EF APR 02 - AL MAZAYA EXTENDS HIS WINNING SEQUENCE

By Graham Potter | Sunday, April 3, 2011

Eagle Farm, April 2, 2011.
Track - Slow 7. Rail - out 3m (1000m to 400m). True for remainder.
Open Handicap - 1600m.
1 Al Mazaya; 2 Mr Slick; 3 Little Stranger.
Time: 1-36.96. (Carrying 55kg). Last 600m: 35.41.
Margins: 2.25; Long-head.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Michael Jacobs: “He just keeps on improving and is doing a good job every-time.

“That’s four-in-a-row for him and Damian Browne now. You can’t knock a winning combination can you?

“The horse has got a few little habits that we have to manage.

“We don’t take him to the track all that often. He only works at track basically twice a week. The rest of the time he goes around the bull-ring or he’s at the pony club.

“As long as he stays happy we’ll keep pressing on and look for his next challenge.”

Jockey Damian Browne: “He is a horse … you really got to get him into a rhythm.

“I wanted him to relax early, but when Mandy (Radecker, riding Rebounded) crossed me he wasn’t going to relax real good.

“He is a horse that can get a bit fired up and it appeared to me he was going to over-race, so I thought I would go forward and get him into that nice rhythm.

“Approximately from the 1000 to the 600 I was able to give him a breather so he was able to kick on. He responds to your riding and always gives one-hundred-and-ten percent.

“In the finish he is going that one-hundred-and-ten percent anyway so there is no point going any harder on him. He just makes it hard for them to run him down.

“Everything they seem to throw at him … he just deals with it. He seems to be doing the job week in and week out. He is just one of those workmanlike horses, you know.

“I don’t know about Carnival time. It's a bit different opposition Carnival time and I think he’ll have to cross that bridge when he comes to it.

“What is definite at this stage is that Michael (Jacobs) has done a great job placing this horse and I’m sure he will continue to do so.

“He’s also obviously done a great job with him at home too.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Al Mazaya): 2.70 out to 3.50.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Approaching the 700m, Lucky Dubai (L. Cassidy) attempted to improve to the outside of Acquired (B. El-Issa) where there was insufficient room and as a result made heavy contact with Sanderson (J. Holder). Lucky Dubai then shifted back inwards and had to be checked to avoid the heels of Acquired (B. El-Issa).

When placed under pressure near the 200m, Lucky Dubai was inclined to lay in behind the heels of Acquired.

Little Stranger (S. Galloway) raced wide throughout.

Stewards questioned J. Holder regarding the tactics he employed on Sanderson in the early stages of the race where he settled at the rear of the field, which was in contrast to its most recent start.

J. Holder explained that at its last start after being slow to begin, he rode the gelding vigorously for a short distance and this resulted in the gelding over-racing, and for this reason he settled further forward in the field than anticipated.

He added that he was instructed from the wide barrier today to ride Sanderson where it was comfortable and after improving into the race from the 700m, it did not respond to his riding in the home straight and was disappointed with the finishing effort of the gelding over the final 250m.

A post race veterinary examination of Sanderson revealed the gelding to be lame in the near-foreleg.

Trainer K. Doughty was advised that she would be required to provide a veterinary clearance for Sanderson prior to its next race start.

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