SCST OCT 18 - UPILIO TOO STRONG AT COLOUNDRA

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Sunshine Coast, October 18, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 8m.
Open Handicap - 1200m. Time: 1-11.28.
1 Upilio; 2 Ima Joker; 3 Craiglea Warrior.

For the second time at the meeting jockey Stathi Katsidis landed race-to race wins to ensure that he would go home having ridden the winners of half the card.

Upilo’s win brought up a double for trainer Liam Birchley who had also combined with Katsidis to win earlier in the day with Diago. Birchley would go on to complete a treble when Amazing Dane won the last race on the program.

A cursory glance at Upilo’s form could have been misleading. The seven-year-old, who was having his third run this prep following an eight month layoff, finished either last or second last in his previous four starts. An important consideration here was the quality of the opposition he faced in those outings ... opposition that included the likes of Barlinnie (in the Doomben Stakes) and Black Piranha (in the Goldmarket) in his last prep, as well as Sectagonal and Forestreno in his recent runs in the city.

In this seven horse field Upilio faced nothing near that grade of horse. That, and the fact that Upilio took natural improvement out of his first two runs this prep, meant his performance improved accordingly and he simply proved too good when switching from the city to the provincial circuit.

Upilio has now won eight out of fifty-five starts. He also has fourteen minor placings to his credit and has earned $485050 in stakes.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Jockey Stathi Katsidis (who was booting home his fourth winner on the day): “We just got back. The speed was good, but like it wasn’t extra fast. It was just nice and he was a little bit fresh today. He raced well and I just sat back. It was probably the same my previous win (on Lucky Omens), once he saw the gaps he came through and was always going to win. He really, really enjoyed it, he did.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Geebeetee (C. Reith) was slow to begin. Craiglea Warrior (A. Kitson) began awkwardly. Near the 750m, Centenn (M. Hellyer) shifted out, making contact with Ima Joker (J. Letherby), forcing that runner wider on the track. Craiglea Warrior shifted in near the 700m and brushed the running rail. Craiglea Warrior lost its off-fore plate running.