EF MAY 01 - HEINRICH AND KATSIDIS STRIKE AGAIN

By By Graham Potter and Matthew Grimson | Monday, May 3, 2010

Eagle Farm, May 1, 2010.
Victory Stakes, Group 2 - 1200m. Time: 1-09.64. (Carrying 58.5kg).
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 8m.
1 Ghetto Blaster; 2 The Jackal; 3 Albert The Fat.

They are a formidable combination at the top of their game. Trainer Gillian Heinrich carefully prepares her runners and produces them in fighting trim and jockey Stathi Katsidis guides their fortunes once the action gets underway.

The duo combined on two occasions at Eagle Farm on Saturday and came away with two big winners, Steel Dragon (in the lucrative QTIS 600 event for two-year-olds) and Ghetto Blaster (in the Group 2, WFA, Victory Stakes).

Ghetto Blaster was resuming after a four month layoff. His previous strong first-up record coupled with the inherent strength of his form-line was enough to see the six-year-old installed as favourite for the first Group race of the 2010 Queensland Racing Winter Carnival.

Ghetto Blaster’s stable companion Tour Guide speared to the head of affairs early to lead from Poor Judge and Cardinal Virtue. The Jackal, who was pulling hard and racing wide was just in behind the speed while Katsidis was content to allow Ghetto Blaster to bowl along in the second half of the field in seventh spot some six lengths off the leader.

The field became very compact approaching the turn to the degree that, on straightening, four runners, lined across the track, were up disputing the lead. Those runners were Poor Judge (on the rail), Tour Guide (one out), Cardinal Virtue and The Jackal, but that formation quickly broke up as Tour Guide and Cardinal Virtue cried enough early in the straight. Poor Judge fought on but then he too weakened. That left The Jackal momentarily in charge of proceedings as the good-looking chestnut led the chase coming through the 200m mark.

But The Jackal’s authority was about to be challenged by Ghetto Blaster. The Jackal had, in fact, been placed firmly in Ghetto Blasters sights since the approach to the turn. When the field closed up on the leader, Ghetto Blaster tracked up right behind The Jackal and, as anticipated, The Jackal carried him into the race at exactly the right time.

Now all Katsidis had to do was pull the trigger. When he did, Ghetto Blaster eased out from behind The Jackal and systematically wore down his rival in a finely measured finish to win by a convincing 1.25 length margin.

The Jackal took credit in defeat after having a luckless run out wide early. He finished second ahead of Albert The Fat who also made a solid return, running on well enough from second last on the bend to claim third placing.

Ghetto Blaster now has a fifty percent strike rate, having won ten of is twenty starts. This latest win took his earnings past the $500000 mark.

WINNER FEEDBACK
Gillian Heinrich: “I have been really happy with him this prep. I thought this might be his best prep actually.

“Can’t do more than win first up. He’s done a great job and I am looking forward to the Stradbroke.

“Stathi (Katsidis) had him in a perfect position and I thought he only has to let him out today and he will just be winning. It’s fantastic. I’m really, really happy with him.

“He is in the BTC Cup and there is another race in-between (the Doomben 10000), then we will go to the Stradbroke. Hopefully that’s how things match up. Stathi and I have always had a lot of luck together and it’s come through again today.

“We bred Ghetto Blaster and we have had him his whole career and he has been just a fantastic horse to us. He will definitely improve, as you would have seen today in the yard he was probably a little bit burly. He will tidy a lot with this run and I do think this will be the horse’s best prep. Yeah, we’ll go to the BTC Cup now, the Doomben 10,000 and hopefully the Stradbroke.

“He had problems. He had a ligament behind his knee that always played up when he was a youngster. It was nothing major, but it was just an immaturity thing. So we had to keep giving him runs and then put him out ... give him a couple of runs and put him out ... otherwise we would have busted him. Now we are reaping the reward, I think.”

Jockey Stathi Katsidis: “I was very worried about the gate (seven out of ten). I had a good look through the race and I said to Gillian (Heinrich), where do you want to be and she said, look, he really only gets back. I just thought with the speed in the race that if a few of them didn’t decide to go forward, I’d be back in a slower run 1200m race, but it all worked out okay. Luck played its part there.

“Being first up you always sort of worry especially in such a good race. Once I got out at about the 500 and rolled forward and got onto The Jackal’s back at probably at about the 400 and then I popped off his back at the 300, in my mind I thought I might have even popped off his back a bit early. Once I got out my horse still let down and got past him (The Jackal) but, you know, he just showed the signs of having his first up run today.

“Absolutely, he will take improvement out of that today. It is a Group 2. The horse deserves to win this Group Two race today and so does Gillian.

“Look, there is a little bit of improvement in him and I am just very lucky the way things panned out for me in the ride. Once I was able to slide away early the horse did the rest.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Ghetto Blaster): 3.80 out to 4.00 in to 3.80.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Express Air (J. Holder) and Blazing Hearts (S. Scriven) missed the start.

Leaving the 1100m Ghetto Blaster (S. Katsidis) had to be steadied to avoid the heels of The Jackal (L. Cassidy), which shifted in when not fully clear. L. Cassidy was advised of his requirement to ensure he provides sufficient room when crossing.

Approaching the 600m Ghetto Blaster shifted in and made contact with Blazing Hearts, resulting in that horse becoming unbalanced. At the same stage, Chinchilla Rose (B. El-Issa) shifted in of its own accord and made contact with the running rail.

The Jackal raced three wide throughout.

Tour Guide (B. Stewart) laid out rounding the home turn.

C. Munce, the rider of Poor Judge, reported in his opinion the performance of Poor Judge was not completely dissatisfying. He indicated to stewards that it may be beneficial to drop the horse back in class and ride it a little quieter than he had today. Trainer N. Hilton advised that Poor Judge in his opinion may not have handled the step up in class to weight for age and he would monitor the horse in the days subsequent to the event and give consideration as to whether to proceed with the horse's current preparation.

L. Cassidy reported that The Jackal was inclined to race keenly as it was having its first run back from a spell.

A post-race veterinary examination of Cardinal Virtue (G. Colless) failed to reveal any abnormalities.

Express Air was examined by the veterinary surgeon who reported the horse to be exhibiting bilateral soreness in front.