EF FEB 13 - THREE-IN-A-ROW FOR RARE DIAMOND

By Graham Potter | Monday, February 15, 2010

Eagle Farm, February 13, 2010.
Track - Dead 4. Rail - out 1m.
Open Handicap - 1600m. Time: 1-35.76. (Carrying 52kg).
1 Rare Diamond; 2 Steel Lips; 3 Rebounded.

The Gordon Yorke trained Rare Diamond had little difficulty in landing her third successive victory when she easily outgunned her six rivals to win even more easily than then official 1.75 length margin suggests.

The mare sat just outside the leader (Steel Lips) from the start until the top of the straight where apprentice jockey Timothy Bell gave her a slight squeeze. The four-year-old then moved forward to eyeball Steel Lips before taking the lead with the minimum of fuss with 250m left to run.

Bell merely guided Rare Diamond home from that point, not asking anything more than necessary from his mount as she cruised to a comfortable victory.

Rare Diamond is now a seven-time winner, with seven minor placings, from twenty-six starts.

WINNER FEEDBACK
Trainer Gordon Yorke: “She is a very lovely mare. I think the best is yet to come up the track ... another twelve months. It depends on whether they want to keep racing. She’s a valuable broodmare. He is a breeder ... the owner, so it’s his call whether we keep racing her.

“She’s learning to race, you know. I bought her half sister because I thought that family would stay. Then she started sprinting and I thought, oh what have I done here. The owner sort of shook his head a bit when I said I think she wants a journey, but to his credit ... now she’s doing nicely enough over the mile. I’d like to get her up to 2000m, not now but probably in her next prep, you know.

“She is sort of a mare that wanted to race and didn’t know really how to race or what to do. She has tons of ability and I think that is why she tricked everybody by sprinting so hard.

“But I didn’t think she was breathing at all. When I train my horses, I train them a bit different. I work everything in company. I make them breath. I train them over longer ground a lot slower ... and then she learnt to relax.

“Then for a couple of starts I saw her starting to get her head down and race and so I sort of pursued that.

“She’s done a hell of a job. That’s her seventh start (this prep) and she’s been up and down the highway. She’s done really well."

Apprentice jockey Timothy Bell: “It’s good that I could stay on the mare. I’ve got a bit of time for her. With the slow tempo she did over-race a little bit, but she still found as much as I expected.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Rare Diamond): 2.50 in to 2.25 out to 2.40.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Flying Test (C. Whiteley) was slow to begin. Rebounded (M. Radecker) began awkwardly and lost ground.

Stewards afforded Steel Ryan, trainer of Steel Lips, and J. Byrne, rider of that horse, the opportunity of explaining the different tactics adopted today as compared to its previous run. Mr Ryan stated that today he instructed J. Byrne to ensure that the horse had a strong preliminary, be positive from the gates and ensure he took up a forward position, but if he was able to lead comfortably, then he was to do so. Mr Ryan stated that he was a little disappointed with the horse's run last week.

J. Byrne confirmed the instructions and said he had ridden the horse accordingly, but he did say however it was inclined to lay out and it raced with its head in a somewhat awkward position. The explanations tendered were accepted.

Apprentice A. Butler, rider of Sam's Express, stated that when the horse left the gates well he was hoping to take up a position behind the leaders but in the early stages Sam's Express was inclined to over-race and pulled, however he was able to settle it and thought it wise to go back and race behind the leaders.

He said however on straightening when put under pressure, Sam's Express was disappointing in the way it finished the race off. A post race veterinary examination of Sam's Express failed to reveal any significant abnormalities.

M. Radecker, rider of Rebounded, explained that the intention was to go forward, however the horse left the gates awkwardly and as a consequence got further back than was hoped.