EF JAN 23 - FALVELINA FLIES HOME

By Graham Potter | Sunday, January 24, 2010

Eagle Farm, January 23, 2010.
Track - Good 2. Rail - out 2.5m.
QTIS 3yo Handicap - 1000m. Time: 56.32. (Carrying 53kg) New Class Record.
1 Falvelina; 2 Cariad; 3 Flinders City.

The Tony Gollan trained Falvelina scored a sparkling victory when claiming her second success in her sixth start.

A gear change (blinkers on first time) and a good track proved to be a winning recipe for the three-year-old chestnut who tracked the early leader Another Talent from the start before moving past the frontrunner halfway up the straight and powering on strongly to the line to stop the clock in a new class record time of 56.32.

Such was the impressive nature of Falvelina’s race winning acceleration that she came home unchallenged in the concluding stages. Cariad ran on from behind to earn second place 2.50 lengths behind the winner and there was a further 1.25 lengths back to the third placed Flinders City.

The short-priced favourite Fab Fevola once again disappointed when racing second-up. The gelding, who really can gallop on his day, has now been beaten in all three of his second-up starts. On two of those occasions, including this run, he raced well below his ability to finish out of the placings.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Tony Gollan: “You never expect them to win like that and post that sort of time, but I did expect her be very competitive.

“She raced at the Sunshine Coast (when finishing as a beaten favourite) last time. I went there thinking the track would improve. I was talking to a lot of people up there who thought the track would improve that day. It never improved. She’s absolutely hopeless on wet tracks, so her chances were gone well before the start. She missed the start and still finished third, but it wasn’t the run we were looking for.

“You look at her record. She’s been on good track now only three times. One was first-up from a very long spell (eight months) and I think I gave Kristy (Banks) the wrong instructions ... to jump out and really drive her. The second time Michael Cahill rode and I just said let her do what she wants to do and she won and broke a class record at Doomben. The third time was today and she won and broke a class record.

“I was supremely confident today. I know I’ve got a good filly. When she jumped and put herself on the bunny sitting in second, I knew they wouldn’t beat here. She can run exceptional sectionals this filly. I thought Larry Cassidy would suit her and he has done a great job.

“I’ve always had a huge opinion of this filly from day one. She went through with Temple Of Boom and them. They went through as a two-year-old ... the same year ... and I rated her right up there with him. But if you look at her form it is wet track after wet track. She can’t go a yard on a wet track.

“We’ll just go through the normal procedure now. We’ll get her home and look her over. It was a very firm track today ... but if all goes well she’ll race at Doomben in a fortnight and another 1200m after that. I have no worries about her getting the six furlongs.

“I think she is one of the best horses I’ve had. Honestly.

“She is a very good filly. You might find those times are a bit suspect going forward because this track is very fast. Yeah, the gear change helped. I always wanted to put blinkers on her. She always seemed to be looking around.”

Jockey Larry Cassidy: “Tony (Gollan) had always had plenty of time for her and she certainly came through today.

“I don’t think she is a 1000m horse either, even though she has got that good speed. I’m sure she can get further.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Falvelina): 10.00 out to 11.00 in to 9.00.
Favourite (Fab Fevola): 1.60 out to 1.70. Finished sixth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Cariad (J. Wood) was slow to begin. Flinders City (J. Bowditch) jumped away awkwardly and lost ground. Fab Fevola (L. Rolls) jumped in the air at the start.

When questioned regarding the disappointing performance of Fab Fevola, apprentice L. Rolls stated that after being unable to lead the horse did not finish the race off as expected.

Trainer B. Guy agreed that the horse was disappointing today and that it had performed similarly when second up from a spell at its previous preparation.

A post race veterinary examination of Fab Fevola revealed the gelding was making an abnormal respiratory noise, and trainer B. Guy was advised that he would be required to provide the results of an endoscopic examination prior to its next race start.

Apprentice J. Wood reported that Cariad was a little slow to begin and he was forced to ride the filly aggressively in the early stages in order to maintain contact with the main body of the field. He further stated that Cariad finished the race off very well and, in his opinion, would be better suited over longer journeys than that of today's event.

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