DOOM OCT 03 - EMMA’S HEART SHOWING GOOD PROMISE

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

Doomben, October 3, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 6m.
3yo QTIS Handicap - 1110m, Time: 1-04.25.
1 Emma's Heart; 2 Purettan; 3 Glacial Miss.

It was the horse that trainer Bruce Brown thought enough of to aim at the Golden Slipper earlier this year. Emma’s Heart wasn’t quite ready for the challenge then, but she underlined her potential with an eye-catching win here to get herself on the scoreboard. It was the lightly raced filly’s first win in five starts.

Potential is the word. We will only know how good Emma’s Heart is when she learns how to race. Much of what she is doing now is on raw ability. Her greenness is counting against her.

After an ordinary start jockey Stathi Katsidis refused to rush his mount and he let Emma’s Heart race where she was comfortable in the second half of the field early on. When it got to the business end of affairs things were different. Katsidis got busy. Emma’s Heart shifted out, bumped Annalisha, turned sideways, straightened, wanted to turn again, straightened ... and then she got the message.

Once in full stride Emma’s Heart was just too good for them. That she was able to pick up so well after clearly not knowing what was expected of her makes her one for the notebook.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Bruce Brown: “I didn’t think Kiss Me Katy could beat us at the weights today. No I wasn’t worried when she got back. I know she’s explosive. Still green ... still green as grass. There’s heaps of improvement yet. So there should be a big up-side to her.”

Jockey Stathi Katsidis: “Yeah, Bruce (Brown) had her in tip top condition today. With all the speed in the race Bruce would have liked her to be sitting fourth or fifth, because that’s where she’s been winning her trials from, but she got out of the gates a bit awkward and she baulked at a runner. When they all went so quick, I was happy to be back there.

“She came through the field and went through a tiny little gap. She’s a funny little horse. She is green and doesn’t really know what to do. You could see when she hit the front she sort of ran out. Yeah, no, she’s got a lot to learn yet but, taken on the potential shown so far, she’s pretty good.

“Bruce has just got to pick out the right races for her. She’s got unlimited potential so far. He’s got to not burn her out too much and put her in the right races. Like today, when there was a lot of speed on it suited her.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Emma’s Heart): 4.00 out to 4.40.
Favourite (Kiss Me Katy): 2.70 in to 2.50. Finished seventh.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Craiglea Whizard (C. McIver) and Andy Said (A. Pattillo) made contact on jumping away. Glacial Miss (M. Cahill) was slow to begin. Before The Storm (M. Hellyer) raced greenly in the early stages.

Near the 300m, Emma's Heart (S. Katsidis), after angling for a run to the outside of Our Mr Cashman (P. Hammersley), shifted out away from Our Mr Cashman despite the efforts of its rider, resulting in Annalisha being taken out on to Andy Said (A. Pattillo). Swiss Rose (L. Cassidy), which was following, also had to be steadied as a consequence.

Our Mr Cashman (P. Hammersley) shifted in when attempting to obtain clear running over the concluding stages, making contact with Kiss Me Katy. Purettan (L. Rolls), Kiss Me Katy (R. Wiggins) and Annalisha (J. Taylor) raced wide throughout.

Stewards sought an explanation in regards to the seemingly poor performance of Kiss Me Katy. R. Wiggins stated that Kiss Me Katy was obliged to do a significant amount of work in the early stages in order to take up a prominent position from its wide barrier and this, together with the 58kg impost, was a telling factor on the horse's finishing effort. Trainer S. O'Dea concurred with R. Wiggins' comments and advised stewards that he would now give consideration to sending the filly for a spell. A post-race veterinary examination of Kiss Me Katy failed to reveal any significant abnormalities.