EF DEC 02 - HALLMARK STAR FLEXES HER MUSCLES

By Matthew Grimson and Graham Potter | Thursday, December 3, 2009

Eagle Farm, December 2, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 11.5m.
Maiden Handicap (3yo Fillies) - 1400m. Time: 1-24.73.
1 Hallmark Star; 2 Matera; 3 Red Dawn.

The Robert Heathcote trained Hallmark Star scored in relatively untroubled fashion coming from off the pace with a finely timed run down the outside of the track to get the better of the hard-ridden Matera rather more easily than the 0,80 length winning margin suggests.

Hallmark Star was racing first-up here as she kicked off her second preparation in style. She was winning for the first time in four starts.

The filly, who was strongly supported on track, provided the first leg of a winning double for the Robert Heathcote / Stathi Katsidis combination who later rounded off the card with an even easier win when Gundy Son outclassed his opposition in the last race.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Robert Heathcote: “I’ve always thought the horse had a bit of promise. She’s still learning the game and I think Stathi (Katsidis), when he gives me his report, he will say that she was bit slow out and took a few strides to get into gear, but she’s a nice horse.

“I always thought as a two year-old... I thought that she was going to be my Oaks-type prospect. Obviously she’s got a long way to go but she’s a horse, with her breeding... I did a bit of research on Johar, her sire - it stands over in New Zealand and he throws a lot of stayers ... so she could be my Oaks horse ... let’s hope she is.

“I am delighted to win the race. The owners are from Tasmania, Alwyn and Judy Shaw - huge supporters of racing in Tasmania. They’ve actually got a stud down there called Aceland. Huge supporters of racing and they are starting to branch out and send a few horses up here and this is the first winner for them so I’m wrapped.

“She’s made good progress. It was a huge effort ... 1400m first-up ... tail of the field ... rail out 12m ... and she rounded them up and looked like she did it with a touch in hand and I know that there is going to be considerable improvement in her. We’ll step her up to a mile in a couple weeks time in town, bring her back to town now on a Saturday and she is going to be competitive.”

Jockey Stathi Katsidis: “You always wonder if your horse is going to handle that because it’s always a little bit different in the wet when it has just been rained on. So they might handle a wet track but not handle freshly rained on ground.

“No, I didn’t take her up the outside particularly. It’s just where I happened to be. I was back in the field and I thought about making a run up the inside, but I was only going to save a little bit of ground, so I brought her to the outside to give her an uninterrupted run because she was going quite well.

“Exceptional training performance ... 1400m first up, you know. It’s not easy to do. Obviously she’s got plenty of ability and obviously Rob (Heathcote) has done a great job with her. She’s got a lot of improvement in her still as well. Not fitness wise or anything like that, but just maturity wise as well.

“Rob’s some nice Saturday races picked out for her, but it is just going to have to be in the right races. Eventually she could be an Oaks horse, yeah. She only did what she had to do today.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Hallmark Star): 3.30 out to 3.50 in to 2.90.
The winner as the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Hallmark Star (S. Katsidis) was slow to begin. Andiamo Sera (K. Pope) and Amoreena (App J. Brown) made contact on jumping away.

Geneva Gold threw its head in the air and raced ungenerously for a short distance when restrained near the 1000m. Andiamo Sera over-raced in the early stages of the event. Amoreena over-raced in the early and middle stages of the event.

Approaching the 600m Geneva Gold (App M. Hellyer) faltered and became unbalanced. Trainer B. Baldwin was advised that a warning would be issued regarding the horse's racing manners at that point.

Bakarje Diva (D. Browne) was inclined to lay in in the early stages of the straight and near the 300m shifted in making contact with Amoreena. Matera (R. McMahon) was held up for clear running rounding the home turn and until approaching the 200m. S. Katsidis the rider of Hallmark Star lost his whip near the 100m.

When questioned regarding the tactics to lead today as compared to the previous tactics adopted on Geneva Gold trainer B. Baldwin advised that he gave the rider no specific instructions other than to allow the horse to settle where it was comfortable. App M. Hellyer confirmed the instructions and advised that as he had identified no significant pace in the race and because of the wide barrier he allowed the horse to progress forward to where he was able to obtain a position in the lead. Stewards noted their explanations.