COURT RULER TOUGHS IT OUT IN QUEENSLAND DERBY

By Graham Potter | Monday, June 8, 2009

BMW Queensland Derby Plate (Group 1) - 2400m.
Time: 2-34.42.
Track - Heavy 8: Rail - Out 4m.
1 Court Ruler; 2 Shocking; 3 Larry's Never Late

The 2400m on heavy going was always going to be a tough trip for the three-year-olds. The combative nature of the race (see the Stewards Report Extract) made the contest even more demanding. It was no place for the weak or the faint-hearted and to get the result meant the winner had to show not only genuine staying ability, but also great fighting character to prevail in testing circumstances.

Court Ruler was that horse.

This was the third win in fourteen starts for the John Wheeler trained gelding. Larry Cassidy did the honours in the saddle. The rider had to work hard to urge Court Ruler on to a tough win. Cassidy was charged with careless riding after the Derby. He pleaded ‘Not Guilty’, defended himself vigorously ... and he won that battle as well, being cleared of the charge.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer John Wheeler: “Yeah, I thought he could win it. That’s the thing, he pleased me all the way through. I had two lead up runs heading into the Derby and I thought he was pretty plum. Yeah, I was pretty confident. He worked in-between races at Doomben on Wednesday and he worked super ... and I was really pretty happy from there on

“He’s is right up there with the staying horses, you know, he’s certainly not the top one but he ran fourth in the Derby at home (in New Zealand). He’s a pretty good horse, he’s just been a little bit slow at maturing, you know. I’ve got another couple of horses at home. I don’t need too many. I’ve got to saddle up three in the next race. That’s bad enough ... but it’s always good to win a big Derby.

“I can’t tell you the last time I trained a Group 1 winner to be honest. It’s a good while. It might be five or six years or something like that. I can’t even think what the last one would have been. Yeah, I probably won’t worry too much about spring, I’ll probably look at autumn next year, come back here maybe. It’s a hard call after this to take them home and then fly them back over for Melbourne. I tried it with Rough Habit and failed. It’s the only time he ever failed. It’s just too hard if don’t give them a decent enough break.”

Jockey Larry Cassidy: “He is a real stayer, you know. After his last run I said to John (Wheeler), this horse will be winning the Derby. Put the blinkers on him to help him travel a bit. I had to fight hard to keep the ride and it was certainly well worth it. The distance was no problem ... probably not totally happy in that going, but he is tough and he can stay. At one stage I thought I was going to battle away and run third, but he just outstayed them.

“My intentions were to be fifth, sixth or seventh, but they went so fast early down the straight I got shuffled back and I struggled to keep up early on. The main thing was that after we hit the winning post (for the first time) there was a big scuffle and after that I just wanted to get him relaxed and his breathing pattern in tune, so that he wasn’t sort of charging. Obviously they backed off a couple of slots, but it was a good genuine speed really.

“We we got to about the 1000m ... I was sort of looking to leave my options open whether I go out or in. The main thing was to stay out of trouble. As it was, Hugh Bowman on the grey horse (Mateo) scooted on the inside, so I just tacked on to him and got the best run ever. Hugh pretty much made the run for me. I was able to get to the outside coming to the turn. When the second horse come to me I thought I was going to battle away and run third. He just outstayed them. Too tough ... too well trained!

“He is not an easy horse to ride. He is a dopey bugger. Like the other day in the Rough Habit (in which Court Ruler finished fifth) I got into a good spot and then I spent the next 250m getting shuffled back, through no fault of mine ... the horse, he just won’t go. Today with the blinkers on I thought he would jump and put himself there, but they went so fast so the same happened again. But, thankfully, it worked out in the end.

“You know, I made a permanent move to Queensland about six months ago. Things have been great. To win one of the major races over the Carnival ... it has just put the icing on the cake. You know, Brisbane’s home now and I’m proud to be a Queenslander. The Kiwi who once lived in New South Wales is now a Queenslander!

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Court Ruler): 9.00 out to 10.00 in to 9.00.
Favourite (Shocking): 5.00 out to 5.50 in to 4.80.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
B. Stewart, the rider of Za Magic, was found guilty of a charge of careless riding, the careless riding being that passing the winning post on the first occasion he permitted his mount to shift in when insufficiently clear of Awesome Planet, resulting in that horse being taken in on to Old Jock which in turn was taken in on to Bid Spotter, which in turn was taken in on to The Grogoch. This resulted in severe crowding to those runners, and further resulted in Markus Maximus, which was racing back and to the inside of The Grogoch, losing its position. B. Stewart's licence to ride in races was suspended for a period of 9 meetings, with the term of suspension to commence at midnight on Thursday, 11 June, and expire at midnight on Wednesday, 24 June 2009.

L. Cassidy, the rider of Court Ruler, was charged with careless riding, the careless riding being that passing the winning post on the first occasion he permitted his mount to shift in when insufficiently clear of Seesawing, resulting in Seesawing being taken in across the heels of Markus Maximus, and being checked and losing its position. L. Cassidy pleaded not guilty to the charge levelled against him and submitted strong evidence to support his plea. After considering all the circumstances and the submissions L. Cassidy had made, the stewards could not be comfortably satisfied in finding him guilty and accordingly a not guilty finding was made. However, L. Cassidy was told that he must refrain from endeavouring to dictate the line of other runners at all times.

After the 800m significant crowding occurred. The worst sufferer was Bid Spotter, which almost fell. It was established that at about this time Old Jock was giving ground quickly. As a consequence of this, Markus Maximus had to be checked severely and shifted out to avoid its heels. This resulted in Nothin’ Leica Cat being shifted abruptly on to Bid Spotter which struck the heels of Resume which shifted in slightly. Consequently, Bid Spotter almost fell. The inconvenience to Markus Maximus was influenced by The Grogoch, which shifted away slightly from Old Jock as it was giving ground. The crowding was of some significance and the interference to Bid Spotter was severe, but the stewards were not in a position to attribute the interference caused to any rider or riders and accordingly took no direct action. It was though the main factor was the tiring Old Jock. When Bid Spotter nearly fell after the 800m, it shifted out abruptly and bumped the hind quarters of Shocking.

Near the 500m Berlioz had to be steadied to avoid the heels of Zupacool. Near the 450m Awesome Planet had to be steadied when tightened for room between Seesawing and Court Ruler, which shifted out to improve its position. Near the 200m Za Magic had to be steadied to avoid the heels of Seesawing which shifted out and away from the tiring Rockdale.

G. Rogerson, trainer of Awesome Planet, advised stewards that in his opinion the filly did not back up well today and consequently her run was disappointing. A post-race veterinary examination of Awesome Planet failed to reveal any abnormalities.

After the race a number of runners were examined by the veterinary surgeon. He said he was unable to find any abnormalities with Bid Spotter. He also examined Old Jock and could find nothing unusual. Resume was examined after the race. The veterinary surgeon said the horse had been galloped on on its off-hind leg and after the race was in his opinion in an abnormally distressed condition.

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