SCST OCT 18 - AMAZING DANE HOLDS OFF ALL CHALLENGERS

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Sunshine Coast, October 18, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 8m.
Class 2 Handicap - 1600m. Time: 1-37.83.
1 Amazing Dane; 2 Sisula; 3 Our Angel Eyes.

After finishing a close-up third in both of his last two runs, the Liam Birchley trained Amazing Dane earned his due reward by producing a sustained finishing effort which carried him victory ahead of the determined challenges of Sisula and Our Angle Eyes who both finished inside of half-a-length off the winner.

Amazing Dane completed a treble for trainer Liam Birchley on the day and the chestnut also provided jockey Paul Hammersley with a double as he took out back-to-back race wins to close out the card.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Jockey Paul Hammersley: “I was going to drop into a nice spot just behind the speed, but I got posted three deep, so I had to go around them. If I got beat I would have been fuming, but it probably didn’t make too much difference in the end.

“He did get a little tired, but he was holding them at bay. That’s what he is. He is a bit of a one-pacer, but he was good enough to get the job done.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Left Hook (C. Kearney), Our Angel Eyes (C. Reith) and Sizzling Sally (J. Holder) were all slow to begin. Near the 1200m, Our Angel Eyes (C. Reith) raced ungenerously for a short distance.

Approaching the 700m, Red Shadow (C. Priest) commenced to over-race and improved to the inside of the heels of Kenny’s Magic (M. Hellyer) and as a result Sisula (J. Byrne), which was racing to the inside of Red Shadow, had to be steadied. As a result, Left Hook, which was following, overreacted when being steadied to avoid the heels of Sisula and shifted out abruptly, forcing Viking Storm (S. Katsidis) wider on the track. Both Left Hook and Viking Storm raced wide from that point onwards.

Near the 400m, Moringa’s King (K. Pope) hung in and had to be steadied off the heels of Our Angel Eyes (C. Reith). Leaving the 400m, Our Angel Eyes was held up on the heels of Sherbrooke (L. Appo) until nearing the 300m. Near the 350m, Sizzling Sally improved on to the heels of Dual Echelon (J. Taylor) and had to be steadied. Amazing Dane shifted out under pressure near the 250m, resulting in Sisila having to shift to the inside to obtain clear running.

A post-race veterinary examination of Kenny’s Magic revealed the gelding to have a multiple lacerations to its off-hind leg.