DOOM AUG 15 - JUJULIO MAKES LIGHT WORK OF TOP WEIGHT

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Tony Crane trained Jujulio bounced back from an unproductive trip to Rockhampton to get on the scoreboard when winning with some authority at Doomben.

Jockey Christian Reith settled the gelding in sixth place on the rail as the bottom weight Sniparama set an easy tempo up front. Approaching the turn Reith angled his mount out across heels to set Jujulio into a position to challenge the leader who began to sprint home off his soft lead.

As Sniparama attempted to kick clear, Reith let Jujulio go. In spite of carrying no less than 7kg more than the gelding he was chasing, Jujulio made light work of the burden of top weight as his class kicked in to carry him up to and then past Sniparama in an emphatic manner which saw the seven-year-old have his race won well before he crossed the line.

This was Jujulio’s seventh career victory and it took his earnings past the $200 000 mark.

Doomben, August 15, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - True.
1MW Handicap - 1615m. Time: 1-38.24.
1st - Jujulio 2nd - Sniparama 3rd - Deception Bay.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Tony Crane: “The last run ... mate, you know ... we travelled up to Rockhampton (for the Cup, won by Regal Castanea). I put it (the ordinary performance) down to the change of the bedding up there. The horse struggled. He didn’t really settle. We keep him on straw down here. We couldn’t get it up there. He had to be on sawdust. He developed a bit of an allergy to it as well. He developed a bit of a rash from the sawdust up there ... and also the track up there was a disgrace. There was sand coming back in their face and that of thing and the horse did jar up a bit as well. That is why we gave him three weeks off and brought him back into work. He has just come back a different horse.

“Today Christian (Reith) rode him a treat. He came and rode him track-work. He also rode him in a barrier trial for me, so he knew what he was doing today, straightaway, you know. We probably would have liked 1500m first-up, but unfortunately it wasn’t scheduled so we took this one and come out smiling anyway. He can run a good sectional.

“He does take a bit of time and care. He’s got feet like my head - very ordinary. But that’s what we are paid for. If you want to train horses you’ve got to do the job. He loves the beach. He spends a lot of his time there. The young girl that is in charge when I am not there, young Angie ... she takes him there and spends hours a day there with him and that sort of stuff.

“I’ve got a wonderful team around me. We’ve just moved on-course at Eagle Farm. They’ve provided ten beautiful, big, spacious boxes out in the centre there for us. So hopefully we just keep rolling. Since we’ve been at Eagle Farm we’ve had two starters, two winners.”(Flawless Choice won the day before, at Ipswich on Friday, August 14).

“A couple of boys who are in him are from Newcastle and they’ve got their heart set on going to the Newcastle Cup, but I don’t know about that. It would be nice to go there, but it’s a track where you’ll probably need a run first.

Jockey Christian Reith: “I’ve been riding him in work awhile now and I’m just rapt at the opportunity to be able to ride him today and it just goes to show how good this horse is. I just wanted to give him the easiest run because he hasn’t run for seven weeks. With 58kg on his back you just want to keep him balanced and give him an easy run.

“We were able to do that today. When Stathi (Katsidis, on Use To Be A Dancer) took off at the 500m I was able to get on his back and everything turned out great. This horse has always had quality. He has just had a bit of bad luck in his campaign last time. Hopefully we can stay away from that bad luck.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Jujulio): 8.00 out to 10.00.
Favourite (Use To be A Dancer): 3.60 out to 3.80. Finished sixth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Barclays (J. Taylor) was tightened for room at the start between Altaica (App M. Hellyer) and Beartracker (App O. Turpin), which shifted in. Shortly after the start Fiori (R. Spokes) was tightened for room between Sniparama (App M. Speers), which shifted out and Use To be A Dancer (S. Katsidis), which was taken in by Ram Jam Inn (App C. McIver). Altaica got its head up leaving the first turn. Near the 1200m when the pace slowed Fiori was inclined to over-race and had to be eased off the heels of Jujulio (C. Reith). Beartracker raced wide in the early stages of the event.

When questioned regarding the seemingly disappointing performance of Use To be A Dancer jockey S. Katsidis stated that the horse had a tendency to over-race during the early and middle stages of the event and in his opinion felt this may have affected the horse's effort over the concluding stages. Trainer B. Guy could not offer any explanation for the horse's poor performance. A post race veterinary examination of Use To be A Dancer revealed no abnormalities.