BRC JUL 25 - WINNING COLOURS PREVAILS IN BLANKET FINISH

By Graham Potter | Monday, July 27, 2009

Doomben, July 25, 2009.
Open Handicap - 1350m. Time: 1-19.78.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 5m.
1st Morning Colours; 2nd Cocktail Supreme; Public Nuisance.

Talk about a pressurised finish! Seven runners in full cry, racing at close quarters, stretched across the track, is a thrilling spectacle. The blur of speed and colour, the test of riding skill and the display of the athletic prowess of thoroughbred racehorse is a great advertisement for racing and the finish of the Open Handicap at Doomben provided just that. Score one for the sport!

Jockey Scott Galloway dropped the Bryan Guy trained Morning Colours out to the rear of the field at the start. The gelding travelled very easy in a relatively compact field. While Morning Colours improved his position slightly in the sweep to the turn, on straightening he was still faced with a wall of runners in front of him and it looked as if his challenge would end in a roadblock.

Even the usual option to switch out across heels into clear running was denied to Morning Colours, as he was held in by Felixtrinidad on his outside, but that turned out to not be a bad thing. As Morning Colours looked to quicken, the run started to open up in front of him. In fact, but for the last 75m, Morning Colours was able to keep on a dead straight path while racing into contention. Pressure and movement of horses came into play in the closing stages, but by then Morning Colours had lined up his shot at first prize and Galloway’s strong riding ensured that the six-year-old made the most of the opportunity to claim the eighth win of his career.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Jockey Scott Galloway: “He was always going to get back and he was always going to have to find the right run through. The run was there, but as we were getting to it the inside horses were coming out. So we really had to fight for it ... that movement was getting him unbalanced a little bit. He should have won by a length. He really just wanted to attack the line, but he was just getting buffeted so it was an even better win than it looks.

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Morning Colours): 7.50 steady.
Favourite (Steel Lips): 4.00 out to 4.20 in to 3.20.

STEWARDS SUMMARY EXTRACT:
Morning Colours (S. Galloway) was tightened on jumping between Buzz Henry (S. Scriven), which jumped awkwardly and shifted in, and Master Denis (D. Griffin), which shifted out. Approaching the 1200m Master Denis got its head up when being steadied away from the heels of Public Nuisance (M. Cahill). Making the first turn Steel Lips had to be steadied off the heels of Albert Cadabra (L. Rolls) and shifted out taking Bitabiff (S. Katsidis) wider on the track. Felixtrinidad (B. Stewart), which was following, was hampered as a consequence. Steel Lips and Bitabiff raced three wide in the middle stages.

Apprentice J. Wood, the rider of Steel Lips, was found guilty of a charge of careless riding under AR. 137(a) in that leaving the 100m he permitted his mount to shift out, resulting in In Rehearsal (J. Byrne) having to be checked when coming into contact with Public Nuisance. J. Wood's licence to ride in races was suspended for a period of 8 meetings, to commence at the expiration of the suspension incurred at the ITC meeting on 24 July 2009, being from midnight on Sunday, 2 August, to midnight on Friday, 14 August 2009.