RHILL FEB 27 - MONTON UPSTAGES RIVALS TO WIN HOBARTVILLE STAKES.

By Scott Gooley | Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Rosehill, February 27, 2010.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 6m.
Hobartville Stakes (3yo - Set Weights) - 1400m.
Time - 1-22:94. (Carrying 56.5kg).
1 Monton; 2 Shoot Out; 3 Captain Sonador.

The three year old gelding Monton upstaged his more fancied rivals to secure the Group Two Schweppes Hobartville Stakes at Rosehill (1400m) on Saturday.

The son of Catbird, who is trained by Rosehill conditioner Tim Martin, was lining up for only his seventh start and was facing his toughest test to date.

Ridden by Jay Ford and jumping from the inside gate, Monton ($31) left the gates well and after the field had ran two hundred metres the gelding found himself in the ideal spot, fourth on the fence and three lengths off the lead.

As the field ran into the home turn Monton, with race favourite Manhattan Rain ($2.70) on his immediate outside, was right behind the leading pair of More Than Great ($7) and Gathering ($101).

Upon straightening, Manhattan Rain peeled off the leaders back and began to make his run three wide. Ford aboard Monton was still behind the leaders and waiting for the opportunity for a run to appear.

That opportunity came at the 300m when Gathering started to feel the pinch and Monton drove through and began to stake his claim.

Inside the final 200m, Monton and Manhattan Rain ran to the front and, despite the large difference in their starting prices, it was Monton who finished off the better, kicking well clear in the final 100m to record an impressive one and half length win.

The Queensland visitors Shoot Out ($6) and Captain Sonador ($41) both ran home well to finish second and third respectively.

Monton will now be readied for a tilt at the Randwick Guineas, where he is again likely to clash with Shoot Out.

Manhattan Rain, who had every possible chance, disappointed in the final stages of the race and finished fifth. The colt has subsequently been retired to stud at short notice.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Tim Martin: “Very impressive there ... lovely run. He got all the breaks which was great.

“We had him in last week and he got colic on the Thursday. We had to treat him and so he couldn’t run. I’m glad he got colic now.

“He is very versatile. He can race on all surfaces (Monton won on heavy going in his previous start). He can race back. He can race forward. The fence looked very hot today, so the number one barrier was a huge advantage.

Jockey Jay Ford: “Barriers win races and the way the track is playing, it pays dividends to be up on the speed.

“The first three furlongs were quite genuine. They did steady up in the middle stages but like I said, from the good alley I was able to cruise in behind them and produced him at the right time.”

“When he got himself through the gap, he really accelerated.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
At the request of trainer Mr G Portelli, Delago Bolt was examined by the Club's Veterinary Officer and passed fit to start.

In the barriers Manhattan Rain got its near-hind leg up between the barriers. Manhattan Rain was examined by the Club's Veterinary Officer and passed fit to start.

When questioned regarding the performance of Manhattan Rain, both trainer Mrs G Waterhouse and rider B Shinn indicated, in their opinion, Manhattan Rain is looking for extra ground.

When questioned regarding the performance of More Than Great, G Schofield stated that he pressed forward and crossed to lead when trapped wide, however, his intention, racing with blinkers on today, had been to race just off the pace.

He added that nevertheless More Than Great was disappointing. A post race veterinary examination of More Than Great revealed the colt to have a superficial abrasion to the near-hock.

Trainer Mr D Payne undertook to report if there was anything amiss with More Than Great subsequent to the race and indicated that, in his opinion, far too much use had been made of the colt in the early stages.

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