COURT RULES OK

By Graham Potter | Saturday, May 16, 2009

BTC Classic (Group 3)- 1350m. Time 1-19.42. Track: Good 3. Rail: Out 2m the entire circuit.
1 Court; 2 Leapfrog; 3 Geeza.

Court is a horse who loves to finish off a race. With the right timing, she’ll win plenty of races. Damien Oliver ensured that the timing was right. Court did the rest. The filly was taking on more ground here (up from 1200m to 1350m) and she clearly relished the task. She is another one looking towards the Stradbroke without any guarantee of a place in the line-up for the big race.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Clarry Conners: “You have to ride her back when you’ve got a bad draw, which she has had the last two runs. You don’t have to if she draws a barrier. Then you can ride her closer. The benefit was that Damien (Oliver) rode her the other day at the Coast. Just knowing that you have got to let her get back ... let her relax. You go back over her last five runs and she’s run the fastest finishing sectional time. I’ve got a pretty big wrap on the horse. I think what she has done is pretty outstanding. I think she is a pretty good filly. She’s in the Stradbroke. You know how it is. We all live in hope.”

“Her main aim is the Stradbroke, but whether we get there or not is the other thing. We’ve got one more run in-between I think, but that’s her main aim, the Stradbroke. Finding a rider’s the trick because she’s at 49.5kg, so that will be good fun.”

“She won the two-year-old race this time last year, so for the comeback twelve months later it’s a bit of an effort. She’s won a couple of races in-between. We’ve had couple of problems with her, like you do with all horses - she got sick once, all that sort of business. She’s a pretty classy horse, she’s got a lot going for her. She is very classy. If we can just keep placing her in the right races she should keep on winning or being very competitive.

Jockey Damien Oliver: “She keeps drawing bad, so hence we have to go a little bit further back which was a little bit of a concern. But I got in alright and I was behind some good horses. We joined in nicely on the turn. She’s got some great acceleration. When asked to go, she really went quick. A strong effort. If you can conserve her early, she’s got a great finish.

“She wouldn’t be out of it in a race like the Stradbroke. She is in with a chance. A strong finisher always sits up well in a race like that. She’s got no weight. Probably a mare’s race would suit her even better - and it would suit me well too. The weights a bit light for me in the Stradbroke, so it would be nice for me if she went to the mare’s race. No, I don’t have commitments for Stradbroke yet.”