DOOM SEPT 26 - SHELDON TIMES IT JUST RIGHT

By Graham Potter | Monday, September 28, 2009

Doomben, September 26, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 3.5m.
3yo QTIS Handicap - 1350m. Time: 1-19.15.
1 Sheldon; 2 Unica Bahaya; 3 Fleet ‘N' Fast.

The previously unbeaten Unica Bahaya started favourite here and she raced like a winner until deep into the contest when she was outgunned late by the 14-1 chance Sheldon.

Fleet ‘N’ Fast set the early tempo as Unica Bahaya settled in fifth spot along the inside rail. Sheldon was back in the second half of the field early on, but jockey Brad Pengelly also had his mount hard against the fence and up ahead he had the bright yellow colours of Unica Bahaya firmly in his sights.

Although several lengths behind the main fancy, Sheldon basically followed the same path as the favourite and tracked Unica Bahaya into the race. By the turn Unica Bahaya was right on the heels of the leader and she had Shelton in tow right behind her as these two runners turned for home in second and third placing respectively.

Unica Bahaya angled out and quickly went past Fleet ‘N’ Fast and set sail for home. She was in front by the 200m and was looking every inch a winner. Sheldon was now two lengths in arrears having been left momentarily flat-footed when Unica Bahaya sprinted, but the Mark Webb trained runner started to build momentum. By the 100m mark the colt had closed to within a length of the filly and it took him another 75m to make up the leeway. In the end, Sheldon got to the front with 25m to spare and he went on to win by 0.25 lengths.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Jockey Brad Pengelly: “(Trainer) Mark (Webb) is not here today, but he rang me this morning. He expected it to run quite well. Admittedly, he’s been racing in lower class races, but Mark said his work had been first class. He rated it every bit as good as the second favourite, so he gave it a good chance.

“The pace helped me in the race. I was following the horse I wanted to be following and he finished the race off nicely.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Orletsky (App J. Wood) raced wide in the early and middle stages of the event.

M. Cahill the rider of Captain Clayton was reprimanded for allowing his mount to shift in near the 1100m resulting in Brujita (B. Stewart) shifting in onto Redbolt (J. Taylor), which when racing greenly had to be steadied by its rider. Captain Clayton (M. Cahill) raced wide throughout the event.

J. Taylor the rider of Redbolt explained to stewards that the horse was reluctant to take a prominent position in the early stages despite his urgings and in his opinion had reached the end of its preparation. Trainer G. Farrell confirmed that the horse would be sent for an immediate spell.

Stewards sought an explanation from jockey L. Cassidy and trainer T. Whittington in regards to the seemingly poor performance of Femina Fashion today. L. Cassidy stated that the horse had received tightening at the start and felt that this may have had an effect on the performance when considering the weight it carried and the fact that the filly is small in stature. L. Cassidy said however, that the filly travelled quite well during the race and felt that it finished the race off fairly and he was not completely dissatisfied with its performance. Trainer T. Whittington stated that the filly was second up and had risen sharply in the weights and felt that these were factors which could explain the performance.

Stewards sought an explanation from A. Pattillo in regards to Fleet ‘N’ Fast taking up a handy position today as compared to its most recent start. A. Pattillo stated that it was never his intention to lead however, the horse was up in distance from its most recent start and after the horse began well he felt his only option was to allow the horse to take up a prominent position today.

A post race veterinary examination of Stribling failed to reveal any abnormality.