BRC JUL 08 - LADY SELENE DOES IT EASY

By Matthew Grimson | Thursday, July 9, 2009

Eagle Farm, July 8, 2009.
2yo Maiden Plate (Set Weights) - 1200m. Time: 1-13.66.
Track - Dead 5. Rail - out 5m.
1 Lady Selene; 2 Grand Reception; 3 Sequalo Revenge.

Sitting in midfield, three or four wide, then switching wider on straightening and chasing home strongly has proved to be a race-winning pattern at Eagle Farm in recent times. Jockey Joe Bowditch followed that winning formula aboard the Bryan Guy trained Lady Selene and the filly had the ability to carry through with the plan, coming away at the finish to land a clear-cut victory in only her second career start, building on the runner-up finish she achieved on her debut.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Brian Guy: “It’s a bloody good filly, have a look at that. She sat back. That’s the first time we rode her back. The other day she was in ... Joey (Bowditch) sat in ... and she popped out and she dashed to the line real quick and got beaten at 40-1. Her run was great.

“She beat Za Magic over 800m in track work, and that horse won the Sunshine Coast Guineas.

“I’ll probably nearly put her in the paddock and give her nearly a month or five weeks off and then bring her back. That gives me September, October and she’ll be ready because she’s a Magic Millions three-year-old. We might be able to pick a nice race with her then.

“She only cost us $40 000. She’s a good filly. I will probably push her up in distance eventually but at not at the moment. I would like to throw her in the paddock now. I’ll have a talk to Lucky (owner Andy Pippos) and, unless there is a Saturday race for two-year-olds, I think we’ll put her out.”

Jockey Joe Bowditch: “She is pretty smart I reckon. The other day she ran good first up but she did a few things wrong. Today she did everything right. She came back to me and travelled nicely. She can let down really quick so it was a good effort.

“She’d drawn a bit awkward so they left it up to me a bit. They just said if she shows enough speed to go forward, go forward. But if not and you get caught wide, we’ll leave it up to you to sort it out.

“I just went back and got a bit of cover and let her travel into the race and let down. She’s got a really good turn of foot and she’s still learning what it’s about, so she’s got a lot of improvement still.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Lady Selene): 4.20 out to 4.80.
Favourite (Chanfal): 3.40 out to 4.20. Finished tenth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
The start of this race was delayed when Jeunes Destiny proved difficult to load. Trainer T. Timbery was advised that she must provide a further barrier certificate for the colt prior to its next race start. Near the 950m, Grand Reception (R. Wiggins) was crowded for room when racing between Prince Octane (M. Radecker) and Our Bush Lawyer (M. Hellyer), which shifted in. Ishi Classic (D. Tanti) raced greenly for a short distance leaving the 1000m. Approaching the 800m, Al Chicago (S. Katsidis) shifted in, making contact with Ishi Classic. Nearing the 800m, Prince Octane (M. Radecker) had to be steadied off the heels of Our Bush Lawyer and as a consequence shifted in, making contact with the running rail. Red God (B. Pengelly), which was trailing, was also inconvenienced in this incident. Approaching the finish line, Red God shifted to the inside of Sequalo Revenge to improve and in doing so made contact with Ishi Classic (D. Tanti), resulting in B. Pengelly having to steady Red God.

Jockey P. Timbery was fined $400 for contravening Rule AR137(a) in that he used his whip excessively on Jeunes Destiny over the final 400m.