EUREKA FINDS SUCCESS

By Matthew Grimson | Friday, June 26, 2009

The Robert Heathcote trained Eureka relished both the extra ground and the heavy underfoot conditions to score his breakthrough win in untroubled fashion at Eagle Farm on Wednesday.

Apprentice jockey Chris McIver settled the five-year-old at the rear of the field in the early part, but he was always travelling too well for his rivals and once McIver gave him more rein approaching the turn, it quickly became apparent that it was just going to be a question of how far Eureka would win by. The official margin of six lengths aptly summed up Eureka’s superiority on the day.

Eagle Farm, June 24.
Maiden Plate (Set Weights) - 1846m. Time: 1-58.73.
Track - Heavy 8. Rail - out 9m.
1 Eureka; 2 Stateside; 3 Biscays Best.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Rob Heathcote: “We threw Chris (McIver) onto the horse because he has the claim and because of the wet track. With a horse like this we will take each step as it comes. I mean his last run was very good. He got unlucky. He was caught wide all the way. Today he has atoned for it. The was a little bit of a distance doubt going from 1350m to 1800m, but I was always comfortable considering the amount of work I’ve done with him.

“Admittedly ... let’s keep our feet on the ground here ... it’s only a Maiden, but he strikes me as a horse that has potential. Bear in mind, he is like a five-year-old with the mind of a two-year old, because he’s had to learn everything all over again. He wasn’t touched for four years. He got lost. It’s an amazing story.

"He was at the Victorian Stallions Station down in Euroa and they sent him up to Queensland to get him broken in. The name - Eureka - is very interesting because of what happened next. Because the owner forgot that he had him, he was out in the paddock untouched for four years.

“The owner is Tunka Shahabuddin, the Chairman of the Selangor Turf club in Malaysia. He’s an incredible man. He travels the world ... he’s in Venice as I speak to you now. He has horses all over the world - South Africa, New Zealand, all over Australia. He bred this horse, lost him, and then found him. Hence the name Eureka.

“We found the horse after so long and the week we found the horse, the name Eureka became available after seventeen years. It was an amazing co-incidence. So that is what happened and that is how he got his name.”

Apprentice jockey Chris McIver: “He jumped good, but we got a bad alley. I got told that it didn’t matter if we were last just as long as we got in. Rob (Heathcote) just wanted me to sit there and be patient and look for a horse that was going to go from the 600m and then to get on its back and then peel out and go from there. He handled the track beautifully today and he’ll handle it well in the future. He jumped up from 1300m to 1800m and he handled that beautifully as well. It didn’t even worry him, he could have run the next 200m.”

Eureka won at the fifth time of asking in his first start beyond 1400m.

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
(Winner) Eureka: 2.60 out to 2.70.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Apprentice L. Rolls was fined $200 for failing to claim his full allowance on Mortal Chase. Lucky Latar (L. Cheshire) jumped away awkwardly and missed the start. Lucky Latar was inclined to over-race rounding the first turn.