DOOM JAN 26 - BIANCA JEWEL SHINES ON DEBUT

By Graham Potter | Thursday, January 28, 2010

Doomben, January 26, 2010.
Track - good 2. Rail - out 0.5m.
QTIS 600 Handicap (2yo Fillies) - 1010m. Time: 57.99. (Carrying 53kg).
New Class Record.
1 Bianca Jewel; 2 Handbag; 3 Tough Luck.

Talk about an impressive debut!

The Steven O’dea trained Bianca Jewel took no prisoners when she stepped into battle for the first time. She surprised her connections and punters alike with an imperial performance which saw her demolish his rivals to win by 3.80 lengths while stopping the clock in a New Race Record time of 57.99 seconds, beating the 58.33 set by Calaway Gal. Calaway Gal went on to win the Golden Slipper.

Because of Bianca Jewel's outright superiority, the race was never a serious contest. She landed in the leading line, disputed the lead with Handbag in the sweep to the turn and then took over at the front on straightening.

Jockey Ryan Wiggins then pressed the button and Bianca Jewel showed astonishing acceleration to leave her field behind as she increased her advantage with each passing stride. Wiggins had a look around inside the final 50m to see if anything was coming at him, but he was searching for ghosts as Bianca Jewel romped in to secure an eye-catching debut victory.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Steven O’dea: “She’s a nice filly. She is a half-sister to (the well performed) Kiss Me Katy.

“She’s always shown nice and early and she’s just continued to improve in this preparation. I actually thought she would probably like it a little further ... be a better 1200m ... 1400m horse. She’ll certainly get further. I think she will be a nice seven furlong horse later on.

“She is a good tough filly. She’s got a great constitution. I think she’ll go a long way."

Jockey Ryan Wiggins: “She’s only had a couple of jump-outs. Look, she is a professional sort of type. She’s Kiss Me Katy’s little sister. We brought her to the races without a trial thinking she might need this race today, but a different horse turned up today ... a racehorse.

“It surprised me a lot. She showed a little bit in track-work but not as brilliant as that ... and even just to show that much speed, I was a little bit shocked too. I didn’t think I’d be there. I thought I would be fifth or sixth and I would have been happy to be there but, like I said, she turned up like a racehorse today, not like the track-worker she has been.

“When I let her down she really let down. I gave her one back-hander. She gave them the split and she was away. Like I said, she as only had a couple of jump-outs so I’m pretty sure she’ll improve on that.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Bianca Jewel): 6.50 out to 11.00.
Favourite (La Bella Rose): 1.90 in to 1.50. Finished seventh.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
As A. Pattillo was indisposed due to injury stewards permitted S. Seamer to be substituted as the rider of Testa Renaya.

Silverton (A. Best) which reared over prior to being loaded into the barriers was examined by the Club's veterinary surgeon and passed suitable to race.

True Blue Angel (App A. Chau) was slow to begin. Tiyatro (L. Cassidy) jumped away awkwardly. Tough Luck jumped away awkwardly causing its rider J. Bryne to become unbalanced. Silverton jumped out at the start and bumped Testa Renaya (S. Seamer).

Shortly after the start Testa Renaya then had to be checked when tightened for room between Silverton and Dulacca Jet (N. Tomizawa), both of which shifted ground.

Near the 1000m Dulacca Jet (N. Tomizawa) was tightened for room when racing to the outside of Blissful Honour (App L. Rolls) and the inside of Snatch The Cash (L. Cheshire) and Tough Luck (J. Byrne). After considering the evidence presented it was established that L. Cheshire and J. Byrne had both contributed to the incident by shifting in.

Stewards sought an explanation from A. Best regarding the disappointing performance of Silverton. A. Best advised that the horse was very fractious prior to the race and did not show the same early pace as it displayed at the Toowoomba start on 9 January 2010. A. Best further advised stewards that connections were considering sending the filly for a spell. Post race veterinary examination of Silverton revealed no abnormalities.

A post race veterinary examination of Snatch The Cash revealed the filly to be shin sore in both fore-legs and lame in the off-fore leg. A veterinary certificate of fitness will be required before the horse again races.

Trainer A. Bailey reported that in his opinion La Bella Rose (D. Griffin) which is a solidly built filly, did not appreciate the firm track today and added that he would now send the filly for a spell. A post race veterinary examination failed to reveal any significant abnormalities and the filly was sent to be swabbed.