TOOROOLOO TOO GOOD AS SHE MAKES IT FOUR WINS FROM SEVEN STARTS

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, December 1, 2021

With the downpours followed by a deluge followed by a downpour in Brisbane, the Wednesday meeting at Doomben on December 1 was never going to get under starters orders meaning that, for the second time in six days, the new Poly Track at the Sunshine Coast was called upon to supply a lifeline to those participants wanting to make a grab for it.

The David Vandyke stable took that opportunity with the lightly raced four-year-old mare Toorooloo, who returned from an eight-month layoff to tackle a Class 5 Handicap over 1000m.

The race, like much of the race fields over the two Poly Track meetings held thus far (the meeting on the synthetic the previous Friday was the first time the new track had seen race action), was decimated by scratchings.

With ten runners coming out, it only left a field of four starters.

Toorooloo had won his last two starts before being spelled. They were his only runs in an unbeaten second preparation. Those wins came in a QTIS Three-Year-Old Handicap over 1200m at the Sunshine Coast and then in another Three-Year-Old Handicap over 1050m, this time in town at Doomben … so it was hardly surprising that she started at the restrictive odds of $1.85.

As predicted by the price, the followers of Toorooloo hardly had any moment of concern.

If there was any moment of doubt it came early as Toorooloo jumped in third spot and then went back to last … but only three lengths off the lead. The question then, if there was one, would have been was Toorooloo handling the track under race conditions, but any fear was allayed at the turn when Toorooloo swung wide and started to extend, seemingly with a plenty in hand.

As it turned out, Jim Byrne did have to get busy on Toorooloo approaching the 200m mark at which time he accelerated well enough to quickly take the measure of his rivals with Byrne keeping him working all the way to the line as part of his educational experience.

That’s four wins from only seven starts now with the wins coming on good, soft and synthetic surfaces, giving the daughter of Tycoon Ruler some useful options moving forward.