SCST SEPT 06 - MY COUNSEL GETS THE VERDICT

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Sunshine Coast, September 6, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - True.
Class 3 Handicap - 1800m. Time: 1-51.40.
1 My Counsel; 2 Jess Sar Belle; 3 Golden Balls.

After being particularly disappointing last time, the Brian Smith trained My Counsel bounced back with a solid enough win here he ground out a result with a long, sustained run in the straight.

With plenty of speed on early, apprentice jockey Michael Hellyer kept My Counsel holding a watching brief in fourth place until the turn. As the early frontrunners weakened and Through The Waves made an early break for home, Hellyer slowly guided the mare into contention, before raising the ante.

While there were challengers aplenty coming from all sides, My Counsel produced a concentrated effort to peg back the opposition and she was just shy of half-a-length clear of the second placed Jess Sar Belle when the runners crossed the line.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Brian Smith: “The claim, the step up in distance, the change of gear ... I’m really not sure if any of that made a difference to be honest.

“I was in a quandary after his last run (when My Counsel was never in the race over 1600m at this track). I think the tongue-tie might have made helped. She might have choked down last time. You don’t know, but the run was just too bad to be true for a consistent mare.”(My Counsel finished nine lengths behind Pee Eye Cee on that occasion).

“From a wide draw again today ... that was a lovely ride from the kid (apprentice Michael Hellyer) ... a lovely ride. The step up in distance was only to her benefit.

“You know when you are first time in and you are an older mare ... she was an older mare when she started last year and she was a very hard mare to get to the races. She was throwing tantrums really. She didn’t want to be there and so she was racing sort of on energy then, you know. But she relaxed nicely today. That’s why she had that time off from December until July. She just needed time to mature.”

Apprentice jockey Michael Hellyer: “With the weight off ... the speed of the race is probably why he won. The speed was really good. He got a lovely fourth, one-off position. With the two going hard in front it was just made for the horse.

“He (tBrian Smith) told me to ride it very similar to how I rode Hume yesterday (at Eagle Farm) ... just go through her gears ...just don’t go straight for here. Let her wind up and go. Then, you know, once I got her into sixth gear and went for her she went and kept whacking away.

“She’ll be better when gets 2200. She wants a mile-and-a-half. Under the circumstances today, with the pace like that, she was just made for it today.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT
Real World (M. Wood) had to be steadied off the heels of Golden Balls (D. Browne) near the 1600m and again near the 1500m. Leaving the 800m, Kenny's Magic (K. Forrester) shifted wider on the track to improve. Ten Coronas (M. Radecker) and World By Night (C. Reith) raced wide for the majority of the event.

When questioned regarding the improved performance of My Counsel, as compared to its previous start when 9th of 13, trainer B. Smith stated that, in his opinion, the horse may have got its tongue over the bit at its last start, and in light of that, he had experimented with a tongue-tie being added to the horse's gear for the first time, and had also removed the pacifiers for today's event. He added that these changes, together with the fact that My Counsel had pleased him in track-work leading up to today's event, may have contributed to the improved performance of My Counsel. Stewards noted the explanation.

A post-race veterinary examination of Sweet Science (B. Pengelly), which compounded in the home straight, failed to reveal any significant abnormalities.