EF MAY 11: YOUR SONG BLOWS THE OPPOSITION AWAY

By Graham Potter | Monday, May 13, 2013

EAGLE FARM, MAY 11, 2013.

Track - Heavy 9.. Rail - True.
Bundaberg Distilling Co. BTC CUP (Group 1) - 1200m.
1 Your Song; 2 Rain Affair; 3 Better Than Ready; 4 Buffering
Time: 1-11.27.. Last 600: 36.03.
Margins: 5.00; 1.30.

DAVID FOWLER’S RACE WRAP:

“Your Song thrashed them!

“By gee, he might not have been that well off at the weights under the weight-for-age conditions, but he gave them a belting.

“Rain Affair had a great run in front. Looked to be travelling strongly around the bend, but Your Song went by him like he was nailed to the wall and then proceeded to go further and further ahead and pulled up winning by five lengths.

‘Ominous signs of things to come.

“A brilliant winner.

“Peter Robl has been associated with this horse in every start … bar one. Your Song is only lightly raced. That is his third win from start number seven … and first Group 1 victory.

“He was first-up since October last year. So, it was testing to say the least. A three-year-old taking on some of the best sprinters in the land, first-up on a Heavy 9 and it’s won by five lengths.

“Of course, first-up last time in the Spring he ran behind Pierro (finishing second, 1.30 lengths behind the Waterhouse runner.)

“No excuse for the beaten division.

“Rain Affair had his chance. Clearly beaten. Third placed Better Than Ready finished best of the Queenslanders. Buffering ran fourth. Not a good get away. Then caught wide. Never looked like a winning chance.

“But all honours and plaudits all belong to Your Song who made it one-act affair of this year’s Group 1 BTC Cup.”

WINNER FEEDBACK:

TRAINER ANTHONY CUMMINGS:

“He’s been a nice horse and I’ve said to (owner) Eduardo Cojuangco over the last eighteen months I thought the horse was up to Group 1 standard.

“It’s really good to have his support and coming here, they were a little bit unsure, but we were able to get the horse here in the right shape and get the result today.

“He has had time off. I suppose in the first place it was just a lack of race-craft in the Spring of his three-year-old career … but, at the end of the day, he did injure a fetlock in his last run when he ran third at Randwick (behind Joie Bay on October 6, 2012).

“That needed a bit of time off and that is why he missed the Autumn.

“I don’t like comparing him to Smart Missile.* Smart Missile has got a very special place with me. He was a fantastic horse who didn’t win a Group 1. That was a shame but, nevertheless, this guy is very talented. He is in the same paddock, but I’ve got the other horse in front.

“We’ll now go to the Doomben 10 000 and the Stradbroke.

“I mean, there are a million reasons to go to the Stradbroke. We’ll have a look at that … and the 10 000 is a fairly logical next step.

“Logically he is going to improve off this. He did produce a good barrier trial in Sydney before this run. He had a couple of easier trials before that and even in his work he sort of tended to switch off.

“His last trial … I put a set of blinkers on him. Basically, he jumped out and we just let him roll and he ran really nice time. He did it within himself although he had probably had enough on the line.

“Blinkers do get him quite hot. We saw that in the Golden Rose (where he was beaten 6.80 lengths by Epaulette) when we tried them that day and it brought him undone in the race.

“But, in a barrier trial situation … trying to get him up to race speed for this class of race it was absolutely the right thing to do.

“We did throw him in but that’s because we thought he was up to it. I mean, look at him. He certainly didn’t look out of place there in the race or pre-race.

“I thought he was a stand-out as a type and he’s run to that.

“I just want to say thank you to everybody. You guys make us feel very welcome here.”

*Like Your Song, Smart Missile, the horse that Cumming’s refers to, is a son of Fastnet Rock. He raced six times for three wins including a Listed race victory, on debut, in the Breeders’ Plate at Randwick; a Group 3 win in the Run To The Roses in his second career start and a Group 2 win in the Todman Stakes in his third start as he maintained a strong unbeaten record up until that stage.

Smart Missile raced a further three times, all in Group 1 company. He was narrowly beaten into second place by Manawanui in the Golden Rose before finishing unplaced in both the Rupert Clarke Stakes and the Caulfield Guineas, which was his last start on October 8, 2011.

JOCKEY PETER ROBL:

“He was the very reason I finally decided to come to Brisbane today. We’ve always held this horse in very high standing and I wanted to be wherever he was going to be.

“I could have had a few decent rides in Sydney, but I was prepared to take the risk that he would turn up here today. He did and he showed how good he is.

“I’d like to stay with him because he is a very good animal. He’ll win pretty much whatever Anthony (Cummings) sets him to do.

“They are good horses … those who finished behind him … but, you’ve only have to look at him as a three-year-old. You know, he looks like a four-year-old bull. For every bit that they are good, he’s probably got a little bit on those horses … and that’s not disrespecting Rain Affair and Buffering and a couple of them other good gallopers.

“They are very good gallopers, but he is very, very good this horse.

“I’m not worried about my weight. I can ride 52 … but if he gets less in the Stradbroke I can ride him. It won’t really matter. Whatever weight he gets in the Stradbroke you know, providing I can get the ride, I can get the ride the weight. It’s quite simple.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:

Winner (Your Song): 11.00 out to 12.00.
Favourite (Buffering): 2.60 in to 2.50. Finished fourth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:

Jetset Lad (J. Riddell) was slow to begin.

Near the 500m Rarefied (M. Rodd) had to be eased when tightened for room between Spirit Of Boom (M. Cahill) and Emmalene (C. Munce), which shifted out.

P. Robl, the rider of Your Song, was fined $300 for making a celebratory gesture prior to passing the winning post. In assessing penalty, stewards took into account jockey Robl's exemplary record in regard to this rule over a long period.

M. Rodd reported that after travelling 200m Rarefied failed to handle the prevailing track conditions and never travelled at any stage throughout the event, and that he could offer no other explanation for the horse's performance.

J. Cassidy reported that Sea Siren did not handle the prevailing track conditions today. A post-race veterinary examination of Sea Siren revealed no significant findings.

G. Colless reported that Temple Of Boom was under pressure after passing the 1000m and never travelled comfortably for the remainder of the race. A post-race veterinary examination of Temple Of Boom revealed the horse to have a case of the thumps.

D. Browne reported that Buffering began very awkwardly and lost ground, was unable to muster its customary early speed on the wet track and did not travel as strongly as it usually does in the run.

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