FACILE TIGRE LIVES UP TO THE HYPE

By Graham Potter | Saturday, May 2, 2009

Gold Coast - 2yo Ken Russell Memorial Classic (Set weights - Listed) - 1200m.
Time: 1-10.08. Track: Good 3. Rail: True.
1 Facile Tigre; Trim; Movie.

Ok, let’s just back up for a minute here. Let’s rewind and go back to the horseracingonly (HRO) report on an ordinary Maiden race at the Sunshine Coast on April 18. The race was won by Facile Tigre and this was the report at the time.

The Bruce and Jason McLachlan trained Facile Tigre scored by 7.50 lengths on debut at the Cushion Track meeting. The manner in which the son of Catbird announced his arrival on the scene attracted plenty of attention. Most importantly, jockey Eddie Wilkinson, who has the experience and know-how to be able to label a good horse when he sees one, was in awe of the two-year-olds performance. For the record, this is what trainer and jockey had to say about Facile Tigre’s superb start to his career.

Jockey Eddie Wilkinson: “He is a superstar. That’s all I can tell you. He is exciting. We won by seven and we still had plenty up our sleeve. He is a special horse. He will be going straight to town and he’s probably ... not probably ... he is a carnival horse. He is an absolute professional. He jumped. He went. I said, come back. He came back. He just did it all.”

Co-trainer Jason McLachlan: “He is a very nice horse. He has always shown us plenty. Unfortunately he didn’t get a run in town. He was the fifth emergency. He’s got a long way to go yet. He’s only won a two-year-old Maiden, but I wouldn’t swop him for too many.”

Now back to the present and to the 34th running of the Listed Ken Russell Memorial Classic (Listed).

It took Facile Tigre some 200m to work around his field after jumping from a wide barrier. Once in front, the son of Catbird settled down to dictate the course of race. Superbly rated by jockey Eddie Wilkinson, this smart act was never troubled in the run home, scoring, yet again, in eye-catching fashion.

Trim and Movie finished second and third respectively.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Bruce McLachlan: “He’s always shown a lot of promise and he’s backed it up today, coming from a very soft race at Coloundra (which he won by 7.50 lengths on debut) and having to race against a good field, bad alley ... done some work to get there. It’s a great win.

“He doesn’t have to lead either. He had to today. You’ll find he will settle and relax, but when he was committed to lead, he led and he just showed he’s got a lot of quality. I think he has got a great future. He’ll probably go towards the Sires. We’ll have one more run and then we’ll have a break and go from there. It’s a great thrill for me to win this race (the Ken Russell Memorial Classic). I had a great association with Kenny Russell. He was a wonderful jockey and a wonderful person.”

Jockey Eddie Wilkinson: “Look, it was only his second start in a race. He’s still new. I did say when I got off that she was the best horse I’ve ridden. In the heat of the moment you say those things. I’ve ridden some lovely horses so I have to clarify that. He’s potentially the best.

“He feels awesome under you. He just travels sweet. We went forward, not necessarily to lead, but in the end we had no option. You ask him to pick it up, he just picks it up nicely. He just switched off under me when he got to the front. From the 600m on he just went through his gears, you know. I used him a fair bit early. He did it at both ends. I thought I could hear them coming. I had a look and they weren’t there. He’s a lovely horse.”

The Group 2 Sires Produce Stakes takes place at Eagle Farm on Queensland Oaks Day - May 30.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
K. McEvoy (Trim) explained that the filly, which is still learning as today was only its second run in a race, travelled kindly behind Sarge In Charge but just after straightening when he would have liked to have shifted out to go forward Catallion shifted in slightly and as a consequence of this he was held up until after the 200m when he was able to obtain clear running. After this Trim closed the race off strongly and in his opinion was most unlucky. The explanation submitted by K. McEvoy was today recorded.