EF NOV 25 - CONAHY BLITZES THEM

By Graham Potter | Thursday, November 26, 2009

Eagle Farm, November 25, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 10.5m.
Maiden Plate (3yo C, G & E - Set Weights) - 1000m. Time: 57.94.
1 Conahy; 2 Machination; 3 Fly With Me.

The Matt Kropp trained Conahy gave his opposition a galloping lesson for much of the race and by the time he started feeling the pinch he already had his race comfortably won. He went to the line with a 0.75 lengths to spare on Machination with the favourite Fly With Me a further half-head back in third.

Conahy jumped from the worst of the draw and jockey Gary Geran speared the gelding out of the barriers and powered his way across to the rail without any fuss. Not content with finding the front, Geran set about driving home the advantage and Conahy was a willing partner as the duo steadily increased their lead.

A further kick on straightening propelled Conahy into a three to four length lead early in the straight and he was always going to be hard to run down from there. Machination and Fly With Me tried to do just that and stuck to their task well enough, but the early pattern of the race had left them with too much to do and, although they were closing on the leader late, they had to settle for the minor placings.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Matt Kropp: “Yeah, he had to do plenty. He was knocking up a little bit. We haven’t knocked him around between that first run (when finishing third at Ipswich) and today, so it was good that he did hang on. He tried nice and hard.

“From the wide gate at the 1000 that was all we could do was go out hard. (Jockey) Gary (Geran) came out and galloped him for me at home and he was confident and he judged it nicely.”

Jockey Gary Geran: “With the rail out there wasn’t much hope for us if we went back, so we used his natural speed. I gave him a gallop at Dalby last week and he felt good and I thought if he goes as good he will be hard to beat, you know.

“He’d improved from his last run over 800m. Yeah, I was comfortable in the straight. He kept finding enough. I always knew I’d used him a bit early so I was just trying to nurse him right until the end. It all worked out at the end of the day.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Conahy): 5.50 out to 7.00.
Favourite (Fly With Me): 3.30 steady. Finished third.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
L. Cassidy the rider of I Don't Remember was examined by the Club's doctor prior to Race 1 and cleared to ride. Balli Balli (S. Katsidis) jumped away awkwardly and shifted out at the start. Balli Balli raced greenly in the early stages.

Near the 600m Agent Blue (K. Wharton) shifted out away from Machination (B. Stewart), which was inclined to hang out. Bronze Admiral (A. Spinks) which was racing to the outside was hampered as a consequence. Machination was held up rounding the home turn and in the early part of the straight behind the heels of the tiring Tsarafy (J. Byrne).

Near the 200m Balli Balli when racing greenly shifted out under pressure forcing Agent Blue wider. Dylanjames (M. Morris), I Don't Remember (L. Cassidy) and Al Capulco (K. Banks) all raced wide throughout.

When questioned S. Katsidis confirmed that Balli Balli had raced greenly particularly in the early stages after jumping away however, when on the rail the horse seemed to race more tractably. S. Katsidis added that in the straight the horse shifted out under pressure and had recommended to trainer S. Ryan that he experiment with blinkers.

Conahy lost its off-hind plate in running.