SCTC JUL 19 - BLOW THE BUGLE CHARGES HOME

By Graham Potter | Thursday, July 23, 2009

Sunshine Coast, July 19, 2009.
Class 4 Handicap - 1200m. Time: 1-12.49.
Track - Dead 5. Rail - out 5m.
1 Blow The Bugle; 2 Sword Of Damocles; 3 Bloomin Thunder.

The Cheyne Morphy trained Blow The Bugle made a mockery of his long price ($21) when chasing down the free-running Sword Of Damocles in the final stages to score in convincing fashion.

Apprentice jockey Jana Piper allowed Blow The Bugle to settle three to four lengths off the speed in the early part, but Piper wasted little time in putting in a challenge as the field turned for home. The top-weight and last time city winner Sword Of Damocles hit top gear early in the straight. Blow The Bugle had to extend fully to match the leader’s effort, but the gelding responded to his task and took the measure of Sword Of Damocles to gain the ascendency when it mattered most.

This was Blow The Bugle’s third successive win on the grass at Coloundra. He also won on the Cushion Track prior to landing the hat-trick on the turf, so his winning sequence at the Sunshine Coast venue now stands at four-in-a-row, a preference which could be well worth noting.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Cheyne Morphy: “That’s the first run for me (as owner/trainer). I bought him off Nick Moraitis. I had Nick Moraitis’ horses in. We’ve sorted a few out. Nick wanted to sell him so I bought him, you know.

“We had the fifteen draw to contend with. I thought he’d come out and be running fifth or sixth because I thought there was speed inside him, but she (Jana Piper) gets horses out of the barrier that girl. She just gets them out mate.

“I had him ready a couple of months ago, but he got a bad stone-bruise. Then I had to be patient with him. That was a good win today. That was his first start since January 10. Oh, he’s a pretty smart horse. He’ll win in town. He can run 1400m when he is a bit harder.

“When I made a comeback in February, I had twelve horses in the stable ... but I’ve weeded a lot out since then. There were some going a bit ordinary. There were mares that had to go to stud, you know ... so I’m down to four horses at the moment. We got a winner, yeah. I’m sick of running seconds and thirds. I reckon since February I’ve probably run four or five seconds and about three or four thirds. The jockeys have been murdering them too. True! You can tell them mate, because I tell them. This is only the third good ride I’ve had ... and we got the result.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Blow The Bugle): 15.00 out to 21.00.
Favourite (Fiesty Manner): 4.00 out to 4.60 in to 3.60. Finished sixteenth - bled in running.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Sweet Sassi was fractious in the barriers prior to the start. When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of Sweet Sassi, O. Turpin stated that the horse raced poorly throughout. Trainer J. McLachlan confirmed his disappointment with the performance and was concerned that the mare may have suffered an injury as a result of its activities in the barriers prior to the start. He added that he would advise stewards of any abnormality that may become apparent which may have had a bearing on the performance.

Sweet Sassi (O. Turpin) was tightened for room on jumping away between See The Flames (J. Taylor) and Bloomin Thunder (L. Rolls), which shifted out. Shortly after the start Sword Of Damocles (Michael Palmer) and Bloomin Thunder (L. Rolls) came together and bumped. Sword Of Damocles was inclined to hang out rounding the first turn at the 800m. Tycoon Ken (C. Eaton) raced wide for the majority of the event. Fiesty Manner bled during the event. Connections were advised that the colt would be barred from racing for a period of 3 months.