CAT EYES EMERGES AS ONE TO WATCH

By Graham Potter | Saturday, May 9, 2009

Doomben - Class 6 Handicap - 1200m. Time 1-09.06. Track: Good 3. Rail: True.
1 Cat Eyes; 2 High Roll’n Woman; 3 Steel Lips.

The Kelso Wood trained Cat Eyes (Danny Craven) turned in an eye-catching performance. The son of Catbird raced a little worse than midfield in the early part. He was then held up briefly while selecting an option early in the home straight, but once Craven found some space in which he could quicken, the response was as immediate as it was effective.

Because of the number of lengths Cat Eyes had been left to make up over the last 200m, it was still always going to be a close call. In the end, the timing turned out to be perfect as Craven forced Cat Eyes up in the last stride to edge out the game High Roll’n Woman to secure his second victory in as many starts this prep. Steel Lips finished third.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Kelso Wood: “The 1200m suited him at this stage. They went hard didn’t they? I was a bit worried because he was back a bit far, but then he hit the line really well. I’ll step him up in distance again now. He is a miler this horse. He’s got two out of two this prep, but he was a right-off a while ago. He had trouble with his foot. When I sent him out for a spell he came back and he went lame. He had a bone that was rotating. I had to turn him out again for three months for him to grow a new foot. Then we got him back and he is really going well. I think he is just a horse that has wanted to mature and he’s had the opportunity to do that through injury.”

Jockey Danny Craven: “I got back a little bit further than what we first intended to, but there was plenty of speed on. I intended to try and have him running fourth or fifth, but we were back a couple lengths further. The speed in the race suited us well. The horse gets over more ground, but does pretty well fresh so it sort of worked out nicely for him. It was close, but knew I’d won the race when I’d passed the post.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Cat Eyes): 17.00 out to 21.00.
Favourite (Hodges Street): 4.00 out to 4.40. Finished tenth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Leaving the 300m Cat Eyes improved up on to the heels of Sleek Repeat and was obliged to alter course to obtain clear running. Near the 200m Carry On Doctor was checked when crowded for room between Malambo (Blake Shinn), which had a tendency to lay in whilst being ridden out, and Cat Eyes, which shifted out slightly. In all the circumstances stewards decided to take no direct action, however Blake Shinn was reprimanded and told that he should make a greater effort to keep his mounts straight in future.