TTC JUL 11 - LIPP TAKES OUT FOURTH TOOWOOMBA CUP

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Toowoomba, July 11, 2009.
Toowoomba Cup Handicap - 2100m. Time: 2-10.66.
Track - Cushion Track.
1 Jussemi; 2 Little Stranger; 3 Don Vito.

Fourteen months after finishing second in the Toowoomba Cup behind stable companion Sir Sensible, the six-year-old gelding Jussemi went one better and landed the big prize. The result gave trainer Rex Lipp his fourth win in the Toowoomba Cup. Lipp was scoring back-to-back wins in the Cup for the second time as his other Cup winners - Jean’s Interest and Director’s Special also scored in consecutive years back in 1999 and 2000 respectively.

The barrier draw was always going to pose a question about which passage Jussemi would follow in the run. When the runners jumped jockey Stathi Katsidis took one look at the work Jussemi would have to do and how wide he might be held if he elected to go forward and immediately decided to ease Jussemi back and move across to the rail in third last position.

The duo continued to save ground all the way down the back-straight and in the sweep to the turn. Katsidis clearly had a handful of horse underneath him (Jussemi was threatening to run onto heels as he improved his position approaching the turn) and he moved the chestnut into a position to strike, turning for home in seventh position.

There was still plenty of work to do though as Little Stranger kicked away at the head of affairs. A flick of the wrists from Katsidis set Jussemi’s final challenge in motion. The gelding needed acceleration in two parts - firstly to move clear of Tripitz along his outside, who was threatening to keep Jussemi boxed in, and then to reel in the flying Little Stranger with apprentice Brent Evans on board.

A marginal change of direction once he had heading Tripitz and then Katsidis put everything he had into urging his mount to victory. Jussemi was always closing but, with a little over 100m left to run he simply exploded into action to sweep past the Little Stranger and the luckless Brent Evans (who finished second three times on the day) and race away to a clearcut win, amidst emotional scenes from his connections.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Rex Lipp: “It was lovely to win this race. It is fifty years since my grandfather won it and it is ten years since I won my first Toowoomba Cup. This is my fourth one, so, you can’t be much happier than that. The last 200m was very exciting, but I was worried early in the straight.

“The little game-plan we had sort of came unstuck, but Stathi (Katsidis) rode it beautifully. The plan was to try to get out but he couldn’t get out so obviously ... you know, when you put a top jockey on you really shouldn’t give him too many instructions.”

Jussemi is owned by Lipp and his wife Ros. The couple also bred the gelding, a factor which made Jussemi’s success an all the more memorable occasion for the connections.

Jockey Stathi Katsidis: “We had an awesome run. They put on a lot of speed. I would have liked to have gone a bit more forward, but I wouldn’t have got in anywhere. Went back and I chased him along for awhile. He just wanted to relax, so I let him relax.

“Travelled really good coming up past the 1000m. Coming up past the 500m, I was quite worried I wasn’t going to get out, but I was still going into the race alright. We just needed a lot of luck in the straight and I got it. I got all the luck I needed. I got stuck into him and the horse did the rest. They’d set such a hard pace up front so they sort of had to stop. I was just worried coming to the corner, but once I got him into the clear I knew he was going to win.”

STEWARDS REPORT:
Palace Lover (S. Seamer) jumped outwards at the start, resulting in S. Seamer's foot striking the barrier gate. On The Up (M. Palmer) was slow to begin. Shale Shaker (G. Geran) raced very ungenerously in the early and middle stages and near the 1600m shifted out, taking Rebounded (M. Radecker) wider on the track. A post race veterinary examination of Rebounded failed to reveal any significant abnormalities.

Stewards questioned jockey S. Seamer in relation to the tactics he employed on Palace Lover today, in particular the reasons for him commencing to improve his position sharply leaving the 700m. S. Seamer stated that approaching that point he urged his mount forward to take up a position that had become available to the inside of Shale Shaker and to the outside of Regal Castanea (D. Griffin) in an endeavour to ensure that he was not held up behind Shale Shaker, which had raced wide and appeared to be tiring in his opinion. S. Seamer added that Palace Lover then raced keenly at the heels of Yield Curve, and he felt it was in the horse's best interests to move Palace Lover to the outside of Yield Curve and commence to improve his position. Stewards noted the explanation.