SAMTHEFLIRT SCORES AT EAGLE FARM

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The Danny Williams trained Samtheflirt deserved another win on consistency alone and he duly got his reward when taking out the 1MW Handicap over 1400m at Eagle Farm on Saturday. The six-year-old has yet to finish out of the first two places in six starts this prep over distances ranging from 1200m to 1600m.

1MW Handicap - 1400m. Time: 1-23.00
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 1m.
1 Samtheflirt; 2 Dalzar; 3 Danzylum
Eagle Farm - Saturday, June 20.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Danny Williams: “Look, he tends to pull a bit hard in his races. The races have got to be run in a certain way to suit him. He likes a fast run tempo and he hasn’t been getting that.”(Samtheflirt finished second in the two runs leading into this race). “Just to sort of try and bring him back a bit we put a Norton bit on him. He didn’t really seem comfortable in the ground, but he did his best work the last bit which was very good.

“He is a horse that has shown us a fair bit of promise, but he has been a very slow to mature. We tried to sell the horse during his last preparation for $15 000. Couldn’t get a buyer. So we ended up keeping him and he has come back to form.”

“Owners can sometimes want to pass on horses pretty quickly ... sometimes too quick. He was one that sort of hurt himself at home. Being by Sequalo he has got a bit of a cold back and he dropped his head on one of the riders one day and fell over on the bitumen. He hurt himself and lost a bit of form and they wanted to sell him. I wasn’t real keen on the idea, but you have got to pass them on at some stage. But there was no buyer.” (The first prize here was $32 000).

Jockey Peter Robl: “Yeah, Brisbane seems to agree with me. It is a very nice place to be. I followed Damien Oliver riding the toppie, you know, to take me through into the run. I wanted to wait until the 250m before I produced him. I produced him there and he’s hit the line good and just got there. He responded immediately I asked him and let down very nicely. He’s got a nice finish on him, but only a short-one.

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Samtheflirt): 7.50 out to 8.00.
Favourite (Veewap): 4.00 out to 5.50 in to 5.00. Finished seventh.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Before leaving the parade yard, K. Yoshida, rider of Rockem, was advised by the horse's attendant to check the tongue of Rockem after arriving at the start. K. Yoshida was aware that Rockem had previously raced in a tongue-tie and he misunderstood the instruction from the attendant and after arriving at the start when the horse did not have a tongue-tie on, he requested one be fitted by the starter. This was done and Rockem raced in a tongue-tie which was not part of its declared gear. Subsequently, K. Yoshida was fined the sum of $200 for negligence, in that he incorrectly presumed Rockem was to wear a tongue-tie.

Rockem (K. Yoshida) was slow to begin. Deception Bay (D. Gauci) over-raced in the early stages, and near the 1000m, when continuing to over-race, had to be restrained when momentarily tightened for room between Samtheflirt, which shifted out slightly, and Bella Cantana (J. Taylor), which shifted in and away from Black Morgan (M. Cahill).

Jockey L. Cassidy, rider of Veewap, explained that the horse was in a very piggy mood before the start and raced ungenerously and proved disappointing over the concluding stages. A post race veterinary examination of Veewap revealed the colt to have bled during the event and was suffering from thumps. Trainer T. Vasil was advised that the colt will now be barred for a period of three months.