MICHAEL NOLAN RACING - THE MONTH OF JULY, 2021
By Graham Potter | Saturday, July 31, 2021
MICHAEL NOLAN RACING - THE MONTH OF JULY:
Having a good month in July … in terms of results … is just the tonic any stable needs to ensure that they will move into the new season brimming with confidence and that is exactly what the Michael Nolan stable has done over the last four weeks.
Look at this tally for July: 34 runs for ten wins (a 29.41 winning percentage), five seconds and five thirds (for a place percentage of 58.82 percent). Another four runners finished fourth.
Sixteen different runners represented the stable in July of which no less than eight individual runners emerged as winners with the exciting two-year-old filly Hinged topping that list with three wins of her own.
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HINGED:
Hinged, who is by Worthy Cause out of Tints, the twelve-time winning Tycoon Ruler broodmare has been an absolute star to date winning five out of seven starts as a two-year-old with two runner-up finishes also to her credit.
From that it can been seen that Nolan handling of Hinged has been close to perfection.
Hinged debuted on January 30 over 1200m at Toowoomba, toying with her seven rivals in a Maiden to win untroubled by 3.50 lengths. A second win followed in her second start two weeks later, this time at the Gold Coast in a QTIS Two-Year-Old Class 1 Handicap again, over 1200m, when getting the better of Angel Like by a 0.20 length margin. (Franking that form is the fact that Angle Like has won two out of five starts since that encounter and went on to race in the Group 3 Ken Russell Memorial). Skye Bogenhuber partnered Hinged in both of these wins.
March 6, in what was to be her last start of her first preparation, saw Hinged in action at Eagle Farm where she stepped up the distance test to 1300m for the first time in a QTIS Two-Year-Old Handicap. After hitting the front inside the final 200m, Hinged continued to kick on strongly but she was run down literally in the very last stride by The Stifmeister, thus tasting defeat, albeit by the narrowest of margins, for the first time.
Hinged resumed on June 13, coming back to 1200m at the Sunshine Coast in a QTIS Two-Year-Old Handicap. Again, there was no cigar as she did everything but win in what amounted to an almost exact replica of the race against The Stifmeister. This time it was Finsceal, coming from well back, who collared Hinged in the last stride.
While there had to be a touch of disappointment with regard to those two successive defeats, that disappointment would have more to do with the agonising finish in the moment on the day than have anything to do with performances of Hinged … which remained full of merit.
With four runs worth of experience behind her, on four different tracks, Hinged was set to confirm just what a good prospect she is … and she did that in no uncertain terms by winning her next three races in succession.
The first of that sequence, and her third career success, significantly ticked a couple of new boxes. It came at Ipswich in her first attempt at 1350m and her first run on heavy going. The second win in that sequence again came over 1350m, this time at Doomben (her sixth track in six starts) before she stepped up to 1615m at Doomben to complete an impressive hat trick of wins.
The two Doomben wins were on soft going meaning that she has now won on good, soft and heavy going over distances ranging from 1200m to 1615m.
Jim Byrne partnered Hinged at Ipswich and in the first of the two Doomben wins with apprentice Kyle Wilson-Taylor taking over in her latest win, importantly getting 3kg off the her back from the steadying impost of 60kg that she was allocated to carry.
The way she won it didn’t look like she needed the weight relief. It was just a very good win whatever way you looked at it!
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A RELATIONSHIP THAT KEEPS ON WINNING:
To say that the relationship between the owner of Hinged and her trainer goes back a long way would be understatement.
Hinged is owned by Dr Kim Mccasker who won a Doomben 10 000 with Laurie’s Lottery with Nolan back in 1999 … which means this McCasker and Nolan are still winning races together more than twenty years after their greatest success to date … which is an eternity in racing terms.
All credit to them in an arena where loyalty often takes second place.
Mccasker bred Hinged from his well performed race mare Tints, who carried his colours to twelve victories over distances ranging from 1000m to 2150m. The sire of Hinged, Worthy Cause, a five-time winner, won up to 1800m … a breeding match which suggests that Hinged still has unfinished business beyond the 1600m trip.
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OTHER NOLAN STABLE WINNERS FOR JULY:
A’Yun – made it back-to-back wins (Maiden and Class 1 over 1875 and 1850m respectively – both at Toowoomba).
Got The Lot – claimed her second career win when saluting over 2150m in a Benchmark 65 Handicap at Ipswich.
I’ll Tell You Now – won on debut in a 900m dash at the Gold Coast by 3.75 lengths.
Princess Bojack – came back an easy winner of a QTIS Two-Year-Old Handicap at Ipswich over 800m in a welcome return to form after winning so well on debut and being previously being good enough to find a place in the field for both the Listed Calaway Gal and the $2 million Magic Millions Two-Year-Old classic.
Puckish – made it back-to-back wins at Kilcoy in a BM68 over 2470m.
Short Sara – gained her third win in ten starts when landing a Fillies and Mares BM60 Handicap at Ipswich over 1350m.
Star Twinkle - gained her first win in her sixth start when claiming a Maiden win over 1210m at Toowoomba
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NOLAN STABLE PLACEGETTERS FOR JULY:
Second placegetters:
Autumn Daze, Five Oxford, Got The Lot, Puckish and Twilight Boom.
Third placegetters:
Keepmoving Forward, Princess Bojack (2), Twilight Boom, Sarasun.
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