DOOM AUG 15 - PRINCESS QUALO UNDERLINES HER POTENTIAL

By Graham Potter | Monday, August 17, 2009

The Robert Heathcote trained Princess Qualo underlined her potential with an emphatic win in this QTIS 3yo contest. The filly was winning for the second time in only four starts. She has yet to finish out of the money.

Jockey Larry Cassidy settled Princess Qualo in fourth then third place, hard on the rail, some two-and-a-half lengths off the short-priced favourite Fab Fevola, who had jumped into the lead from the break. Startling Pleasure sat second, separating the leader and the Heathcote runner until approaching the turn where Cassidy, saving ground, pushed Princess Qualo up into second placing.

A flick of the wrists from Cassidy early in the straight saw Princess Qualo shift out across the heels of Fab Fevola and she quickly moved forward to apply pressure to the frontrunner. Fab Fevola fought on briefly, but it was soon evident that it was an uneven contest as Princess Qualo asserted her authority over the final 150m to score an untroubled win.

Doomben, August 15, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - True.
3yo QTIS Handicap - 1200m. Time: 1-09.81.
1 Princess Qualo; 2 Sweepstaking; 3 Good Emperor.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Robert Heathcote: “How good’s that. She’s a pretty good horse this thing. From day one I’ve always had a massive opinion of her. She was quite an expensive yearling ($220 000).The guys flew up from Canberra for her first run at Eagle Farm and she was a late scratching - in the barriers - and we were on her pretty healthily. So it was pretty frustrating sort of thing. So they just said, look, put her in the next available race which happened to be at Coloundra on the turf ... and of course we got transferred to the Cushion Track.

“We had to run on the Cushion Track and she won. She showed me how good she was. Then I went to Toowoomba because of the $50 000 QTIS race, again on the Cushion Track, where she ran a blinder. Her run the other day (in her third start at Doomben) was enormous when she sat three deep when that ... what was it ... Captain Sonador ran her down. Today I think she has shown she is top drawer.

“We not thinking of going south with her yet. We’ll have another crack at one of these QTIS races in a couple of weeks and try to put a little bit of money in the bank. Yeah, we’ll go from there. If she can knock that off, I’d love to get some Black Type for her and she might be a lovely travelling companion for a horse like Funtantes.”

Jockey Larry Cassidy: “I thought she was very impressive. Rob (Heathcote) and I have always liked her. She is a real sensible filly and, you know, when she’s faced with something she just does it. All honours to Rob because she was coming back in distance from 1350m to 1200m - up against faster horses. Great training performance. She is pretty quick out of the gates so she was able to take advantage of the number one barrier. You’ll see more of her when she gets over a bit of distance.”

BEATEN FAVOURITE FEEDBACK:
Bryan Guy (Trainer of Fab Fevola): “It was just disappointing. It is as simple as that. He jumped ... he came across ... he travelled well. The only possible explanation I can give is in his first preparation he won. Second-up he ran the same sort of race and got beat ... so we are probably hoping that maybe it’s a second-up syndrome. We’ll know in a fortnight. We’ll bring him back again and if he gets beaten then it is not.

“He got a bit of a bump early which didn’t help ... made him probably pick up the bit early. That didn’t help, but it’s very hard to make excuses. It was just disappointing.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Princess Qualo): 5.50 out to 6.00.
Favourite (Fab Fevola): 1.70 out to 1.75. Finished fourth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Spiffing was declared a late scratching at 2.16 p.m. after the horse became fractious in the barriers injuring its rider S. Galloway. Trainer B. Wakefield was advised that the horse must obtain two barrier certificates prior to racing again.

When questioned regarding the performance of Fab Fevola jockey J. Byrne stated that the horse began well and travelled kindly however, after receiving a bump from Startling Pleasure (App M. Hellyer) at the 900m Fab Fevola did not impress J. Byrne in the way it travelled in the middle stages and furthermore failed to show its customary acceleration in the home straight and proved disappointing. Trainer B. Guy highlighted that the gelding performed similarly when second up at its last campaign when second to Bevagna. A post race veterinary examination of Fab Fevola failed to reveal any abnormality.

Following this event S. Galloway was examined by the Club's Doctor and passed fit to fulfil his remaining engagements.