EF NOV 14 - A VISIT TO THE BEACH TURNS THE TIDE FOR DANCE THE WAVES

By Matthew Grimson and Graham Potter | Monday, November 16, 2009

Eagle Farm, November 14.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 9m.
Open Handicap - 1000m. Time: 0-56.96
1 Dance The Waves; 2 Daunting Lad; 3 Sequallan.

The Gillian Heinrich trained Dance The Waves returned revitalised after a change in training tactics and he came good to claim his seventh career victory. It’s been a long time between drinks for the nine-year-old gelding whose last win came in the Group 3 Rubiton Stakes at Caulfield ... wait for it, back in January 2007.

Dance The Waves was in a hot run of form then (The Rubiton was his third win on the trot). In the past two-and-a-half years, there has been flashes of form intermingled with some ordinary efforts, but no cigar. This time Dane The Waves did enough to get the decision and take his stakes earnings figure past the $500000 mark.

Jockey Brad Stewart settled the chestnut just off the speed as Sequallan and She’s In the Guide set the early tempo. Stewart switched Dance The Waves out around heels at the top of the straight and, with an uninterrupted run home, Dance The Waves produced a measured finishing effort which carried him to a 0.75 length victory.

The second placed Daunting Lad can claim something of a hard-luck story. Trapped on then rail for almost the length of the straight, the Danny Bougoure trained runner initially tried to take a run between Sequallan and She’s In the Guide, but that gap was never there and after further weighing up his options, jockey Christian Reith switch his mount out into clear running too late in the proceedings to have a major say in the final outcome.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Gillian Heinrich: “He has been a great horse. He hasn’t won one for a couple of years now. The 1000m is normally too short so we have been taking him to the beach for the last couple of weeks and it has worked for him - spun his head around and he has won today like the horse that he is.

“No, he’s never been to the beach before in his life ... well, not since we’ve had him. But I thought 1000m is too short and I thought I’ve got to change something around, you know. The 1000 is too short. He’d never won over 1000m. His won over 1100m.

“As he has got older I thought we’ll try him over 1200. We trialled him over the 1200 and it was a bit long, you know, he just can’t get it. That’s what I was really disappointed about - he’s never been able to get 1200.

“We came back to 1000 and tried to freshen him up as best we could by taking him to the beach and then ... well, away you go. He’s loved it down there. He was having a great time. Haven’t work him much ... haven’t done too much with him at all. So there you go, it just shows doesn’t it. Change their head around and you can be surprised what happens. All there is is 1000m races so we will keep him fresh and keep him over 1000. It’s just nice to see him back isn’t it? Nice to see an old horse back.”

“We took him to Melbourne a couple years ago and he won the Rubiton Stakes for us. He’s been a really good horse to us.”

Jockey Brad Stewart: “Yeah, well it is fair to say that her has been struggling a bit. His last run I was a bit disappointed in him. I was actually questioning whether his days were numbered. But Gillian (Heinrich) gave him a good freshen up and has been taking him to the beach and it seems to have done the trick.

“He did want to find the line. He has been showing that he’s got plenty of ability. With these old horses, you know, it’s whether you can get it out of them. I knew today if he did put his best foot forward he could handle those horses and that’s the way it was.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Dance The Waves): 11.00 in to 10.00 out to 13.00.
Favourite (She’s In The Guide): 3.30 out to 3.60. Finished fourth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Dance The Waves was examined by the club's veterinary surgeon behind the barriers and cleared to start. Borsha’s Mark (J. Byrne) jumped away awkwardly and then travelled three wide throughout the event. Cattleman (J. Taylor) jumped away awkwardly.

Leaving the 800m up until near the 600m, Cattleman was obliged to race in restricted room to the inside of Borsha’s Mark, which laid in and away from Mister Celestial (B. Pengelly).

Near the 500m, Cattleman was severely crowded between Borsha’s Mark and Celestafy (M. Hellyer), which shifted out. Mister Celestial travelled wide throughout.

C. Reith, rider of Daunting Lad, reported that in the early stages of the straight, he attempted a run between Sequallan (S. Katsidis) and She’s In the Guide (M. Cahill), however was unsuccessful as a result of She’s In the Guide shifting in. C. Reith explained that on two further occasions he was disappointed for a run between She’s In The Guide and Sequallan and Dance The Waves (B. Stewart), which resulted in him being unable to fully test Daunting Lad until the very latter stages of the event.

Trainer G. Heinrich reported that, in her opinion, Dance The Waves failed to run out the 1200m of its last start. She added that in the absence of a suitable 1100m race, she freshened Dance The Waves up for the 1000m race today.

J. Taylor pleaded guilty to a charge under AR137A5(a)(ii), in that he used his whip on 10 occasions in a forehand manner prior to the 100m. J. Taylor was fined $400. A post race veterinary examination of Dance The Waves revealed the mare to be suffering from a mild case of heat stress.