as the field commenced the turn for the judge.

Nash Rawiller brought Elite Falls out three and four wide on the swing for home and made good ground to close to within four lengths of the leading trio.

Rounding the turn Masthead ran up on to the back of the favourite Pensive Dream and had to change course abruptly to avoid clipping heels.

In the meantime Elite Falls had all the momentum out wide on the course and sailed up to strike the front at the 100 metres mark.

Nikolic eased Masthead across heels into open galloping room, but by then the bird had flown and Elite Falls had a winning break.

Rawiller drove Elite Falls clear over the concluding stages to score an impressive victory by two and a half lengths over the unlucky Masthead and a small margin back to Manor Lady in third placing.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer John O’Shea: “She had a bit of improvement coming in after the Gimcrack, which was a very strong race and a nice trial on Friday just topped her off for today.

“She’s got a wonderful attitude … that helps. I wouldn't probably do it with any other horse but just nothing fazes her and we're happy to bring her here.

“She'd had a trial on Friday. That was all she needed to do. She's nice and fit and ready to go.

“She's got some improvement in her and when she gets back home to Sydney in the autumn I'll sure she'll be effective as well.

“She's one of those unassuming ones. She's not a flashy trackworker, but she's a genuine racehorse and that often counts for a lot.”

Jockey Nash Rawiller: “I trialled her at her first trial at Randwick and she really impressed me that day and probably went to her first start and got a little bit lost.

“We felt after trialling her Tuesday morning that she'd gone ahead and I think she's got a big future.

“Credit to John, he's given her a jumpout Tuesday and we thought we give her the right sort of trial and she's come out and proved it today.

“They're taking the top off the track and that's about all. I honestly believe it should race pretty even and certainly at this early stage it's just a perfect surface. It just depends if they chop into it as the day goes on.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Elite Falls): 7.00 out to 8.00 into 7.00.
Favourite (Pensive Dream): 3.80 out to 5.50 into 5.00. Finished fifth.

Horse to follow: Elite Falls scored an impressive victory after settling in a rearward position early. Rawiller stoked the filly up before the home turn and circled the field to reach the front in the home running full of momentum. Runner up Masthead ran on to heels several times but wouldn’t have trouble the winner.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Masthead shifted in abruptly on jumping away despite the efforts of its rider and as a result caused severe crowding to Fast Bucks which had to be checked when Arctic Command was contacted on the hindquarters by Fast Bucks. At the same time Arctic Command was taken out slightly by Chi Chi.

Also at the start Ave The Snip was severely crowded for room as a result of Mirror Man shifting in abruptly resulting in Ave The Snip making heavy contact with Pensive Dream. As a result of the incident Pensive Dream got quite unbalanced as did its rider M Rodd.

Near the 600m Ave The Snip, which was racing greenly, had to be check when tightened for room between Elite Falls and Masthead which had shifted out slightly.

After passing the 400m Masthead was unable to improve its position for a short distance when held up behind Chi Chi.

D Nikolic rider of Masthead was found guilty of a charge of careless riding under the provisions of AR137a, the careless riding being that after passing the 200m he rode his mount out to a position where there was insufficient room between Pensive Dream and Mirror Man and as result contact was made between Masthead and Mirror Man forcing Mirror Man out across the heels of Elite Falls resulting in B Shinn having to check Mirror Man.

D Nikolic had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence at midnight October 23 and to expire at midnight November 1, a total of ten race meetings (2 city, 8 country). In assessing penalty Stewards took into account the careless riding was in the mid-range category.

Aashiq, which was making good ground inside the final 100m, had to be checked off the heels of Masthead over the concluding stages when disappointed for clear running.

After the running of the race the Club’s veterinary surgeon reported that Mirror Man had sustained two small punctures to its near-fore fetlock.

A post race veterinary examination of Chi Chi revealed no abnormalities.

C Newitt (Fast Bucks) confirmed that after his mount got a bump at the start it became unbalanced and raced quite greenly.

More articles