SCST DEC 20 - JE NE SAIS PAS LANDS CLEAR-CUT VICTORY

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Sunshine Coast, December 20, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 3m.
Open Handicap - 1200m. Time: 1-12.45.
1 Je Ne Sais Pas; 2 Morning Colours; 3 Riseupsinging.

The Brian Wakefield trained Je Ne Sais Pas has shown progressive improvement each run this prep and she topped it off with a facile winning performance to claim the six win of her career in her twenty-sixth start.

The mare was not the best away, but she quickly rallied to settle in midfield where jockey Scott Seamer was happy to keep a watching brief as he allowed the race to unfold in front of him. The five-year-old raced in fifth spot until the turn where she straightened four wide, some three lengths off the lead. At this stage the favourite Morning Colours was sitting right on the heels of Je Ne Sais Pas.

Both of these runners extended nicely enough early in the straight. Je Ne Sais Pas was slightly quicker off the mark than the main fancy when asked to accelerate and she quickly made up ground on the leaders ... almost too quickly as she ran right up onto the heels of My Son Day approaching the 250m.

Seamer took swift, corrective action and got Je Ne Sais Pas balanced again with the minimum of loss of momentum . Once in daylight, the marequickly put the matter to rest as she surged into the lead with 120m left to run. There was no let up from Je Ne Sais Pas in the closing stages and she powered to the line to keep Morning Colours, who had gamely hunted the leaders all the way down the straight, at bay by a comfortable 1.30 lengths.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Brian Wakefield: “Yeah, I’ve had her for a couple of runs now ... just this preparation.

“She won a Fillies And Mares race in Moonee Valley in a Metropolitan Class race. She has been a bit of a work in progress. She has been getting out and going too hard and we’ve been working on her to settle her. We’ve been working on her quite a while and the penny seems to have dropped with her now. She’s relaxing in her races and finishing them off at the right end.

“I don’t think she’d won over six furlongs. As far as she’d gone she’d been a 1000m horse. She has always been suspect over the six furlongs, but she’s doing that well now. I think, ridden the right way, she might even get to seven furlongs, but we’ll just take it one step at a time.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Innocentassie (J. Jones) was inclined to lay in under pressure in the home straight.

J. Jones, rider of Innocentassie, which performed below expectations, explained that the gelding did not travel well during the race and, in his opinion, appeared to be disappointing. A post-race veterinary examination of Innocentassie, revealed a small laceration to the near-side heel. A swab sample was taken from Innocentassie.

Stewards sought an explanation from M. Radecker regarding the riding tactics she adopted on Riseupsinging.

M. Radecker explained that after beginning well she was unable to take up a position closer to the fence as she was not clear of Morning Colours, so rather than be caught wide she elected to take hold of the mare and settled at the rear of the field, which is the normal pattern of racing for Riseupsinging.

M. Radecker further explained that Riseupsinging is best suited over longer distances than that of today's race, and in the early stages of the straight a run did present itself between Pietro Vannucci and Power Express towards the fence, however she was of the opinion that this was inferior ground and that she was committed to obtaining clear running wider on the track.

M. Radecker added that once she obtained clear running the horse finished the race off well. Trainer T. Miller confirmed the instructions and advised stewards that, in his opinion, the mare was ridden consistent with its normal racing pattern. The explanation was noted.