EF FEB 10 - BLINKERS DOES THE TRICK FOR ITALA PRINCE

By Graham Potter | Friday, February 12, 2010

Eagle Farm, February 10, 2010.
Track - Slow 6. Rail - out 10m.
Maiden Handicap (C, G & E) - 1200m. Time: 1-12.66 (53kg).
1 Itala Prince; 2 Troopingthecolour; 3 Impeding.

The Bill Brown trained Itala Prince caused a boil-over here returning a local tote win dividend of $49.90.

Itala Prince came into the race with form that was in keeping with his price, but the addition of blinkers coupled with the fact that the gelding clearly thrived in his first run on slow going were clearly factors which influenced his improvement.

The was a very busy start to the race with a number of runners vying for the lead. Intadom won that race within a race and he then proceeded to quiet things down by steadying the pace mid-race. At this stage Itala Prince settled at the rear of the field, some five lengths off the leader.

On cornering, jockey Jason Taylor switched the three-year-old out to be the widest runner on the track and he then pressed the ‘go’ button early in the home straight.

The gelding needed no second asking. He accelerated with meaning to chase right past all of his opposition getting to the front as early as the 150m mark.

Itala Prince then maintained his run to the line to keep Troopingthe colour, who was the only horse to threaten Itala Prince’s authority in the concluding stages, back in second place.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Bill Brown: “Yeah, we put the blinkers on first time. He was just looking around a bit last time at the Gold Coast, so we went with the blinkers and it has worked. He just wasn’t concentrating, you know.

“He (Jason Taylor) did exactly what I said. He’s just got to let him find his feet ... and then just keep finding. I told Jason, he can hit a flat spot at sort of the 250 or the 300, but you’ve just got to keep riding.

“He did step up to the 1200 today (from 900m at the coast). He will go a little bit further. We’ll just take it a step at a time.”

Jockey Jason Taylor: “Yeah, the blinkers on first time seemed to get the horse travelling well and reacting well.

“The trainer indicated he wasn’t too sure how the horse would handle it on the wet track, but he jumped out and travelled neatly on the wet. We started to get to the outside and actually tracked into the race quick and strong.

“They actually opened this track up to gallops on Tuesday morning so I thought with all the rain, especially the downpour we had this morning, I thought the inside would be a bit slushy. Yeah, so I was always wanted to get to the outer.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Itala Prince): 26.00 out to 31.00.
Favourite (Double Lines): 2.05 out to 2.10. Finished seventh.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
The Wild Card (L. Cheshire) over-raced in the early and middle stages and raced three wide throughout. Profanity (C. Munce) raced three wide without cover throughout.

After passing the 400m Double Lines (G. Colless) and Impeding (K. Banks) attempted to take a run between Profanity and The Wild Card where there was doubtful room. As a result Double Lines and Impeding bumped on a number of occasions.

Trainer Mr B. Brown was questioned regarding the improved performance of Itala Prince in today's race. Mr Brown explained that Itala Prince had worked well in the past on rain-affected going and was racing in blinkers for the first time today, which in his opinion contributed to today's improved showing.

G. Colless was questioned regarding the disappointing performance of Double Lines. He explained that Double Lines travelled well throughout, however when he attempted a run after passing the 400m and made contact with Impeding the colt failed to respond to his riding following this incident
and in his view was disappointing.

G. Colless added that it was his opinion that Double Lines would be better suited over races of 1400m and further. A post-race veterinary examination of Double Lines revealed the horse to be
lame in the off-foreleg. Trainer H. Wilson was advised that he must supply a veterinary certificate of fitness prior to Double Lines racing again.

L. Cassidy, the rider of Third Millennium, which weakened badly in the home straight, explained that he rode the gelding aggressively in the early stages to take up a forward position, which in his view attributed to the gelding being unable to finish the race off in the home straight.

He added that in his view Third Millennium will race better if able to settle with cover and over a further distance. A post-race veterinary examination of Third Millennium failed to reveal any abnormalities.