DOOM FEB 17 - HUCKLEBERRY DANE WINS AS HE LIKES

By Matthew Grimson and Graham Potter | Friday, February 19, 2010

Doomben, February 17, 2010.
Track - Slow 7. Rail - out 7.5m.
Maiden Plate (C&G - Set Weights) - 1200m. Time: 1-11.64.(Carrying 54kg).
1 Huckleberry Dane; 2 Lochiel; 3 Ponzi Scheme.

Huckleberry Dane has taken a while to get the monkey off his back, but he did so in no uncertain terms at Doomben on Wednesday where he landed his breakthrough win by a comprehensive 4.30 length margin. His first win came in his thirteenth career start which includes four second placed finishes.

This time the race was simply no contest. The gelding landed in the lead. Apprentice jockey Chris McIver waited for just a second to see if anybody else wanted to take up the running. When nobody took up his offer, McIver let Huckleberry Dane stride out naturally and he went forward to hold a narrow lead over Pseudo Echo who raced on his outside.

McIver was then allowed to dictate the pace to suit his mount and he got a soft lead to the turn. On straightening McIver gave Huckleberry Dane more rein. The put the balance of the field under immediate pressure and they did not respond well which allowed Huckleberry Dane to quickly extend his lead.

When McIver gave Huckleberry Dane a couple of backhanders with 250m left to run, the gelding changed gears to cement a result which was already going his way as the gap between winner and runner-up widened with each passing stride.

The quality of the field that Huckleberry Dane defeated is in question, but the bottom line is that elusive first win is now in the bank.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Liam Birchley: “Long overdue. He has run in some hard races so his record is probably not as good as it should be. He ran places in them. It probably hurt him a bit, but he was suited under the set weight conditions with the claim today.

“We were probably in trouble if he didn’t win, so hopefully it will give him a bit of confidence and might go on from here. He’s sort have been a bit stiff. He got galloped on in one part and another time he’d probably had enough.

“It just hasn’t fallen into place for him. He’s sort of gone a lot better than his record suggests. Hopefully, as I say, he’ll get a bit of confidence out of this with any sort of luck. It’s amazing what confidence can do for them.”

Chris McCiver: “Took him a while to break his maiden. It was a good race for him today, He had a lot of experience ... and he didn’t mind the soft going.

“We jumped out. Our plan was to be up there, but there was no speed in the race and he just jumped that good and I just let him roll to the front and we ran our own race then and stacked them up a little bit. He found a big boost of confidence at the top of the straight and he found a gear and kept going. It was good.

“I was on him last start. He ran good last start. It was a lot harder race. He is improving every start which is good.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Huckleberry Dane): 1.80 out to 2.00.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Lots Of Heart (S. Galloway) was hampered at the start when tightened for room between Nanjera (C. Munce), which shifted in, and Caitlin Smile (M. Speers), which shifted out. Lochiel (J. Byrne) shifted in at the start and made contact with Northerner (R. Wiggins).

Approaching the 800m Caitlin Smile, which was over-racing, had to be checked to avoid the heels of Nanjera, which shifted in slightly. Stewards were of the view that the racing manners of Caitlin Smile were a major contributor to this interference and therefore did not take any further action.

Upon straightening Lots Of Heart shifted out and inconvenienced Northerner. S. Galloway, the rider of Lots Of Heart, was advised to exercise greater care when shifting ground in the future.