GCST JAN 09 - FLASH’N DOUGH TOO SMART ON THE DAY

By Matthew Grimson and Graham Potter | Thursday, January 14, 2010

Gold Coast, January 09, 2010.
Track - Dead 4. Rail - Out 2m (900-400); True 400 - winning post; Out 1m - remainder.
Magic Millions Country Cup (NMW) - 1400m. Time: 1-23.11.
1 Flash'n Dough; 2 Our Mr Cashman; 3 Dance At Midnight.

The Stephen Theodore trained Flash’n Dough turned in a rock solid performance under an astute ride from jockey Craig Williams to land a comfortable victory in the Magic Millions Country Cup.

Williams positioned Flash’n Dough in fifth spot on the rail in the early part. He stalked the lead from there, never being more than 2.50 lengths off the frontrunner in the sweep to the turn.

Forced to hold a line relatively close to the inside on cornering, that move brought Flash’n Dough right into the leading line on straightening. Another touch on the accelerator and Flash’n Dough surged into the lead.

From there the four-year-old led his rivals a merry dance to the line as he carved out a 2.30 length winning margin to leave a host of runners fighting over the scraps as less than a length covered the next five runners across the line.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Stephen Theodore: “Yeah, look it’s been a plan from the start of the prep. Being a Maiden then it was a tough gig trying to get him here and achieve the goal, but the owners have stuck with me. They just took the pressure off and said, you do what you think you’ve got to do and eventually we got here.

“He delivered nothing in the first two preps. He was just being immature and mentally sort of not stable, but now we’ve got his head right. It took forever. He’s run in Group races this horse. ... the Sires Produce (Group 2 - in which he finished 7.20 lengths behind Von Costa De Hero, when still a Maiden) and the Victoria Derby (Group 1 - when he finished way back behind Rebel Raider, again still as a Maiden).

“At home he has been a superstar, but on raceday ... he’s nearly had me killing myself.

“This time in he hasn’t missed a beat. He should be going undefeated. I placed him terribly the last two starts, last time with 59kg, but I’ve done what I had to do to get here today.

It was a good ride by Craig Williams. I’m sure the champagne will be flowing tonight.

“I’ve got six horses in work and it’s a bit of a struggle to try and make ends meet. We bought two horses here. We bought him and hopefully it proves that if we set a goal we can achieve it like anyone else."

Jockey Craig Williams: “The trainer has done a great job with this horse and I was lucky enough to end up getting the ride today.

“He always felt great. He felt good going to the gates. They left no stone unturned and they got the right result today.

“The run in the race was good. We had a good position. We wanted to be away from the fence and I just followed the rest of the field out. I had to go in a little bit which I wasn’t happy about, but I had the right horse to be able to do it anyway.

“He is a really nice horse. He has actually got a lot more scope than we saw today. First time here. He actually got around the track pretty good. When he left the gates he wanted to go left. Up the straight, when they first put him under pressure, he wanted to go left again, but he (Stephen Theodore) has done a great job to educate him having his first run up here and winning on such a feature day.

“They are talking about him possibly staying up here for another run. I wish he’s go back to Melbourne so I can ride him.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Declaration of correct weight was delayed as stewards wished to establish whether or not Kiss Kiss had been denied a fair start. It was established that just as the gates opened Kiss Kiss reared dislodging its rider J. Holder.

Stewards formed the opinion that Kiss Kiss had not been denied a fair start and accordingly, correct weight was declared. Before Kiss Kiss again races it will be required to perform satisfactorily in two jump outs or one official barrier trial.

Tanzill (J. Taylor) was slow away. An inquiry into the reason for Just A Classic (P. Hammersley) being severely checked and Rapid Magic having to be checked near the 1000m was adjourned to a date to be fixed.

In the straight Black Dakota (G. Boss) proved somewhat hard to ride as it was inclined to lay in. At about the 200m Irishkiwi (J. Byrne) was momentarily steadied to avoid the heels of Dance At Midnight (D. Griffin), which shifted out.

A post race veterinary examination of Heartsun revealed the gelding to be suffering from slight post race distress. A post race veterinary examination of Rapid Magic failed to reveal any significant abnormalities.