SCST SEPT 27 - RUNNING FOX LEAVES CHASERS BEHIND

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Sunshine Coast, September 27, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 4m.
Maiden Handicap - 1000m.Time: 58.50 seconds.
1 Running Fox; 2 Nerangatang; 3 Mistersun.

The Trevor Thomas trained Running Fox scored his breakthrough win when coming home with some authority to win by a widening two length margin. This was only the fifth start for the lightly raced four-year-old and he was winning second-up after resuming earlier in the month after a ten month layoff. The chestnut has yet to finish out of the first four.

Jockey Stathi Katsidis did not chase his mount from an outside draw. Instead Katsidis gradually brought the Running Fox across to settle in midfield where he allowed the gelding to run his own race until the turn.

Running Fox straightened in seventh position and Katsidis brought him out to be widest runner on the track before asking him to go after the leaders. Nerangatang had made an play for the honours early in the straight and she kicked away well enough mid-straight, but her effort was not strong enough to hold out the free-striding Running Fox who swept to the lead at the 100m and put daylight between himself and the opposition going to the line. That the third placed horse, Mistersun, finished a full 4.50 lengths behind the winner underlines the level of superiority that Running Fox had on the rest of the field.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Trevor Thomas: “I’ve had him from the start. I think the horse should almost be unbeaten. A few things went wrong in his first prep which cost him. Then he got a knee chip and we had to put him out for ten months. It was a long time, but we thought it was worth it, because he had shown such good potential. He came back well last time (when finishing third first-up) and put the writing on the wall. Today he just showed natural improvement from that.

“We did have the draw to cope with. I left that up to Stathi (Katsidis). The only instruction I did give to Stathi was, I told him he can be tardy away and that he was just to give him space. He is small and he needs room ... I told Stathi to give him space so that he can let down properly. I’m very pleased with his run and I think he can go on to be a nice horse.”

Jockey Stathi Katsidis: “He’s a really nice horse. He’ll be better suited over further too ... 1100m, 1200m. He had a lot of weight today and a bad barrier and he really handled the job well. He’ll win more races.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Shinko’s Revenge (C. Reith) jumped in at the start and made heavy contact with Plain Mary (M. Hellyer). St Orientair (D. Browne) and Show Me The Magic (R. Hinricks) were slow to jump. Near the 300m Hallside Magic (M. Hughes), when taking a tight run inside of Bradbury’s World (A. Spinks), shifted out abruptly, and after securing a run leaving the 200m was inclined to race greenly.

Nerangatang (K. Pope) was examined by the club's veterinary surgeon following the race and he reported that the horse had blood in its nearside nostril and also some bleeding in its mouth. Following advice from the veterinary surgeon that this was as a result of trauma, no action was taken.