IPSW AUG 20 - THE BEAST LANDS KNOCKOUT BLOW

By Graham Potter | Monday, August 24, 2009

Ipswich, August 20, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 1.5m.
C, G & E Class 1 Handicap - 1000m. Time: 58.29.
1 The Beast; 2 Cawdor Tony; 3 Sweed.

After nine months off the scene, The Beast, a runner which Glen Colless once described as being ‘a big unit’, made a winning return to action at Ipswich on Thursday.

The gelding took no prisoners when outgunning his rivals in the final run home to score a little bit more easily than the official one length margin of victory suggests. This is the second time the lightly raced four-year-old has won first up and the result took his overall record to two wins and one third placing from his six starts.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Alan Bailey: “He is another one who has been out for a while. He is quite a nice horse. We always had a bit of an opinion about him, but he let us down a couple of times early.

“He pulled a muscle in his back leg and we had a lot of trouble with him. That’s why he has been out for so long. He kept coming back lame ... very lame in the back leg and very sore ... and we had to keep putting him out. He is quite a nice horse. He’ll probably go through his grades. Yeah, we have got some pretty big horses, but they’re nice horses. We’ve given them plenty of time. They are big horses, but we haven’t rushed them at all. ”

Jockey Glen Colless: “He is a big, strong fella isn’t he? It was a good effort today. He sat three wide ... no cover ... and he finished off strong. Still not sure what to think about him. He’s always shown us a lot, but we’ll just have to see how he goes from here.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (The Beast): 3.00 out to 3.30.
Favourite (Ocean Journey): 2.20 out to 3.00 in to 2.10. Finished eleventh.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Prior to the race, stewards considered a request from trainer A. Bailey for The Beast to wear a tongue tie today after the gear had inadvertently not been notified. Mr Bailey explained that he had worked and trialled The Beast with a tongue-tie for some time and that the horse requires the gear to race truly. Stewards acceded to the request, however Mr Bailey was fined $100. Prior to the race, this gear change was notified and broadcast through the media outlet.

The start was delayed when Nobody Knows broke through the barriers. A subsequent veterinary examination cleared the horse to start. Forest Lane (S. Drake) was tightened for room between Ocean Journey (L. Cassidy) and Cawdor Tony (M. Speers) on jumping away and as a result lost ground.

Ocean Journey, which was slow to begin, then commenced to hang out leaving the 600m and continued to do so until leaving the 400m. A post race veterinary examination of Ocean Journey revealed the horse to be lame in the near-foreleg. Trainer R. Heathcote's representative was advised that he would be required to provide a veterinary clearance for Ocean Journey prior to its next race start.

Forest Lane over-raced in the early and middle stages and as a result had to be steadied off the heels of Nobody Knows (R. Goltz) for some distance until leaving the 800m. The Beast (G. Colless) and Ocean Journey (L. Cassidy) raced wide throughout the event.