DOOM OCT 03 - ENCOSTA TSZYU GOES THE DISTANCE

By Matthew Grimson and Graham Potter | Monday, October 5, 2009

Doomben, October 3, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 6m.
Class 6 Handicap - 2040m. Time: 2-05.09.
1 Encosta Tszyu; 2 Body Double; 3 Justin Case.

The Brian Smith trained Encosta Tszyu stepped up in distance and got the job done in impressive style, although he did have to survive a late scare from the fast-finishing Body Double.

Jockey Joe Bowditch had the gelding in midfield early. Encosta Tszyu then went back to worse than midfield when Soing Tee stretched the field out down the back straight. Bowditch rectified that situation made in the sweep to the turn where he made a forward move to ensure that Encosyta Tszyu was close enough if good enough when the field straightened for home.

Encosta Tszyu continued his run and he was in front by the 150m mark looking set for a comfortable win, but Body Double rallied late to close quickly on the leader. Although the winning margin was decreasing with every stride, Encosta Tszyu had done enough to get home, albeit by only a short-half-head.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Jockey Joe Bowditch: “Yeah, he has got good potential. He’s always shown that he can gallop. I thought today he was the class horse in the race. Our intentions were to ride him a little bit closer, but they went pretty keen early. He’s a lovely relaxed horse so I just let him balance up and popped him out and made sure he didn’t get held up and rode him like the best horse. He hit the line well.

“It was a good effort and he was stepping up from 1400 as well (to 2040m). If anyone can do it with a horse it is B.J Smith. He’s a marvel at it. He seems to get them fit all the time, so it’s a good effort by Brian.”

“I rode him first up and he was probably just a little bit big still and it was only 1200m. They were a little bit sharp for him, but his run the other day over 1400 ... with a run under his belt... he hit the line quite good. So, just two runs under his belt today made the difference.

“Yeah I was confident. I thought he was probably the class horse of the race. I was pretty confident he would win today. Brian said that he worked very good tuesday and said that he thought he would be pretty hard to beat today. He was right again.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Encosta Tszyu): 3.80 out to 3.90.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Eton Hall (C. Reith), which was a little slow to begin, shifted out and made contact with the hind quarters of Jedi Starfighter (D. Brown). Siong Tee (A. Pattillo) was caught wide in the early stages.

An inquiry will be held into the reason for C. Reith, rider of Eton Hall, having to steady his mount near the 1400m when racing to the inside of Justin Case and Strawberry Ripple.

Approaching the 200m, Body Double (J. Taylor) shifted out to improve and in doing so bumped Justin Case (J. Byrne). Leaving the 200m, Beartracker (M. Speers) was momentarily disappointed for a run between Grand Corso (B. Pengelly) and Just A Classic (S. Katsidis).

J. Bowditch, rider of Encosta Tszyu, was reprimanded for using his whip in excess of the permitted 5five forehand strikes prior to the 100m. A. Pattillo, rider of Siong Tee, was reprimanded for using his whip in excess of the permitted five forehand strikes prior to the 100m.

When questioned regarding the performance of Just A Classic, S. Katsidis stated that at the horse's most recent start over 1830m, which was a slowly run event, it gave him the indication it would run out a middle distance event. He added however that Just A Classic failed to run out the 2040m of today's event and recommended to connections that the gelding be restricted to races of 1800m or less.

A post-race veterinary examination of Strawberry Ripple, which tired to finish last, failed to reveal any significant abnormalities.