DOOM JAN 30 - OLLIE VOLLIE CRUISES IN

By Graham Potter | Monday, February 1, 2010

Doomben, January 30, 2010.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 3.5m.
Open Handicap - 1200m. Time: 1-11.28 (carrying 51.5kg).
1 Ollie Vollie; 2 Bitabiff; 3 Bold Glance.

The Sue Grills trained Ollie Vollie made it back to back wins when he easily accounted for his four rivals in the opening race on the card at Doomben.

The rejuvenated seven-year-old landed second, but then settled third on the rail on an easy speed behind Bold Glance and Bitabiff. Ollie Vollie wanted to go early, but apprentice jockey Tim Bell restrained his mount who held his position until Bell switched him two out wide approaching the turn.

Once given his head, Ollie Vollie ran down Bold Glance and Bitabiff with ease and he went away to win by a decisive 3.30 length margin.

Ollie Vollie has now won twelve times from forty-five starts. This win kicked off what was to become a glorious day for Time Bell who would go on to ride four winners on the card.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Sue Grills: “He won very well again today. Tim (Bell) rides him beautifully. He knows to hold him up and then let him sprint. He’s going very well.

“He’s had a lot of bad luck Ollie Vollie, but now we are riding him that bit quieter and just let him sprint home. He’s just hit a real purple patch which is great.

“I might give him a month off ... just freshen him up and bring him back again.”

Apprentice jockey Tim Bell: “They were travelling well, but I was more or less pulling my way. I popped outside them at the top of the straight ... just in case ... I didn’t want to get boxed in.

“I waited to the furlong and let him go. Once he let down, you know, he’s back to his old self. He looks like he can hopefully even improve on that and maybe win a couple more.

“I think it might have something to do with a bit of a different riding change. We’ve been letting him go a little bit early before, but holding him back seems to be paying off.

“The tempo of the race was extremely slow, you know, so the leaders have every chance to win. I thought I was on the best horse in the race so I timed my run and he has got such a great turn of foot for an old horse.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Ollie Vollie): 2.00 out to 2.05 out to 2.10.
The winner was the favourite. He was the only favourite to win on the day.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Black Ink (A. Chau) jumped away awkwardly and made contact with Bitabiff (M. Speers).

Near the 1000m Ollie Vollie (T. Bell) shifted out in an attempt to gain a position one off outside the heels of the leader, however was unable to do so due to Bitabiff holding its position outside the heels of the leader.

A. Chau, the rider of Black Ink, reported that the horse travelled comfortably through the run, however when Ollie Vollie shifted out rounding the home turn forcing him wider on the track, Black Ink was immediately under pressure and failed to respond to his riding thereafter. A. Chau added
that Black Ink hung in over the final 100m of the race.

A post-race veterinary examination of Black Ink revealed the horse to be sore in both fore-fetlocks and lame in the near-foreleg. Trainer L. Kelly was advised that he must produce a veterinary clearance for Black Ink before the horse races again.

Life's Short (L. Cassidy) suffered a bleeding attack during the event. As the horse had bled on a previous occasion, it will incur a lifetime bar from racing under AR. 53A(5).

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