SCTC JUL 19 - QUEEN OF BLING SHINES AT THE COAST

By Graham Potter | Thursday, July 23, 2009

Sunshine Coast, July 19, 2009.
Maiden Plate - 1400m. Time: 1-27.03.
Track - Dead 5. Rail - out 5m.
1 Queen Of Bling; 2nd - Ignition Miss; 3 Nothin Compares.

A change of gear, a marginal step up in distance and a race run at a pace to suit the filly ... these were contributory factors to Queen Of Bling’s breakthrough win which came in her eleventh start.

Allowed to set her own tempo at the head of affairs, the Ray McCall trained runner accelerated away from the opposition early in the straight and, in spite of revisiting an old bad habit of wanting to run around in the finish, she had enough on her rivals this time around to make the effort stick and come away with the win.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Ray McCall: “”Yeah I think the blinkers (which were on for the first time) might have helped her a bit. The other day at Eagle Farm, even though she had winkers on, she was looking about ... and she just didn’t want to concentrate, you know. With the blinkers on today he (jockey Owen Turpin) said she just jumped into the bridle and wanted to race.”

Apprentice jockey Owen Turpin: “There was no pace in the race on paper, so we thought from the barrier today we’ll let here lead being a sort of one-paced sort of horse. It wasn’t a bad run last start considering the track conditions ... how heavy it was ... so we thought today was the day for her with the better track and the slow pace early ... to get that easier lead. We said we were going to kick away at the corner ... and yeah, we did it. She is a very ‘looky’ horse. Even in track work she’ll run around a bit, but she’s getting better.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Queen Of Bling): 5.00 out to 6.00 in to 5.00.
Favourite (Ignition Miss): 2.00 out to 2.25. Finished second.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
The start of this race was delayed as a result of Mister Tatt (N. Thomas) having to be re-saddled at the barriers. Cotton On Fire (A. Badger) and Craiglea Scarlett (M. Hellyer) made contact on jumping away and again was brushed on a number of occasions in the early stages. Leaving the 400m, Nothin Compares (R. Wiggins) and Ignition Miss (D. Browne) came together and bumped. Queen Of Bling (O. Turpin) shifted out under pressure over the final 200m. Cotton On Fire raced wide for the majority of the event.

Stewards questioned apprentice O. Turpin and trainer R. McCall regarding the tactics to lead on Queen Of Bling today in comparison to previous starts. Mr McCall stated that blinkers were added to the gear of the horse today for the first time, and in consultation it was decided that due to the lack of pace in the race they would attempt to take a more forward position with the horse. Stewards noted the explanation, however reminded Mr McCall of his obligations under the rules to notify of intended change of tactics.