RHILL APR 03 - THE SLIPPER FITS CRYSTAL LILY

By Graham Potter | Sunday, April 4, 2010

Rosehill, April 3, 2010.
Track - Slow. Rail - out 5m.
AAMI Golden Slipper (Group 1 - Set Weights) - 1200m.
Time: 1-10.78. (Carrying 54.5kg).
1 Crystal Lily; 2 Decision Time; 3 More Strawberries.

Paying a late entry fee of $150000 ... flying a jockey in from Hong Kong to take the ride ... these were just two pieces of a puzzle that helped make the Golden Slipper a perfect $2 million fit for Crystal Lily.

The Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zara trained filly added the $2 million first prize to the $260000 she had secured in her six previous starts. The late entry fee of $150000 thus equated into a gamble at odds $13.33 while Crystal Lily’s winning time of 1-10.78 meant she earned $28256 for every second she was in action. Not bad for an afternoon’s work!

But, of course, a successful afternoon is seldom a stand-alone success. While the final draft can only be crafted on the day itself, wins of this magnitude have a foundation in months of hard work from a team dedicated to their task. Jockeys often talk about having a horse that makes it worthwhile getting out of bed for in the mornings. A Golden Slipper win means you want the job for the next twenty years. You don’t fluke one of these. You earn it.

And boy, did Crystal Lily earn it!

The connections of Solar Charged have every reason to dispute that point because of the way Crystal Lily laid down the challenge to the early leader with 200m left to run, but the bottom line is the best horse on the day won the race and she did so in convincing fashion, even if the concluding stages were tinged with a touch of controversy.

Crystal Lily’s waywardness would have consequences for her rider (Prebble was suspended and fined for careless riding), but it would not change the result.

Solar Charged jumped best of all from a wide draw and Hugh Bowman used the filly’s early speed to assume the lead ahead of Chance Bye who likewise pushed forward to settle in second spot early. Crystal Lily, who jumped from pole position, initially held down fourth spot but, when her inside path was threatened by the movement of Georgette Silk to her outside, Brett Prebble had little hesitation in chasing Crystal Lily up into third place.

The leading trio went to the turn with Solar Charged a length in front of Chance Bye with Crystal Lily, who was pulling hard, a further length back, perfectly poised to strike.

As the leaders tracked across to the middle of the track on straightening, Prebble slipped Crystal Lily up along their inside while Decision Time, who had raced in sixth spot saving ground in the sweep to the turn, cut the corner to move into serious contention.

It was now crunch time and by the 200m Crystal Lily had moved up right alongside Solar Charged in what looked like developing into a two horse battle. Decision Time was still running a big race down the inside, but Chance Bye was now under pressure. The fairytale result flickered again briefly as Kathy O’Hara tried to rally the underdog, but then it faded away as Chance Bye cried enough.

Real drama unfolded between the 200m and 100m marks as Crystal Lily began to run off a straight course. Racing tight with Solar Charged, Crystal Lily’s movement clearly intimidated Solar Charged who gave ground when forced out wider on the track.

Crystal Lily’s waywardness became even more pronounced with 130m left to run. It was here that Crystal Lily almost crossed Solar Charged. Crystal Lily, who had edged ahead by three-quarters of a length at that time, leaned towards Solar Charged who reacted by moving away. Prebble tried to straighten Crystal Lily. Solar Charged rebounded back onto a straight line, bringing her right onto the heels of Crystal Lily and that was when disaster was only averted by the narrowest of margins.

Watch the reply just inside the 100m mark. See the stumble as Solar Charged snakes sideways to avoid Crystal Lily. How she didn’t clip heels is anyone’s guess. What the outcome would have been if she had doesn’t bear thinking about.

That was Solar Charged’s race. Solar Charged eventually finished sixth, beaten by 2.50 lengths.

After that close encounter Crystal Lily kept hanging out badly, her exaggerated outward movement taking her a long way off course and right away from the other runners over the concluding stages. In spite of losing more ground to Decision Time over the last 50m, Crystal Lily still had plenty of momentum on her side and she reached the line with a half length to spare over her gallant rival as she finished all alone right on the outside of the track.

More Strawberries finished third. The filly was taken back from her wide draw and she crossed to take up a position near the inside, towards the rear of the field, in the early part. She held her inside line to be the runner closest to the inside rail with plenty of galloping room in the straight and she responded well to the urgings of Damien Oliver to make good progress in the run home.

Hinchinbrook, who threatened halfway up the straight but failed to find anything extra late in the running, finished in a creditable fourth placing.

The favourite Military Rose did not have a comfortable passage and she was never a serious factor in the contest.

*If you want any further evidence of just how lucrative the $2 million first prize of the richest race for two-year-olds in the world is then consider this: Earlier on Slipper day, the star mare Typhoon Tracy won the Queen Of The Turf Stakes. It was the four-year-old’s tenth win from thirteen starts and her latest success was her fourth successive Group 1 victory. That result took the stake earnings of Typhoon Tracy to $1,990,200, an amount which still comes up short of the first prize of the Slipper.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Co-trainer Mathew Ellerton: “It’s just unbelievable. I can’t believe how erratic she was. If she had gone straight I don’t know what she would have done.

“It’s extraordinary. I was sort of slashing my wrists earlier in the day with barrier one. She was a bit ordinary down the back ... which she never usually is. She normally goes to sleep. So ... it’s a big relief.

“The win means everything, you know ... the premier two-year-old race in Australia. To bring her up here (from Melbourne). To run her in the Sweet Embrace and to take that home. You know, she was tough enough to handle it. Extraordinary really. You can throw the kitchen sink at her and it doesn’t matter.

“I’ve probably never trained one like her. All she wants to do is race. She is one out of the box.

“I’m not certain what we’ll do now. The Sires is coming up. She is booked to go home tomorrow ... to the paddock.”

Jockey Brett Prebble: “It’s a very special day. She is a super filly. You see what she has done today and I never let her go.

“I was just trying to keep her straight. That was very difficult. She is going to appreciate going the Melbourne way. She is just too new really for up here.

“She got to the front sooner than I wished to, but ahh ... she is a grand filly.”

David Moody (spokesman for the owners): “It wasn’t so much of a big punt with her (referring to the $150000 late entry fee). She’s got that dynamic X-factor, explosive quality about her. That’s why we went that way with her.

“She’s out of Crystal Snip. She is one of her later foals actually. Crystal Snip is one of those mares who have come good later in life. I think she (Crystal Lily) is about foal number nine. That sort of destroys the theory about older mares not throwing good horses.”

*Crystal Snip is currently in foal to Stratum. Stratum, the sire of Crystal Lily, also won the Golden Slipper.

*Amaethon (Al Maher-Crystal Snip), a half-brother to Crystal Lily, won the second race at Caulfield on Slipper day. Amaethon is also trained by the Ellerton / Zahra training partnership.

PRICES:
Crystal Lily (6.00); Decision Time (26.00); More Strawberries (12.00).
The favourite Military Rose (3.50) finished eleventh.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Obsequious shifted in at the start, taking Elimbari in onto Carved In Stone. Lohan jumped away awkwardly and made contact with the hindquarter of Military Rose. Decision Time was slow to begin.

Hinchinbrook, which was over-racing, shifted out when being restrained off the heels of Brightexpectations near the 1000m and, as a result, took Beneteau out across the heels of Military Rose.

K O'Hara, rider of Chance Bye, was reprimanded for permitting her mount to shift out at the 900m,
briefly crowding Georgette Silk, which was inclined to over-race at that point of the event.

H Bowman, rider of Solar Charged had his whip knocked from his grasp near the 300m when struck with the whip of B Prebble, rider of Crystal Lily.

Passing the 200m Military Rose, which had a tendency to lay in, had to be steadied off the heels of Obsequious (K McEvoy), which shifted out. K McEvoy was reprimanded and advised to exercise more care.

B Prebble, rider of the winner, Crystal Lily, was found guilty of a charge of careless riding in that, when his mount was inclined to shift its ground and hampered Solar Charged over the latter stages of the race near the 100m, he failed to make sufficient effort to prevent Crystal Lily from further shifting out across the running of Solar Charged, which resulted in that runner being severely checked and losing its rightful running.

B Prebble’s licence to ride in races was suspended for a period to commence on Thursday, 8 April 2010 and to expire on Sunday, 25 April 2010, on which day he may ride.

In assessing penalty, Stewards took into account B Prebble’s riding record, namely that this was the sixth suspension in the last 12 months and that the interference had occurred in a Group 1 event, however, Stewards also recognised in the penalty that Crystal Lily had significantl contributed to the incident by running out.

In addition, B Prebble was fined the sum of $5000. Trainer Mr M Ellerton will be interviewed relative to the racing manners of Crystal Lily, which continued to run out badly right to the finish line.

When questioned, N Rawiller, rider of Brightexpectations, stated that when he did not persevere in holding Georgette Silk out, he raced a little further back than intended. He stated that Brightexpectations did not respond to his riding over the latter stages of the event.

A post race veterinary examination of Brightexpectations did not reveal any abnormalities.

A post race veterinary examination of Solar Charged did not reveal any abnormalities.

When questioned, S Katsidis, rider of Military Rose, stated that his mount never travelled strongly today, did not handle the track and was inclined to lose its footing when he asked it to accelerate near the 350m.

A post race veterinary examination of Military Rose revealed the filly to have been galloped on
to the off-hind fetlock.

A post race veterinary examination of Chance Bye revealed the filly to have aggravated an old wound to the off-hind coronet.

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