DOOM OCT 03 - SOMMERSEA DRIVE REWARDED FOR CONSISTENCY

By Matthew Grimson | Sunday, October 4, 2009

Doomben, October 3, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 6m.
2MW Last Year Handicap - 1640m. Time: 1-37.34. New Class Record.
1 Sommersea Drive; 2 Sneaky Long; 3 Scarbank.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Trevor Miller: “Yeah mate, I was confident as long as he got the right run, you know, and settled good, which he did. He (Owen Turpin) rode him perfect, you know. I was really happy with him.

“The last couple of runs might have been good runs, but I think the horse has been badly handicapped and he still is. But there wasn’t a class horse in today’s race like he’s been racing against, so I was very confident that just as long as you got the right run... and like Owen (Turpin) ... he has ridden him in the past in work and that sort of thing, and he’s got very good hands on horse. He got him to settle well.

“Yeah, he’s only ever had one run at the mile before. It was in the Caloundra Guineas a couple of years ago and he was very unlucky in that. I wasn’t worried about the mile. I just thought he was the best horse in the race. We’re keen to give him a week or so off after today and just try and come back for the ones over Christmas or something. He is a very honest horse.”

Jockey Owen Turpin: “He raced well. The key was to just get him to relax today, instead of over-racing because he can over-race. I just sat off the other horse’s flank and just kept my horse as quite as I could without letting him get away from me, so it worked out well. Mr Miller explained that he will just keep on coming, so I knew we’d gone that little bit harder in the earlier stages so I knew I had it over the top of that other horse. I stayed in touch (with Sneaky Long) because I know the my horse doesn’t have a big sprint, but he just keeps finding, which he did.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Sommersea Drive): 5.00 in to 4.60.
Favourite (Sneaky Long): 2.80 out to 3.20. Finished second.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Scarbank (M. Speers) shifted out at the start and bumped Pentacity (J. Byrne). Three Tenors (S. Apthorpe) over-raced in the early stages.

M. Speers, rider of Scarbank, was found guilty of a charge of careless riding, in that near the 400m he permitted his mount to shift in when insufficiently clear of Three Tenors (S. Apthorpe), which resulted in that horse being forced onto the running rail and having to be checked. M. Speers was suspended from riding in races for a period covered by 8 meetings, to commence at midnight, 7 October and to expire at midnight, 17 October 2009.

L. Cassidy reported that, in his opinion, Sir Kingsford, raced too strongly at the heels of Scarbank (M. Speers) in the middle stages and was forced to sustain a long run which did not suit the horse's normal pattern of racing.

S. Apthorpe, rider of Three Tenors, dropped his whip inside the final 100m.