SCST DEC 20 - KAR KETCH ME IN FIRST-UP SUCCESS

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Sunshine Coast, December 20, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 3m.
Class 1 Handicap - 1200m. Time: 1-13.04.
1 Kar Ketch Me; 2 Hangover Henry; 3 Duke Of Danes.

The Bruce Ruming trained Kar Ketch Me scored a solid first-up victory in his third start for the stable when he finished best of all in a pressurised four-way go over the final stages to win by a neck from Hangover Henry with Duke Of Danes only a short-half-head behind that in third place.

Kar Ketch Me settled just worse than midfield in the early part, but he was saving ground all of the way. As the field approached the home turn Kar Ketch Me was still in sixth placing, shifting two wide as apprentice jockey Michael Hellyer lined up a run in the straight.

The early leader Show Ruler quickly surrendered his position early in the straight and Hangover Henry needed no second invitation to take the initiative and the David Murphy trained runner surged to the front, making an early play for glory.

Kar Ketch Me followed Hangover Henry through into the race and he was chasing hard with two lengths to make up on Hangover Henry coming through the 200m mark. Kar Ketch Me halved that deficit by the 100m mark, but his task had now become two-fold. Not only was he trying to reel in Hangover Henry, but he was also fighting to hold off two strong challenges along his outside as Duke Of Danes and Tristabrave threatened to spoil the party.

Having got close enough to smell victory, Kar Ketch Me was not to be denied and he responded to Hellyer’s determined urgings from the saddle to get to the front with less than 20m to run to beat out Hangover Henry and Duke Of Danes in a hard-fought finish.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Bruce Ruming: “That was good for a first-up run. We thought we were pretty right, but you never know these days.

“He got a bit of a bump there, well ... but it did him some good because it put him through the gap anyway. Yeah, so we did come with a bit of confidence. We thought he’d be right in it.

“He normally hesitates a bit at the start. I just said to him (Michael Hellyer) don’t bustle him early ... let him find his feet. But I said, if he jumps clean don’t be frightened to lead on him. But he just hesitates all the time so he just let him find his feet and let him go from there.”

Jockey Michael Hellyer: “Look, he didn’t jump the best. He is a very cunning horse. He can over-race, so I just let him find his feet and I ended up getting on the back of Gillian Heinrich’s horse.

“Coming to the 600, Gillian’s horse wasn’t going as well and I saw Hangover Henry was going really well. Stathi (Katsidis) had already gone three deep (on Tristabrave), so I peeled one off and got on the back of Jason Holder’s heels (behind Hangover Henry) and he brought me into the race real well.

“The thing was when I went for him ... for a horse who has had as many starts he was all over the place ... he was real green. He didn’t really want to go straight, so I put the whip away and just kept him balanced and straight and just rode him hands and heels and he found the in really well. So it was almost a better win than it looked.

“The track didn’t help as well. The track’s playing really uneven. There are a lot of clods and a lot of holes into it, but in saying that, you know, I told Mr Ruming, you just got to keep him straight and balanced. He doesn’t need the whip. If you can keep him straight and balanced he will find like he did the last furlong.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Duke Of Danes (S. Seamer) was slow to begin. Tristabrave (S. Katsidis) had to be steadied shortly after the start to avoid the heels of Hangover Henry (J. Holder), which shifted in.

Tristabrave laid in under pressure over the final 200m. Lugo (M. Morris) and Tendane (C. Kearney) raced wide throughout.

D. Griffin, rider of Moonlight Hussey, which weakened badly over the final 200m, explained that the filly did not feel comfortable in its action when placed under pressure in the straight. Stewards will contact trainer G. Heinrich to obtain a report on any abnormality that may have affected the performance of the horse today.