DOOM MAR 13 - IN A BIND SHOWS HIS METTLE

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Doomben, March 13, 2010.
Track - Dead 5. Rail - True.
Class 6 Handicap - 1350m. Time: 1-21.27. (Carrying 53.5kg).
1 In A Bind; 2 Jasminka; 3 Uncle Jan.

Trainer Laurie Richardson was not at Doomben on Saturday when In A Bind kept his perfect record for this preparation intact by landing his third successive win. Ricahardson went to Dalby instead where he won the Stayers Cup (Class 3) with Blistering Miss (an 8.00 chance ridden by Sheree Drake).

But Richardson did give the four-year-old his stamp of approval after the gelding had shown that desirable blend of ability and character to score by a neck in a driving finish.

In A Bind jumped well and jockey Jason Taylor settled his mount in second spot early. In A Bind went back to third approaching the first turn and, after having to ease off heels, the gelding was shuffled back to fifth in the sweep to the home bend. That became sixth place when the favourite Age Of Heroes, who was held wide, made a bold forward move around the field approaching the turn.

As Age Of Heroes hit the front on straightening, In A Bind was caught in traffic some three lengths behind the main fancy, who now stretched out with meaning in an early attempt to wrest the race away from his opposition.

By the 200m mark In A Bind was out in clear running and starting to wind up, but Age Of Heroes had skipped clear and was four lengths in front of the Richardson trained runner.

Now it was In A Bind’s turn to accelerate.

Age Of Heroes was still fighting on, but he was starting to field the pinch after his effort early in the straight and, with In A Bind showing a race-winning turn of foot, the complexion of the race changed dramatically over the final 150m.

So much so that, over the concluding stages, the question was not so much whether In A Bind would reel in Age Of Heroes, but rather it was would In A Bind be able to hold out the fast finishing duo of Jasminka and Uncle Jan, who were closing strongly from behind.

In the end In A Bind did all that was required of him to claim a hard-earned victory.

Jasminka, who was held up in the straight between the 300m and 150m mark, caught the eye in second place as did Uncle Jan, who stormed down the outside of the track after turning for home in last place. In the final wash-up Age Of Heroes had to settle for fourth place.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Laurie Richardson: “The horse just keeps improving. It was a pressurised finish so he had to put it in at the end. The good thing about it was the last sectional was very good. I think it was 35-something ... 35.5 something like that. So he’s probably run home in 35 on a slow track.

“When he came back this prep ... we’d had him gelded and we knew he was a different horse. He has still got a bit of an attitude problem, but he’ll improve.”

Jockey Jason Taylor: “The last preparation the horse seemed a bit immature and a little bit dour.

“This time the horse is actually showing a good turn of foot. He probably caught be a bit unaware first-up. He probably could have won first-up, but he caught me unawares because I thought he was a bit dour like he used to be, so he hit the front a bit early at Coloundra.

“We rated him straight after that and worked him out and the horse has been flying ever since. The connections and Laurie (Richardson) have been very level-headed with the horse. They’ve been keeping the horse to its classes in the early stages and allowing it to take the slow steps up. Today just proved he is a nice horse.

“I was always going to be in a forward position. I was looking for a bit of cover and when the leader came across and didn’t go to the rails and steadied it up right on my lap, I was a little bit concerned because my horse started pulling a touch. But after two strides he came back underneath me.

“Then I saw the favourite swoop around. I thought, well we’ve had a soft run. We can let down too. We just have to wait for the split ... and the split came. I thought we’d just do what we could do and not worry about anyone else and, yeah, the horse performed really well.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (In A Bind): 6.00 out to 7.00 in to 6.00.
Favourite (Age Of Heroes): 3.00 out to 3.40. Finished fourth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Use To Be A Dancer (J. Byrne) jumped away awkwardly. Jasminka (L. Cassidy) jumped out at the start and made contact with Pit Lane (J. Wood).

Near the 800m Semi Wells (O. Turpin) had to be momentarily steadied from the heels of Turn And Burn (A. Erhart), which was taken in by Pit Lane.

Age Of Heroes (S. Scriven) was caught four wide on the first turn and was obliged to race four wide for the majority of the event.

Turn And Burn over-raced in the middle stages and was obliged to shift three wide off the heels of In A Bind (J. Taylor) leaving the 800m.

Jasminka was held up until a point near the 200m, at which stage it was able to secure running between Pit Lane and Turn And Burn, and when taking the run made contact with the hind quarters of Pit Lane.

Black Morgan (D. Browne) and More On The Toe (J. Holder) were held up rounding the home turn and in the early stages of the straight.

J. Byrne reported that Use To Be A Dancer over-raced in the middle stages and added that in the early stages of the straight he was held up on the back of Black Morgan.

J. Byrne further added that when he attempted to move Use To Be A Dancer off the back of Black Morgan wider on the track to secure clear running, Use To Be A Dancer had a tendency to lay in and as a result lost momentum and felt in the circumstances had the horse's momentum not been compromised, it would have finished considerably closer.

Sirena Ligera (M. Speers) lost its near-hind plate in running.

Taylor