MV FEB 13 - SECOND GROUP 1 WIN FOR TURFFONTEIN

By Scott Gooley | Monday, February 15, 2010

Moonee Valley, February 13, 2010.
Track - Dead 5. Rail - True.
William Reid Stakes (Group 1 - WFA - Open) - 1200m. Time: 1-11.67. (Carrying 58.5kg).
1 Turffontein; 2 Wanted; 3. Sniper’s Bullet.

Evergreen galloper Turffontein has claimed the second Group One race of his career with a tenacious victory in the William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley.

Having his first race start since competing in the Group One Patinack Classic at Flemington in November of last year, punters were prepared to risk the Anthony Cummings trained galloper who drifted from $9 out to $12 in betting.

As the starter let them go Glen Boss, rider of Turffontein, was content to allow Light Fantastic and Wanted, both drawn inside him to take up the running and to settle in third spot, two lengths off the pace.

Passing the 800m mark, Light Fantastic ($6.50) showed the way, three quarters of a length ahead of the three year old Wanted ($4.60), with Turffontein travelling well in third, a further length behind.

As the field began to make the turn for home, Turffontein joined Wanted on his outside and together, the pair began to put pressure on Light Fantastic.

The trio straightened for the run home and there remained very little between them as they raced inside the final 100m.

At this point, Light Fantastic started to wilt on his run and Turffontein had fought to a slender lead over Wanted who was kicking strongly.

As the runners flashed past the post, Turffontein was able to maintain his small advantage over Wanted and he recorded a half neck win.

Finishing hard for third was Sniper’s Bullet ($11), only a further short neck away.

“I’ve got a real soft spot for this horse.” Boss admitted after the race.

“He’s a real prime example of a colt that probably hasn’t got a turn of foot or the brilliance of some of these other horses but, when he gets to these surfaces - dead bordering on slow - he just really excels.”

“He’s got a good two length kick on him and you got to utilise it at the right time.”

“He’s a horse that has a real dig. I like him.” beamed Boss.

Watching from Sydney, trainer Anthony Cummings was also full of praise for his consistent performing stable star.

“He’s a winner at the top level at three-year-old, four-year-old and five-year-old and he’s hardly ever competed out of Group standard. Takeover Target aside, he’s probably Australia’s most durable sprinter.

What were Cummings’ thoughts on the Boss ride?

“Full credit to Bossy. Sensational evaluation of the race” Cummings said.

“You could see that Bossy was breaking his arms to hold him back off the lead. It took the backmarkers out of it and the others sorted played into our hands.”

It was Turffontein’s fifth career win and boosted his stakes earnings to over $1.2 million.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Shellscrape jumped awkwardly making contact to the barrier partition. Approximately 50m after the start, Nicconi got its head up when being restrained in an effort to take up a position closer to the fence. Mentality raced wide without cover throughout.

G Boss rider of Turffontein pleaded guilty to a charge of careless riding under the provisions of AR137a, the careless riding being that near the 800m he permitted his mount to shift in when not sufficiently clear of Shellscrape resulting in Shellscrape having to be checked.

G Boss had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence at midnight February 13 and to expire at midnight February 23, a total of 11 meetings (2 city, 9 country). In assessing penalty Stewards took into account that the careless riding was is the mid-range category which equates to fourteen meetings however concessions were made for G Boss’s guilty plea, good race riding record and that Shellscrape was over-racing leading up to the incident.

Light Fantastic layed out under pressure in the straight.

D Oliver (Nicconi) was of the opinion that his mount wasn’t suited to the manner in which the race was run today as he was unable to gain some cover and get the horse to settle and in his opinion is much better suited in short course events where there is plenty of speed on in the early stages.

D Oliver also stated that he didn’t believe Nicconi felt comfortable in today’s track conditions. A veterinary examination of Nicconi after the race revealed no abnormalities and a swab sample was taken for analysis.

Trainer Mr C Waller could not offer any explanation for the performance of Shellscrape today and undertook to advise Stewards Monday as to how Shellscrape pulls up tomorrow. After the running of the race the Club’s veterinary surgeon reported that Shellscrape was coughing excessively.

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