RHILL SEPT 12 - RACING TO WIN BACK WITH A BANG

By HRO | Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Rosehill, September 12, 2009.
Theo Marks Stakes (Group 2) - 1400m. Time 1-22.18.
Track - Good. Margins: 1.75, 0.50.
1 Racing To Win, 2 Rock Kingdom, 3 Triple Honour.

Five time Group 1 winner Racing To Win, having his first run in blinkers, showed he is back to his best by doing a demolition job on his opposition.

The grey was given a perfect ride by Hugh Bowman who settled the seven-year-old towards the rear of the field until the turn. Bowman rode for luck in the straight. He managed push through into the clear inside Mr Baritone and when that run came he exploded away like the good horse he is. Back in form, it would be wise to follow this star through some of the bigger races.

No real excuses could be made for the beaten brigade with Rock Kingdom battling on for second with Triple Honour in third.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer John O'Shea: "You beauty! What about that!

“He is a great horse. What a great ride. I'm just amazed ... he's been a great old horse to me. We needed the run, we knew the horse was going good that wasn't a problem, we needed a run and Hughie(Bowman) gave us the run. He has been good this time in and it showed today.

‘It’s always a bit special with Racing To Win, because he is such a special horse to my stable. He’s had a good preparation leading in. We were just obviously concerned as to where he would end up from the barrier, but it was another great Bowman ride. He was very patient, as he always is, and that was the right strategy on the day."

Jockey Hugh Bowman: "He’s has got a lot of class this horse. I was only looking at his record yesterday and I see that he's had 12 wins and seven seconds, no thirds ... so he is either there or he isn't, but he's been going well ... first time in blinkers it's nice to see him do that.

“I had to sort of ride him at the top of the straight. Kerrin McEvoy (Mr Baritone) and I were
going for the same run, but class prevails and when he got out he just shot off".

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Premission was granted for J Cassidy to ride Bryannbo’s Gift 1kg over his declared weight and for P Robl to ride Friday Creek 0.5kg over his declared weight.

A warning was placed on Newport, which, after jumping cleanly, appeared reluctant to gallop shortly after the start. Inside the 200m Mentality had to be steadied away from the heels of Mr Baritone, which was taken out by Racing To Win (H Bowman). Shortly afterwards Racing To Win, after originally being taken out by Rock Kingdom and Triple Honour, then ran out away from Rock Kingdom, resulting in Mr Baritione having to be steadied. H Bowman was advised to exercise more care.

When questioned, J Ford, rider of Mentality, stated his mount travelled well in the run, but failed to finish the race off. A post race Veterinary examination of Mentality did not reveal any abnormalities. Trainer M Hawkes could offer no explanation, other than Menatlity did not appreciate racing between horses and may now be looking for more ground.

A post race veterinary examination of Triple Honour revealed the gelding sustained a small wound to the off-fore coronet.

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