COURT COMMAND’S AMAZING COMEBACK

By Graham Potter | Saturday, May 16, 2009

BTC Sprint (Group 3 - 1350m. Time 1-18.10. Track: Good 3. Rail: Out 2m the entire circuit.
1 Court Command; 2 El Cambio; 3 Hard To Catch.

After serving more than a hundred mares during the breeding season last year, Court Command was entitled to arrive at the track with a twinkle in his eye. He went home with a smile on his face. This was both an astonishing training performance by Liam Birchley to bring the stallion back after a twelve month layoff to win a Group 3 second-up, as it was a testament to Court Command’s superior ability. Michael Rodd, doing the honours in the saddle, rated the frontrunner to perfection. It was an all-around professional effort of the highest order.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Liam Birchley: “It takes a little bit to bring him back from stud. It really helped me a lot, because he didn’t really let down his first stud season. I was expecting a big, round bull when he came in, but he was quite the opposite, so that was a big leg-up then already. His temperament is just fantastic. You can tie him up next to a filly and walk away, you know. There is no problem at all. I was always confident in his ability, it was just whether the desire to race was still there – and it looks like it is.

“People sold him short with that Gold Coast run on his return. I’m not saying he would have won, but he would have got beaten maybe a length, or a length-and-a-half, if he hadn’t been cleaned up in the running.That’s all you can expect from an eighteen barrier, 1300m first-up after a year off. He had to take improvement out of that run.

“He worked terrific leading into the race, but when the chips are down, you don’t really know what he’s like until you see him do it in a race.

“I’m planning to back up next week and have a go at the 10 000. He’s a horse that would suit a race like that, where they don’t go as hard as they do in a handicap. It does depend on the weather. If the weather is kind to us, we’ll be there. Yeah, I don’t have a jockey yet (Michael Rodd is committed to Absolut Glam) ... but I expect there might be a few available.”

Jockey Michael Rodd: “Before the race Liam (Birchley) said, he’s never won a race without leading. So all of the races that he has won, he has dominated from the front. So I gave him a good kick out of the gates. I had a nice sit in front. I was a little worried early that they might keep pressuring him but, from about the 1200m to the 600m, he was able to have a really nice breather, which doesn’t happen too often here. He just dropped his head down and relaxed underneath me. He settled great. He was breathing properly.

“Coming around then turn, I thought I would just try and sneak a couple of lengths on them. If I could do that I thought he would be very hard to run down. He was very strong to the line, you know, it was a very good win. He’s up to these horses, but you had to get the ability back out of him after his time at stud and Liam did that - so all the credit goes to him.”