SCST JAN 31 - MILLER FIRES BACK WITH A TREBLE

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Trainer Trevor Miller bounced back to prominence with a treble at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.

Miller has been having a quiet time in terms of producing race winners at his home base this season, but his stats of having had eleven second places and seventeen third places prior to Sunday’s meeting tell a story of just how different things could have been with just a slight twist in the script.

Miller kicked off his treble with the first-timer Sweet Sera who was ridden by apprentice Jason Kropp. Sweet Sera scored by a length from the two market fancies Heavens Own ($3.20) and Toy Jet (the $3.10 favourite) in a QTIS Handicap for two-year-olds contested over 1000m.

It was a useful opening payday for Sweet Sera, even if she did only come in on the middle rung of the stakes ladder.

Being QTIS registered, Sweet Sera collected a first prize of $13500. That was $7000 more than a non-QTIS horse would have collected but $7000 shy of the payout she would have earned if she was QTIS 600 registered.

Miller then completed a race-to-race double when jockey Mandy Radecker piloted Opal Ombra to an untroubled, three length victory, scoring with the minimum of fuss as the $2.25 favourite in a Maiden Plate over 1200m. Like Sweet Sera, Opal Ombra was sired by Ombra Della Sera.

Opal Ombra came into the race with promising exposed form, a fact which was reflected on the betting boards. This was the chestnut filly’s fourth career start, still in her first prep, and she had already showed to good advantage by claiming two thirds and a second placing in her previous three outings.

The Miller/Radecker combination was again to the fore in the final event on the card where Hawk Hunter ($6.00) prevailed under determined ride from Radecker to get the better of a tight battle with another $6.00 chance Daneolin.

The run represented something of an improvement by the four-year-old, but he did have pole position at the barrier to help his cause.

The Miller stable only contested four races on the card and thus they came away with a seventy-five percent strike-rate. For Jason Kropp and Mandy Radecker that percentage was even higher. Sweet Sera was Kropp’s only ride at the meeting while Radecker’s wins on Opal Ombra and Hawk Hunter also represented a full house from her two rides on the day.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Trevor Miller (talking about Sweet Sera): “No, she didn’t surprise me at all. She is a smart filly. She is a full sister to that Redibis* who is racing well in the city. She did win with something in hand at the end, I think ... and she’ll improve on that too.”

*Redibis is travelling well. The year older sister of Sweet Sera finished second twice in her two starts in town in January. She was runner-up to Sweepstaking at Eagle Farm on January 16 and had to settle for second place again on January 26, this time behind Purr Of Glory at Doomben. Both runs were over 1200m.

Trainer Trevor Miller (talking about Opal Ombra): “He had the form. If he handled the track I didn’t think they would beat him. I said to Mandy (Radecker), go forward from the wide alley. It just depended on whether he handled the ground. He just needed a bit more ground. He wanted the 1200.”

Trainer Trevor Miller (talking about Hawk Hunter): “He has always sort of shown something ... but he hasn’t lived up to his early promise, you know. He led the other day and stopped. He went too hard his last start. He didn’t begin as well today and he sort of came from behind and finished it off. Like I said, he has always shown promise and hopefully he can go on from here."

Jockey Mandy Radecker (talking about Hawk Hunter): “He didn’t get on the bridle as quick as I thought he would, but he travelled nice throughout. He ran up to the leader fairly nicely. It was a bit of a slugfest for four or five strides there, but he just dug real deep on the line and put his big head in front.”

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