SAINT MINERVA OUTCLASSES HER RIVALS IN GRAND PRIX STAKES

By Graham Potter | Monday, June 1, 2009

Grand Prix Stakes (Group 3 - 3yo’s) - 2200m. Time: 2-19.46.
Track - Slow 6. Rail - True.
1 Saint Minerva; 2 Markus Maximus; 3 The Grogoch.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Alan Bailey: “We could have got into the Oaks in the end, but I didn’t accept with her. She missed the run last Friday at the Gold Coast. I would have had her in there, but we only had that one lead-up in that 1700m race at Ipswich. I thought with a bit of wet weather it was just too much to ask from her ... to go a mile-and-a- half. She probably would have run it, but that’s after the ballgame is over isn’t it?

“She’s always been behind the eight-ball because she is a little filly that is a bit under-developed. She’s taken so long to get where she has got now, so we were lucky to get her here I suppose. But she is still under-developed. She hasn’t started to furnish at all. Later on we think she will be a nice mare.”

“It was a brilliant win, wasn’t it? You’d have to think for a horse to do that the opposition was as good as what you’d thought. But she is a good filly. Every-time she has gone around she’s done something that makes you get a bit excited about her, you know. Even when she’s been running in those low class races ... even when she won in that Maiden over the road here (at Doomben) ... she was back second last and she won easy. The other day Glen (Colless) rode her up there, he reckons he never rode a horse that won as easy as it did at Ipswich when he let her go.

“No, I don’t think we are going to run her in the Derby. We got to think about things though. It’s early days isn’t it? They are only three-year olds once, aren’t they?

Jockey Craig Williams: “I thought we were going to get back from the draw and just bide our time. I knew they weren’t going to go fast. She jumped even better than I thought she would. She put herself closer and twisted my arm a little bit.

“We didn’t have any joy getting in, but when they were going so slow it didn’t bother me sitting three wide. She is a really good, tough, honest filly because she took a bit of riding to get into her gait, then, all of a sudden, when she got clear in the straight, she was always going to pick up the top weight (Markus Maximus) and then it was just a matter of keeping her mind on the job.

“Yes it was a quantum leap from a Class 1 to Group 3, but that was backed up by the sheer confidence of Mr. Bailey and the connections of the horse, because they had her nominated for the Oaks. They were very confident if she had got in, but they went for a softer option today and your saw how dominant she was and they have still got the option of the Derby.

“So, yeah, I think the quantum leap on paper looked big, but the support and the thoughts that the trainer and the connections had of the horses ability was backed up by the result today.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Saint Minerva): 2.80 in to 2.60.
The winner was the favourite.