EF JAN 23 - TOPKAPI PALACE BACK IN WINNING MODE

By Graham Potter | Monday, January 25, 2010

Eagle Farm, January 23, 2010.
Track - Good 2. Rail - out 2.5m.
Class 6 Handicap - 1400m. Time: 1-21.85. (Carrying 53kg).
1Topkapi Palace; 2 Agnes Dream; 3 Aquaterra.

It was an emotional time for trainer Desleigh Forster when Topkapi Palace held off the faster finishing Agnes Dream at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

Forster enjoys a win as much as anyone, but Topkapi Palace has a special place in her heart, given the fact three years ago she defied vets advice to have the gelding put down and, along with owner Dougie Forbes, nursed the gelding back to health.

Forster clearly still feels the pain and frustration of the accident that robbed Topkapi Palace of his best years on the track, but having the horse out there and winning is testament to her commitment to runners under her care. Money had nothing to do with the joy of this result.

Jockey Scott Seamer took Topkapi Palace into an immediate lead. With daylight in front of him, the five-year-old wanted to over-race, but Seamer held his ground in the saddle and Topkapi Palace eventually settled into a nice easy rhythm ahead of Punch Up and Agnes Dream.

Topkapi Palace kicked at the top of the straight. That was enough to account for Punch Up, but Agnes Dream was more resolute in her challenge. As Topkapi Palace set sail for home, Agnes Dream laboured momentarily, but then he gradually began to settle to his task.

Topkapi Palace led by two lengths coming through the 200m mark. Over the next 100m Agnes Dream only narrowed the gap by half-a-length. It was in the concluding stages that he managed to close up menacingly on Topkapi Palace, but the Forster trained runner had done enough to get home by long-head.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Desleigh Forster: “Yeah, mate, you have got to ride his aggressively. That’s the only way to ride him. You come out on him cold and he just drops the bit and wants to go out the back. He is a good horse and he wasn’t stopping at the end.

“He got badly hurt here about three years ago when he was a two-year-old. It’s just wrong. He was one of the best two-year-olds here. He had an accident here on the course at Eagle Farm one morning. He put his foot down and went through the outside of the dirt track and he stripped all his legs. He got ring-bone. Have a look at him. He’s got a big lump at the back of his leg, his off-side hind.

“We nursed him ... and nursed him. The vet’s wanted to put him down. I said, no ... you are not putting him down. It’s just taken this long to get him here. It’s just a shame. He missed all of his two-year-old races ... all his three-year-old races like the Sires and that. He was out for twenty-one months.

“(Shane) Scriven used to ride him over Pepperwood. He beat Pepperwood on Brisbane Cup day here (in 2007). That’s how good the horse was. It’s just a shame.

“It always takes him two or three runs to get fit. He is still a good horse. He’s probably not as good as he was going to be ... but he is still good enough to win a race in town. He is pretty precious.”

Jockey Scott Seamer: “He is a nice horse. He is quite predictable actually. After he has had his third or fourth run ... that’s about when he is ready to win. Today was his fourth run back and he was spot on.

“We had to roll early to get across (from the worst of the draw), but when I asked him to come back underneath me ... he probably came back underneath me for three furlongs and then he let down well.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Topkapi Palace): 9.00 in to 6.00.
Equal favourite (Agnes Dream): 5.00 in to 4.40. Finished second.
Equal favourite (Aquaterra): 4.00 out to 4.40. Finished third.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Aquaterra (B. Pengelly) jumped away awkwardly. La Bella Luisa (J. Byrne) and Black Morgan (S. Katsidis) made contact shortly after the start.

When the pace slackened near the 800m, La Bella Luisa improved up on to the heels of Black Morgan and when being restrained shifted out. A short distance later, Black Morgan then commenced to over-race and shifted out, taking La Bella Luisa wider on the track. La Bella Luisa was then obliged to travel wide for the remainder of the event. Steel Lips (J. Wood) raced wide throughout.

Stewards sought an explanation from S. Katsidis in respect to the disappointing performance of Black Morgan. S. Katsidis stated it was his intention to position the gelding in the lead or outside the leader, however after beginning awkwardly he was a length behind the main body of the field and he then felt his only option was to ride the horse from a rearward position.

He added he was able to take up a trailing position behind La Bella Luisa leaving the 700m, however when he positioned the horse into clear running on straightening it failed to accelerate and proved very disappointing.

Trainer B. Hill was unable to offer an explanation other than that Black Morgan had shown a tendency throughout its career to race disappointingly when unable to secure a front-running position. A post race veterinary examination of Black Morgan failed to reveal any significant abnormalities.