EF SEPT 19 - BLACKWOODS CHOICE THE RIGHT PICK

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Eagle Farm. September 19, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 6m.
1MW Handicap - 1200m. Time: 1-10.68.
1 Blackwoods Choice; 2 Ulladulla; 3 Guissepino.

Blackwoods Choice’s superior acceleration over the final 150m saw him power home to an impressive win.

The gelding raced just worst than midfield early on and he turned for home in fifth position. Jockey Jim Byrne marked time briefly in the first half of the straight while weighing up his options and then, just as he decided to take the split between Pelltro and Guissepino, that gap closed. From being ready to strike, Blackwoods Choice now had four horses stretched across his path, blocking his progress.

Had anybody been racing close enough on his outside to hold him in that would have been the end of Blackwood Choice’s race. But the outside run was still clear and Byrne reacted quickly enough to switch Blackwood Choice out around heels and to touch the accelerator at just the right time.

Blackwoods Choice’s response needed to be immediate for him to have a say. It was just that and more, a concentrated, fired up effort which carried him right past his opposition as he went on to claim his fourth win from only nine starts with some style.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Jockey Jim Byrne: “Look, he normally gets back a bit further. Obviously, with the speed sort of half taken out of the race it turned out that he could just be a little bit closer than he usually would be.

“I knew he would be hard to beat. I didn’t give the horse the best of rides last time (when he finished as a beaten favourite behind Southerly Impact). Obviously the horse that would be hardest to beat was Guissepino, which was directly outside me. Straight away I was thinking, as long as I’ve got Guissepino on my outside I’ll just let her take me into the race.

“I got a run inside her in the straight and she basically rolled back in on top of me. My bloke just stopped. Then he half hesitated. He is a horse that likes to get to the outside. Once he got to the outside he really accelerated. I recall his Ipswich win when he did the same thing. As soon as he got to the outside he really accelerated the last furlong.

“He hasn’t done much racing (Blackwoods Choice, a six-year-old, has had only nine runs to date) so he’s had a few issues. He’s probably in the right camp too with trainer Rex Lipp. Rex is a great trainer and he seems to know how to hold his horses together a lot longer. He’s done a good job with this horse.

“You know what ... he is definitely going to improve and improve. I rode him last start. I thought straight away that he didn’t like being cluttered up a little bit ... bit he likes a bit of clearance. Rex did tell me that previously but, come today, he was able to get clearance and he really let down like a nice horse.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Blackwoods Choice): 4.40 out to 5.50 in to 4.60.
Favourite (Guissepino): 2.30 out to 2.60.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Guissepino (M. Speers) was slow to begin. Approaching the first turn, Guissepino (M. Speers) commenced to over-race and had to be steadied from the heels of Fantastic Movie (L. Cassidy). Guissepino then continued to over-race until near the 600m.

Nearing the 200m, Blackwoods Choice (J. Byrne) was disappointed for a run between Pelltro (D. Browne) and Guissepino, which was laying in, J. Byrne, rider of Blackwoods Choice, was obliged to shift ground around the heels of Guissepino to obtain clear running. Guissepino continued to lay in for the remainder of the event. Samtheflirt (M. Cahill) hung in in the straight, placing its rider at a disadvantage. Trainer G. Kirkup was advised that should the gelding perform similarly again, action may be taken against it.