DOOM FEB 17 - HINRICKS LANDS FIRST CITY WINNER IN HER FIRST CITY RIDE

By Matthew Grimson and Graham Potter | Thursday, February 18, 2010

Doomben, February 17, 2010.
Track - Slow 7. Rail - out 7.5m.
Maiden Handicap (2yo) - 1030m. Time: 1-01.49. (Carrying 52kg).
1 Just About Ready; Mazumah; 3 Playful Paris.

The big smile was on her face for a good reason.

Apprentice jockey Renee Hinricks had just ridden her first city winner in her very first ride in the city. She had only been granted her metropolitan licence the previous week and now here she was headed for the winners’ enclosure after piloting the Col Williamson trained Just About Ready to a clear-cut 1.25 length victory. Good times.

Hinricks’ ride was a polished one. Just About Ready landed in the leading line and disputed the lead with Playful Paris until edging ahead to claim the outright lead by half-a-length going into the first turn. That advantage had widened to two lengths approaching the home turn where the race was Just About Ready’s to win if he was good enough.

Playful Paris was still closest to the frontrunner on straightening and the favourite Liesele was looming menacingly in third place, but Hindricks had rated her mount beautifully and Just About Ready remained the dominant force in the straight.

Playful Paris kept fighting, but she could not bridge the gap. Liesele flattered for three-quarters of the length of the straight before fading out of contention over the final 100m. So it was left to Mazumah, who was fourth on cornering, to race down the centre of the track to try and threaten Just About Ready authority, but she too fell short of the mark and had to settle for second place.

Just About Ready’s breakthrough win arrived in his fourth career start.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Col Williamson: “Good little horse, Mrs Huddy bought him at the Magic Millions sales. This little horse is a good horse and that little girl (apprentice jockey Renee Hinricks) ... it’ll boost her along nicely. That’s her first ride in town ... her first ride in town ever. She only got her licence last week.

“She’s ridden heaps of winners in the bush and that. She’s a good kid. She works hard and she deserves anything she gets. She’s been with me all the time. She’s only got nine months left to go (of her apprenticeship).

“She broke her leg bad. She was with her dad in Mount Isa and smashed her leg terribly badly. She’s lucky to be even riding, it’s a good story. She broke her leg real bad. Then she’s back and she’s been breaking in and riding for me."

Jockey Renee Hinricks: “Yeah, Col (Williamson) told me just to get him out pretty well and get him up there, because he’s got no weight on his back. The winner of the previous race was right up there.

“So I got him out and he got going really well. I got outside the second horse and I wanted to sit with him but my fella just wanted to keep cruising a little bit, so I thought, I’ve got no weight on his back so I’ll let him roll a bit.

“Then, coming around towards the straight I just let him roll a little further forward so that it gave them a bit more to catch. As we straightened up I just gave him his head until we got to the 200 where I really started to ride him out.

“I could hear the horses behind me, but I knew they weren’t too close. I thought we would probably get there and we did. He worked pretty well on the wet before and obviously he raced pretty well on it too.

“I’ve been riding just on three years. Yeah I did break my leg when I was in Mount Isa. A horse bolted to the outside fence with me and he kept going straight instead of turning when it turned and he stopped just before he hit the fence and I did instead. It was my right leg. I broke it pretty badly. I had to get a pin in it ... down through the centre.

“I’ve ridden forty-five winners now ... one metropolitan winner ... this one. I’ve only just got my license to ride in town. I was excited coming here today because we knew that horse would go pretty well. He handles the wet at home and we thought he’d go pretty well, and he did. It feels excellent, look forward to coming back. I’ve just got to keep it up now.

“My dad used to be a trainer at Mount Isa so, yeah, I’ve got a background in racing. He was a hobby trainer up there. I broke my leg when I was with my dad and I’ve been riding three years for Col (Williamson)."

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Just About Ready): 10.00 in to 7.00.
Favourite (Liesele): 2.20 out to 2.50 in to 2.35. Finished fifth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Lady Innocent (L. Cheshire), Another Titan (C. Munce) and Cocktail Rose (M. Radecker) were all slow to begin.

When the pace steadied after passing the 800m Liesele (D. Brown) had to be steadied to avoid the heels of Playful Paris (P. Hammersley). Another Titan, which was following, also had to be steadied off the heels of Liesele as a consequence. Stephen Got Even (B. Stewart) raced wide throughout.

When questioned regarding the performance of Liesele, rider D. Browne explained that after being marginally slow to begin, he rode the filly aggressively to take up a forward position. Following this, Liesele over-raced for some distance.

He added that Liesele travelled well until straightening, however failed to finish the race off as expected and in his view the early effort to take up a position may have been the main contributing factor to the horse's performance.