GCTC JUL 01 - SMART ‘N’ CRAFTY STEALS THE PRIZE

By Matthew Grimson | Friday, July 3, 2009

Gold Coast, July 1, 2009.
Class 1 Handicap - 1400m. Time: 1-26.74.
Track - Slow 6. Rail - True.
1 Smart ‘N’ Crafty; 2 Mambo Princess; 3 Inch Ahead.

The Robert Heathcote trained Smart ‘N’Crafty was given more rein by jockey Joe Bowditch soon after entering the straight and it looked as easy as push-button acceleration as the three-year-old easily gathered in the opposition and then left them trailing to forge away to a 2.50 length victory, which was the biggest winning margin on the day. The gelding was racing first-up following a spell of a little over five months.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Rob Heathcote: “He had a good break. He always promised me he had some ability, but we weren’t exactly sure what would be his best distance.

"Last preparation the horse he promised us something but, if you look at his last couple of runs, we put him up in ground and he didn’t go really well and his form looked ordinary.

“His last run in his last prep he’d simply had enough. So we gave him an extra long spell. I think that’s the secret. The good lengthy spell ... I don’t know how long we’ve given him off but I know it was a good while ... he’s really strengthened up. He’s probably put on a good 50kg to 60kg and that’s made the difference. He’s a lot stronger horse.”

“He’s come here today at big odds and I really fancied him. We had something on him because his two trials he done the exactly the same thing. He’s drop out the back and then he’s flashed home and really hit the line hard. And that’s what really got us a little bit excited.

“Today the race was run and it looked like there was good genuine speed. He stormed home. I really like ... just looking at the head-on replay now ... the way he is stretching out. He put them to bed pretty quickly, and that’s what I like. From the 600m he loomed into the race and I got a bit excited then because I could see the way he was travelling and I thought, this horse might finally be starting to show what I always thought he had.

“You know, as a trainer, sometimes you see horses do things in track work and trials and whatever - and they don’t do it in a race. You think you might not have seen what you thought you saw. When they come to the races and do that - that’s the ability I’ve always thought this horse has had. And he’s come out today and proved it.

"Okay, it was only a Class 1 at the Gold Coast, but it was first up and I really love the way he lengthened stride that last 50m. So I’ll probably go to a mile with him now - a mile three-year-old race and yeah, we’ll see how he goes when he goes to town - but I like what I saw today.”

Jockey Joe Bowditch: “The horse raced well. He got back. Had a bit of a tricky draw ... didn’t have a lot of speed. Just got caught three wide without cover. Probably where you want to be today ... three wide. We had a really nice smooth run and I was able to pop out when I wanted and the horse let down good.

“Once I went for him, he let down really good. But I thought I just might have got there a bit soon and because he got there really quick I thought he might have pulled up a bit. But when I asked him for an effort he kept going right to the line. He was strong to the line. He’ll go to town now and shouldn’t have too much trouble winning one in town.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Smart ‘N’ Crafty): 13.00 out t0 17.00.
Favourite (Cape Leveque): 5.50 in to 3.50. Finished fifth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Near the 800m Relative Velocity (M. Palmer) over-raced on the heels of Sittinbul (B. Evans) and had to be steadied. Sir Rossa and Cape Leveque both raced wide for the majority of the event.