DOOM SEPT 26 - SOUTHERLY IMPACT FROM LAST TO FIRST

By Graham Potter | Monday, September 28, 2009

Doomben, September 26, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 3.5m.
Open Handicap - 1350m. Time: 1-19.08.
1 Southerly Impact; 2 Heart Of The Citi; 3 Sommersea Drive.

The ever-consistent Southerly Impact took his number of wins into double figures and his stake earning past the $200000 mark when he scored an authoritative come from behind win.

The six-year-old went back to last in the five horse field and apprentice jockey Owen Turpin was content to hold that position, some four lengths off the leader Heart Of The Citi until the turn. The grey front-runner had run the race to suit himself and he looked likely to be able to outsprint his rivals in the straight after having enjoyed such a soft lead, but Turpin and Southerly Impact, who was joint favourite with Heart Of The Citi, had other ideas.

Turpin happily accepted the inside run which was presented to Southerly Impact and he gave the gelding more rein and asked him to show his worth. Southerly Impact responded on cue and he quickly picked up and went past Hard To Catch and In Rehearsal. Sommersea Drive, who had tracked Heart Of The Citi throughout, was the next to be dispatched. All that was left for Southerly Impact to do over the final 100m was to get the better of Heart Of The Citi and the Donald Baker trained runner did just that, taking care of business with the minimum of fuss seal a comfortable victory.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Donald Baker: “He’s been running regularly and is holding his form. He doesn’t get a lot of work. I try to keep him fresh ... like he hasn’t had a gallop since last Saturday (when he finished second to Rasmussen). He just hacked around. Once they are fit I don’t believe they need a whole lot. He certainly doesn’t seem to need it.

“I got him as a tried horse from Kris Lees and went from there with him. He can do a few things wrong. A couple of times up the coast he over-raced and missed the kick, but he seems to have matured a bit more and got it all together.

“I haven’t had many city winners, but as a percentage I’d say we’re doing alright. If I don’t think they are competitive I don’t want to bring them. That’s a waste of time, mate.

I’ve only got three horses in work. This one is going well and one of the others, Tennessee Blue has won six out of six, so I can’t knock him. I used to have five or six horses. I had Russeting and a couple of them. I watched her run last night (in the Manikato). I would have really liked to see her run a good race.

"She was good to me. She was really good to me. She gave me my first Listed winner. It was the owners decision, you know. They wanted to sell. I have no bad feelings about it at all. I want to see her do well.”

Apprentice jockey Owen Turpin: “I was going to go forward early, but I really didn’t want to use my horse that much to get there so, in a five horse field, I elected to pull back, fall asleep and look for a strong run home. I just got the dream run (on the rail in the straight) so everything fell into plan.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
In Rehearsal (J. Byrne) was slow to begin.