EF JAN 11 - DEFENCEMAN HOLDS THE FORT

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Eagle Farm, January11, 2012.
Track - Good 3.Rail - Out 200m from 1000m to 400. True for the remainder.
Maiden Handicap - 1500m.
1 Defenceman; 2 Cobalt Blue; 3 Croat; 4 Fair Square.
Time: 1-31.26. Last 600m: 37.38.

The Robert Heathcote trained Defenceman might have had to settle for fourth placing behind his stable companion Firestorm last time, but he made no mistake here when taking out his first victory in only his third start - although it did get a touch close on the line.

Defenceman’s two previous runs were not flash, but they were not bad either and those who reckoned the lightly-raced son of Reset would take natural improvement from his early education and would also enjoy the marginal increase in distance were probably fortunate to get as much as 8-1 before the horse was punted in to his starting price of 6.50.

Jockey Glen Colless allowed Defenceman to stride into an immediate lead. For a brief moment he enjoyed a two length cushion on his rivals but he was then joined by Jhelum who wanted to engage in a speed battle at the head of affairs.

Colless refused to give up the rail while still trying to rate his horse with a chance and, when Jhelum began to feel the pinch approaching the home turn, Colless gave Defenceman his head early and the three-year-old quickly dropped Jhelum and turned for home with a commanding lead, which he increased to a full five length advantage by the 250m mark.

As it turned out, Defenceman needed every inch of that lead to survive. The early chase to the front, the brief but annoying battle with Jhelum and the effort he put into his kick early in the straight meant Defenceman was entitled to tire over the concluding stages … and it was no suprise what he did.

As Defenceman weakened late, his slowing down seemed to exaggerate the speed at which Cobalt Blue was arriving down the centre of the track. The grey looked good for second, but then suddenly became a big danger to the winner as he closed up dramatically in the final few strides, but Defenceman still had a winning margin on the line and the win was safely in the bank.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Robert Heathcote: “Look, he is going to be a 2000m horse and further … being by Reset.

“He is still learning the game … still got a lot of barrier antics that aren't quite right, but, you know, experience is where that improvement is going to come from. Otherwise he did what we thought he would do. I did think he would be hard to beat.”

Jockey Glen Colless: “Rob (Heathcote) said he was pretty one-paced in his previous start, so I was pretty aggressive on him out of the gates and led on him.

“I thought if I could let him slide coming to the 500 and get a good break on them … and I think that is what won him the race.

“He did the work early. He got a little bit tired, but he had done enough to get the result.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Defenceman): 7.00 out of 8.00 in to 6.50.
Favourite (Fair Square): 3.50 out to 3.70. Finished fourth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Fair Square (R. Wiggins) jumped away awkwardly and lost ground.

Lookoutmate (J. Taylor) and Star Bounty (P. Hammersley) were slow to begin.

Passing the 1300m Lookoutmate (J. Taylor) had to be steadied when tightened for room by Bound For Abundhabi (D. Griffin), which shifted in. In the circumstances, D. Griffin, rider of Abundhabi, was advised to exercise more care when shifting ground in future.

Near the 1200m, The Goat (S. Galloway) became unbalanced and had to be steadied when momentarily tightened for room by Fair Square (R. Wiggins), which shifted in.

Star Of Sorrento (B. Stewart) over-raced at the heels of Cobalt Blue (D. Browne) for a short distance leaving the 1200m.

Near the 1000m, Lookoutmate, which had commenced to over-race, improved up on to the heels of Hidden Rock (M. Speers) and when being restrained shifted out. Lookoutmate continued to race ungenerously during the middle stages. A warning was placed on Lookoutmate regarding its racing manners.

Cobalt Blue was held up rounding the home turn when awkwardly placed at the heels of the tiring Bound For Abudhabi.

Bound For Abudhabi and Hidden Rock raced wide for the majority of the race.

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