SCST OCT 11 - UNDER THE COUNTER GIVES BALDWIN A RACE TO RACE DOUBLE

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Sunshine Coast, October 11, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 6m.
Class 1 Handicap - 1600m. Time: 1-38.88.
1 Under The Counter; 2 Moringa's King; 3 Dubai Oasis.

Trainer Barry Baldwin made it a race to race double when Under The Counter took the honours in a driving finish in this Class 1 event. Baldwin had scored earlier with Side To Side.

After racing in midfield until the turn, Under The Counter looked as if he was about to encounter traffic problems shortly after straightening. He was held tight for galloping room by a runner on his inside. There was no value in switching out as that move was also blocked and any forward push ran the risk of running into a dead-end between Passionate Stash and Bradash.

Sometimes decisions are made for you and Byrne could do no better than keep his horse on a straight path and hope for luck in the running. That is exactly what he got when Passionate Stash shifted out under pressure at the 200m and left a gap which was more than big enough for Under The Counter to push through.

Having got his share of luck, Under The Counter still had to earn victory on his own merit. By the time Under The Counter had accelerated into contention, Moringa’s King had already surged to the head of affairs and was steaming down the centre of the track.

Under The Counter quickened smartly to get alongside Moringa’s King. Then he edged ahead only for Moringa’s King to come back again at him at the line. In a battling finish between this hard-ridden duo Under The Counter prevailed by a short-head margin.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Barry Baldwin: “He was first-up last time. It was too short. He got a long way back and made up a lot of ground. It wasn’t the worst run in the world because at one stage he must have been about twenty lengths behind them and he only finished about six off the winner.

“Actually Trevor Lansky (jockey Jim Byrne’s manager) rang me up for the ride because he’d picked up the run on the video, you know. That it wasn’t a bad run. That was only over 1200m. He’s up to his right distance now”

Jockey Jim Byrne: “That horse ... he’s been getting back a bit too far. Today Barry (Baldwin) said, be a little bit more positive out of the machines, give it a good ride and you should be alright. He was right. He was my boss when I was in Macau. He knows what he is doing.”

HRO asked Byrne if he had been offered the option to go down to and ride the Bevan and Richard Laming trained Crossthestart in the Cranbourne Cup, which was run fifteen minutes before Under The Counter saluted. Byrne had been the regular pilot for Crossthestart, having ridden the gelding in six successive starts going in to the Cranbourne Cup for four wins and two third placings.

Byrne: “Did it win? Where did it finish? To be honest with you, I didn’t even know it was in. I wish I had have known it was in because I would have gone. Anyway, I’ll watch the video tonight.”

For the record, Crossthestart, who was ridden by Damian Oliver, started the $3.20 favourite in the Cranbourne Cup. The gelding finished sixth, 6.90 lengths off the Robbie Lang trained Sermon.