SCST NOV 22 - ELEVEN OYSTERS TASTES SUCCESS

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Sunshine Coast, November 22, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - True.
Maiden Plate (Fillies & Mares - Set Weights) - 1400m. Time: 1-25.71.
1 Eleven Oysters; 2 Shrewd Hostess; 3 Tudor Arcade.

The Kelso Wood trained Eleven Oysters toughed it out in a pressurized finish under a powerful ride from jockey Brad Pengelly to snatch victory by a half-head from Shrewd Hostess with Tudor Arcade only a further long-neck back in third placing.

When Eleven Oysters took the split between Our Girl Giggles and Tudor Arcade inside the final 100m the mare seemed to have built winning momentum, albeit under a hard ride, but she never had a moments rest all the way to the line as Shrewd Hostess rattled up along the outside to finish with a flourish. The latter dived late and only just failed to reel in Eleven Oysters who prevailed to claim her first success by a narrow margin.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Kelso Wood: “She’s very lean and light and she never did that well (in her first prep), so I put her out to try and let her get a bit stronger and that, you know. She’s come and got the job done today although you probably got to say, thank God for the jockey, I think.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Eleven Oysters): 2.25 out to 2.30.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Prior to the event, jockey B. Pengelly, on behalf of trainer K. Wood, advised that it would be his intention to ride Eleven Oysters in a more forward position today.

Pure Diva (K. Pope) began awkwardly, resulting in the horse losing valuable ground. Miss Madi (L. Rolls) raced ungenerously in the early stages. Pure Diva was inclined to over-race in the early stages.

Near the 300m, Dayjur's Magic (D. Barron) was disappointed for a run between Visona Gold (M. Heagney) and Ferengi (K. Sawyers) and had to be steadied and alter course as a result.

Tudor Arcade (M. Cahill) and Eleven Oysters (B. Pengelly) came together and bumped on two occasions over the final 100m. Tudor Arcade and Shrewed Hostess (A. Spinks) raced wide for the majority of the event.

A post-race veterinary examination of Blasko, which yielded ground badly over the final 300m, failed to reveal any significant abnormalities at the time of examination.