SCST DEC 20 - DEVIKINGSAREHERE DASHES HOME

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Fresh from their triumph with the well-fancied Deer Valley at Doomben on Saturday, the Steele Ryan / Justin Wood combination struck again with Devikingsarehere. This time their winner came back at double figures odds.

The five-year-old was winning for the second time in three starts for the Ryan stable and he did have legitimate excuses when beaten in his previous start. Wood has partnered the entire in all three runs.

On this occasion Wood made certain his mount had the chance to run his own race, but that didn’t mean it was an easy passage. The big field (nineteen runners) was always going to be a complicating factor and while Devikingsarehere jumped well enough, he could do no better than settle a little better than midfield in a congested group of runners.

Devikingsarehere lost ground in the sweep to the turn with Wood pulling him out seven wide in search of clear running. Wood found the space he was looking for, but Devikingsarehere was still faced with it all to do as he straightened in tenth spot, hard ridden, some six lengths off the leader.

As the leaders came back to the field Kamakura, who had been a couple of lengths ahead of Devikingsarehere at the head of the straight, emerged as the horse to beat. The chestnut got to the front at the 180m, but three runners quickened up well enough behind him to start homing in on the new front-runner - and Devikingsarehere was one of them.

He and Pumblechook had made their runs together and Billum was kicking on along the inside. These three runners attacked Kamakura who fought gamely to try and hold on to his advantage and the matter was only resolved in the final few strides when Devikingsarehere extended late to claim the honours.

The fact that only half-a-length covered the first four runners home underlined the competitive nature of the contest and thus the fighting qualities of the winner.

Sunshine Coast, December 20, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 3m.
Class 1 Handicap - 1600m. Time: 1-38.41
1 Devikingsarehere; 2 Kamakura; 3 Billum.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Steele Ryan: “Yeah, he was looking for more ground. He was pole-axed the other day when that horse broke down in front of him and all up the running he had no luck. He ran up onto backside after backside. With a clear run he would have shown up as a horse to follow if he had been able to get a clear run last week.

“I’m sure when he gets to ten furlongs he win a midweek in town, I think,”

Apprentice jockey Justin Wood: “The horse obviously has had three starts here in Queensland. First start it won first-up over 1200m. It was a good run, but it was clearly looking for more ground.

“Last start he came here last Sunday night over a bit more ground ... the 1400m. It was a big field and a horse broke down and he got a bit of interference throughout the run. Then further on down the straight he was sort of eased out of it and got a bit of a tighten up. He just never got the chance to find his feet and work home like he does.

“Today we had a bit of a talk about it ... me and Steele (Ryan) ... and I still found he needs more ground. We thought we’d trial him over a mile here today. He loves this track. It just gives him time to work up and get home, which is the way it worked today.

“I was midfield, where Steele sort of wanted me, just one off. I got a lovely run through there. They just seemed to be ... the group in front of me seemed to be going nowhere. At about the 700m, Ricky McMahon and I started to make a trail around those who weren’t going any good. We gathered some ground up there.

“Ricky sort of beat me a bit in the sprint early in the straight. Then my one just started to wind up ... wind up ... like he does ... and then really come home stronger and stronger. It was a really good win. I think a trip like 2000m is going to suit him a lot more. Where-ever he takes him next I reckon he is going to be competitive again.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Freebooters (C. Kearney) and Quite Stylish (K. Cross) were slow to begin.

Dave The Dude (S. Seamer), Check The Chips (M. Palmer) and Pumplechook (T. O'Sullivan) raced wide throughout. Kamakura (R. McMahon) raced extremely wide over the final 700m. Over the concluding stages, Kamakura (R. McMahon) shifted out under pressure and bumped Pumplechook (T. O'Sullivan).

M. Hellyer was questioned regarding the riding tactics adopted of Destiny Warrior, which after racing wide in the early stages was ridden forward to lead by a clear margin in the middle stages. He explained that he was instructed to ride Destiny Warrior in a forward position, however the gelding did not have any early speed, and as he was obliged to race extremely wide rounding the first turn, he elected to ride forward and obtain the lead near the 1200m.

M. Hellyer added that after riding his mount to the lead, the gelding was inclined to over-race. He added that in hindsight he may have erred in riding the horse as aggressively as he did in the middle stages. As a result, Destiny Warrior weakened over the final 100m.

Stewards sought an explanation from B. Pengelly regarding the disappointing performance of Eleven Oysters, B. Pengelly explained that the mare did not appreciate racing inside runners, which he was forced to do from his inside barrier draw today. B. Pengelly added that Eleven Oysters is best suited when racing outside of horses with an unimpeded run.