EF DEC 16 - UNDER THE COUNTER BOUNCES BACK

By Matthew Grimson and Graham Potter | Friday, December 18, 2009

Eagle Farm, December 16, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 3m.
Class 3 Plate (Set Weights) - 2200m. Time: 2-17.83.
1 Under The Counter; 2 Slepner; 3 Potters Cay.

The Barry Baldwin trained Under The Counter bounced back from his form hiccup last time when proving too strong for his rivals here.

Jockey Larry Cassidy settled the gelding in fourth spot early. The six-year-old then went back to fifth, just worse than midfield in the back straight and early in the sweep to the turn, but the field became very compact just before straightening and Cassidy had Under The Counter back up to fourth, a little less than two lengths off the lead as the field filed into the home straight.

It was no plain sailing for Under The Counter in the first half of the straight as traffic problems threatened to hijack his hopes. While Cassidy tried to find a path for Under The Counter, his stable companion Potters Cay had got a dream run on the rail to surge into the lead and Slepner was making up ground rapidly on the outside of runners.

Neither of those runners could make their advantage stick though and when Cassidy finally forced Under The Counter through the gap in-between Potters Cay and Singing Sovereign at the 200m the gelding quickly put the matter to rest as he asserted his authority over the concluding stages to win in comfortable fashion.

This was Under The Counter’s fourth win from eighteen starts.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Barry Baldwin: “Yeah mate, he got a little bit of heat stress last start so that didn’t help him much, but today we took all the precautions and he seemed to be okay. We thought he’d race a bit better. The drop in class helps.”

Jockey Larry Cassidy: “I got across into a nice spot early from a wide gate and he relaxed nicely and the speed was on. When they steadied up, you know, he travelled nice. A couple went around at the 700 and I thought, well, I will just sit and wait. I ran into a couple of traffic jams and I was sort of lucky to weave my way through it.

“The leader was hanging and then I was able to get between him and the third horse. I was worried I wasn’t going to get the squeeze through. Not a lot of room there, you know. When he got through he dashed and he won easy. It was a soft win really.

“The other day I thought he ran bloody terrible, you know.” (When Under The Counter turned in an uncharacteristic poor effort, after which he displayed a slow recovery rate linked to heat stress). “But when you look at it he got beaten about eleven lengths there (with excuses) and he’s dropping about ten classes today.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Under The Counter): 2.60 out to 2.80.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Following the previous disappointing performance of Under The Counter, stewards ordered a veterinary examination of the horse prior to the race and the veterinary surgeon reported that the horse was clear to race.

Singing Sovereign (C. Whiteley) jumped outwards at the start and brushed Hunka Burnin' (J. Taylor). When the pace eased leaving the 1800m, Son Of Zaha (K. Banks) shifted out three wide and improved forward to take up a position outside the leader Singing Sovereign near the 1200m.

Singing Sovereign (C. Whiteley) commenced to hang out approaching the home turn and the horse continued to hang out badly in the straight, where near the 200m it shifted out, making contact with Kaadema (L. Cheshire). As a result of Singing Sovereign hanging out, Potters Cay (M. Speers) was able to obtain a run to that horse's inside on straightening. Trainer J. Everson was advised that a warning would be placed on Singing Sovereign regarding its racing manners.

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