EF AUG 19 - CITIWYSE TAKES SHORT-CUT TO VICTORY

By Graham Potter | Friday, August 21, 2009

Eagle Farm. August 19, 2009.
Track -Good 3. Rail - out 7m.
Class 3 Handicap (C,G & E) - 1200m. Time: 1-11.25.
1 Citiwyse; 2 Our Nautique; 3 Sam's Gift.

The number of winners apprentice jockey Owen Turpin has brought home saving ground is starting to mount up. Once again Turpin hugged the rails on his mount Citwyse, sitting just off the speed, and waited for the bulk of his opposition to fan wide on the turn and leave the shortest route home open to him.

So it was that Citiwyse moved up from sixth position approaching the turn to claim the lead by the 250m, having used less petrol than those chasing around him. Then, just to make certain that nobody took away the advantage he had gained, Turpin slowly brought Citiwyse off the fence, easing away from the supposedly inferior going to make sure Citiwyse would not be in any way compromised in the final run home.

The trick of course is that you have to have a horse capable of making quite a long sprint to take full advantage of this tactic and Citiwyse was just such a runner on the day.

The Peter Fleming trained Citiwyse is lightly raced. This was only his ninth start. It was his third win and he has four minor placings to his credit.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Peter Fleming: “He was just a little bit slow out for what we wanted to do with him. We thought he would have box-seated ... he seemed to hesitate when he hit the ground too, but the second half of the race went much better.”

Apprentice jockey Owen Turpin: “I know they are going to do that. I know they are all going to fan wide and leave a passage on the inside. It’s not that bad there though. I was just waiting for the turn. It is a touch slower on the inside but, by the last race, it’s chopped up on the outside. I saved two lengths ... maybe more ... and then I just travelled up beautifully. When I got to the front I just pulled out a few back on to the better going and we got home easy.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Citiwyse): 4.60 out to 4.80.
Favourite (Sam’s Gift): 3.80 out to 3.90. Finished third.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
The start of this race was delayed due to Cyclone Larry having to be examined by the club's veterinary surgeon after being kicked by another runner behind the barriers. Bootooloo (S. Galloway) was slow to begin. Approaching the 800m, Citiwyse (O. Turpin) got its head up and raced ungenerously for a short distance. Leaving the 300m, MY Whippy (L. Cassidy) had to be steadied from the heels Dubbus (B. Pengelly), which shifted out to improve. Cyclone Larry (J. Taylor) and My Whippy (L. Cassidy) raced wide throughout.

App O. Turpin, rider of Citiwyse, was reprimanded under AR137A(5) for striking his horse in excess of the permitted amount in consecutive strides in the final 200m.

M. Cahill, rider of Count Of Three, was fined $100 for returning to scale in excess of half a kilogram over his declared riding weight.