EF FEB 27 - JUST A PICCOLO HITS THE RIGHT NOTE

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Eagle Farm, February 27, 2010.
Track - Dead 4. Rail - out 3m.
QTIS 3yo Handicap - 1500m. Time: 1-30.70. (Carrying 54.5kg)
1 Just A Piccolo; 2 Freton; 3 Dusty's Felt.

Just A Piccolo’s win at Eagle Farm on Saturday was a hard-earned victory for both the horse and trainer.

On the track the gelding had to show some resilience to overcome his opposition in a pressure-cooker finish. Off the track, in-between runs, trainer Eric Hayes had to show considerable patience in trying to sort out Just A Piccolo’s roguish behaviour.

On Saturday that patience pay off and Just A Piccolo’s aggressive attitude was channelled into a more positive direction when Just A Piccolo showed his true colours to carve out victory by a head over Freton in a battling finish.

Just A Piccolo was slow into stride and jockey Joe Bowditch let him find his feet in the early part where he raced in second last place, some seven to eight lengths off the leader Good Emperor.

Having allowed his mount to relax early, Bowditch asked Just A Piccolo to improve his position in the sweep to the turn and he did so quickly, saving ground along the inside, to be less than four lengths off the lead in a compact field on straightening.

The fact that the bulk of the field was keeping each other in such close company looked to be Just A Piccolo’s biggest obstacle early in the straight. The gelding was clearly full of running, but Bowditch’s search to find enough galloping room for Just A Piccolo to be able to stretch out and hit the line well was fraught with risk.

Bowditch angled Just A Piccolo marginally towards the inside, for only a stride, and just as quickly pulled him out again as he thought better of that option. That change of direction followed by a further shift out cost Just A Piccolo as much as a length, but with 180m left to run he was given his chance to show his worth as daylight appeared in front of him giving him an uninterrupted run to the line.

Just A Piccolo launched himself after the three runners who were disputing the lead at that time. Lochiel, Dusty Felt and Freton had forged to the front inside the final 200m. Freton was the widest of those runners and he gradually edged ahead of Dusty’s Felt and Lochiel.

Freton’s jockey Damian Browne would have been forgiven for thinking he had his race won once he had headed his two rivals close up along his inside. He couldn’t see Just A Piccolo making his run closer to the fence.

The gold colours of Just A Piccolo flashed up late ... Browne tried to rally Freton, but Just A Piccolo’s challenge had been so perfectly time in the end that he was in front and had crossed the line before anyone else had time to respond to the threat he posed.

Not that it would have made any difference. Just A Piccolo was intent on winning this one and Hayes will tell you he is a stubborn horse once he has set his mind on something.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Eric Hayes: “That was overdue, let me tell you.

“He is a mongrel of a horse. You see what he does every start. Look, I’ve been doing this for fifty years and everybody says, why don’t you straighten him out at the start. It’s not that easy. If I could I would, but you have got to keep plugging away.

“You hit him at the start and he will buck like hell and throw them every-time out of the barriers. He is a good buck-jumper this horse. Take the blinkers off him and no-one will ride him. He bucks like hell. Blinkers on and he is foolproof. You just have to go with the horse.

“It is very frustrating to train a horse like this, but you have to go with the horse and today he has put it all together.

“You go back to his last couple of runs and look at the last sectionals, and he’s run the fastest time every day.

“Yeah, I’ve tried a few things since his last run. I just eased off his gallops a little bit and kept him a little bit fresh and it seemed to work with him, so we’ll continued in that vein.”

Jockey Joe Bowditch: “He probably wasn’t as bad today (at the start) as he was the other day. He was still a little bit slow, but he got a nice run.

“All credit to Eric (Hayes). He’s just done a fantastic job. After riding the horse the other day and riding the same horse today, he just didn’t feel like the same horse. He has improved him out of sight.

“He sort of had a similar run the other day, but he didn’t hit the line quite as strong. Eric said he changed a few things around with him during the week. I said to him when I came back, I said, I don’t know what you’ve done, but it has worked. He’s just done a terrific job and just turned the horse right around.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Just A Piccolo): 10.00 in to 7.50 out to 8.00.
Favourite (Craiglea Blondie): 6.00 out to 7.00 in to 3.40. Finished ninth.
Dramatic price change of the favourite was due to the scratching of the well-fancied Sharardashing twenty minutes prior to the running of the race.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Shamardashing was a late scratching at 2.47 p.m. by order of the stewards acting on veterinary advice that the horse had sustained a laceration to its offside hind leg.

Maroon Bells (J. Holder) and Just A Piccolo (J. Bowditch) were slow to begin. Near the 1200m Klubbing (B. Stewart), which had commenced to race ungenerously, was tightened for room by Roadworthy (N. Evans), which shifted in and away from Lochiel (J. Wood).

Near the 900m Dusty's Felt (C. Reith) improved up on to the heels of Lochiel and shifted out taking Roadworthy wider on the track.

Leaving the 800m Klubbing, which had continued to over-race, improved up on to and clipped the heels of Dusty's Felt and blundered, breaking down in the near foreleg. When Klubbing lost ground, Sheldon (B. Pengelly) had to be checked and Glorietta (J. Byrne) was taken wider on the track. Maroon Bells had to be severely checked and alter course, losing considerable ground, to avoid Klubbing. The veterinary surgeon reported that Klubbing had fractured its near fore fetlock. Due to the extent of the injuries, Klubbing was euthanised on humane grounds.

Upon entering the home straight, Glorietta had to be steadied when disappointed for a run between Roadworthy and Freton (D. Browne) when that horse held its racing line.

Shortly after straightening, Roadworthy (N. Evans) commenced to hang in resulting in N. Evans being unable to fully test the horse at any stage in the home straight.

Sonic Hill (R. Thompson) was held up on the heels of the tiring Craiglea Blondie (M. Speers) and unable to secure clear running over the final 200m.

Near the finishing line Lochiel was placed in restricted room between Dusty's Felt and Just A Piccolo which shifted out.

Hayes