EF MAY 01 - SANDERSON IS NOW A GROUP 3 WINNER

By Graham Potter and Matthew Grimson | Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Eagle Farm, May 1, 2010.
Gunsynd Classic (Group 3 - Set Weights) - 1600m. Time: 1-35.16. (Carrying 56kg).
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 8m.
1 Sanderson; 2 Listen Son; Brave The Way.

On August 8, 2009 Sanderson scored his first career victory in a three-year-old QTIS Handicap over 1500m. That was a particularly emotional day for trainer Kelly Doughty.

The HRO report of the race at the time stated, ‘Trainer Kelly Doughty was so overcome with emotion watching Sanderson score his first win in only his third start that she was unable to shout the horse home as per her usual spirited involvement when a horse of hers fights out the finish. The tear in her eye had plenty to do with the fact that the lightly raced Sanderson was repaying the work Doughty put into the horse in an effort to turn the three-year-old from a rogue into a gentleman.'

Doughty, speaking to HRO, explained the reason for her pleasure after that race. “We got the horse and he was just in very poor condition. Got him, put him straight out in the paddock for eight weeks ... brought him back. He was actually quite a mad horse when we got him back. The first day Gary (Doughty) got on him down the corridor he just took off at a hundred miles an hour up the road. It was quite scary.

“Anyway, we ended up sending him to a guy at Outback Australia who re-mouthed him and put some gear on him for ten days. You know Matt Spriggs, an apprentice I used to have, he works at Outback Australia. He and his friend took the horse. He needed those ten days to sort the horse out because he was absolutely mad. We got him back again and now he is now the most beautiful horse ... still a colt. We still had work to do with him when we got him back, but at least he didn’t want to take off into the fence anymore ... because he was dangerous. He was a very, very dangerous horse. He’s a lovely horse now."

Jockey Michael Cahill, who rode him on that occasion, also gave his view of the win at the time ... and he added a cautious prediction for the future. “Yeah, he was very unruly to start off with,” said Cahill. “I didn’t like the sound of him when Gary (Doughty) first asked me to ride. I rode him track-work before I rode him here the other day (in his previous start). They’ve done a good job with him. He is quite tractable now ... not one hundred percent, but he is on his way. He’s is only a young horse, but he is promising. He’ll run a mile-and-a-quarter I think. He could be a nice staying type three-year-old.”

That ‘nice staying type three-year-old’ is now eyeing a place in the Queensland Derby line-up. All credit to all of those responsible for getting the horse to this point.

On Saturday Sanderson won a thriller!

The gelding landed in second spot but jockey Jason Holder declined to get involved in the initial speed battle. Instead he allowed Sanderson to settle in a comfortable sixth placing racing on the rail some four lengths off the early leader Fly With Me who led Listen Son by a length-and-a-half in the early part.

Listen Son began to apply pressure to Fly With Me approaching the turn and the four-time winner sped to the lead at the head of the straight. Holder had been saving ground all the time on Sanderson and he straightened in fourth place one off the rail. Holder gave a brief glance to his left to see if he could get out, but Glen Colless was pushing the main fancy Brave The Way into contention along the outside of the Doughty trained runner, leaving Holder with no option but to pursue a path down the inside.

As Listen Son kicked away with meaning under the determined urging of Kristy Banks, Holder pushed Sanderson past the tiring Fly With Me, taking the run between the early leader and Dusty Felt, who had always been up just behind the speed. The latter threatened briefly, but could not go on with it.

At the same time that Sanderson was making ground on the inside, Brave The Way was taking off down the centre of the track. Initially it looked as if Brave The Way had the momentum to carry the day, but Listen Son is a notoriously hard horse to peg back and, with Sanderson also not going away, the favourite suddenly found himself in a three-way dogfight over the final 150m.

Sanderson, Listen Son and Brave The Way fought out a no-holds barred finish in which both the ability and the character of each of the three runners was severely tested. Things got very tight close to the line as Brave The Way shifted in. Listen Son reacted to Brave The Way’s inward movement and he, in turn, shifted in onto Sanderson and made contact, before bouncing back out again towards Brave The Way.

With that the three runners flashed through the line together with Sanderson prevailing by half-head from the ever-game Listen Son. Brave The Way was a further short-head back in third place.

Sanderson is now a four-time winner from thirteen starts.

*In his previous two starts Sanderson was soundly beaten home by his stable companion Tierqualo. Those results came when resuming over 1200m and then when second-up over 1350m. The fact that Sanderson was all the fitter for those runs and relished the extra ground clearly played its part in the gelding’s winning improvement.

WINNER FEEDBACK
Trainer Kelly Doughty: “We just gave him those last two runs and he was racing behind Tierqualo and he couldn’t run those sort of times. We set him for the mile today and we were hoping we could do it and he’s done it.

“Beautiful ride today. We said to Jason (Holder) we got him ready for this race, let’s do it. We have been aiming for the Queensland Derby, but we had to get him up to this distance and see what he could do, but no, it’s all good.”

Jockey Jason Holder: “I think the gate won it for him today. His last two starts he has been running well without winning, but from those gates I’ve had to draw him right back. But today Gary and Kelly (Doughty) said to be a bit more positive on him and he really appreciated it.

“I did try to get off the inside but Glen Colless (riding Brave The Way) put me back where I was meant to be ... so he won the race for me. But in saying that, he really rode that really well, but things did go my way because the cover came off and gave me another option.

“He presented himself really well. His form has been really good leading into the race, I reckon, beside his last two runs. His last two starts he has been getting too far back because of being drawn badly. He’s been finishing strong but was coming from too far back. You can take the last two runs out.

“He is the type of horse that when he is fit he seems to put a couple together. The thing is once he is fit he races very competitive. So he will run another nice race for sure.

“Without a doubt he is a Derby horse. Today we thought was a bit short, but he’d run really competitive. I said to Gary after his last start, I rang him up and said I hope to be on him next start.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Sanderson): 21.00 steady.
Favourite (Brave The Way): 3.60 out to 3.80 in to 3.30.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Trainer T. Hall was fined $100 under LR. 70 for failing to declare P. Hammersley as the rider of Shadow Buster by the prescribed time.

As J. Bowditch had been stood down by the Club's doctor, B. El-Issa was substituted as the rider of Catallion.

Captain Clayton (S. Scriven) was restrained shortly after the start from its difficult gate to take a position closer to the running rail.

Leaving the 1200m Fantastic Blue (J. Byrne), which was inclined to pull hard, had to be steadied off the heels of Ponzi Scheme (J. Taylor), which shifted in. Catallion (B. El-Issa), which was following, shifted out off the heels of Fantastic Blue. Also in this incident, Show A Lion Heart (S. Katsidis), which was following Catallion, shifted in abruptly, tightening Released (A. Pattillo) and Captain Clayton.

Also leaving the 1200m Titanium Rock (A. Best) was momentarily cramped for room by Brave The Way (G. Colless), which shifted in.

Near the 1000m Released (A. Pattillo) was tightened for room by Show A Lion Heart (S. Katsidis), which shifted in and away from Shadow Buster (P. Hammersley) which shifted in when not clear. P. Hammersley was cautioned and reminded of his obligation to ensure runners on his inside have sufficient room.

Approaching the finish line Brave The Way (G. Colless) was inclined to lay in under pressure. Listen Son (K. Banks), which was racing on the inside, shifted in and away from Brave The Way and made contact with Sanderson (J. Holder), which was racing on the rails.

When questioned regarding the performance of Fantastic Blue, which weakened over the final 300m, rider J. Byrne explained that he settled the horse in a handy position with cover, however the gelding failed to finish the race off as expected. J. Byrne added that in his view Fantastic Blue will be better suited when ridden in a more rearward position in future starts. A post-race veterinary examination of Fantastic Blue failed to reveal any abnormalities.

When questioned regarding the improved performance of Sanderson, trainer K. Doughty stated that the horse had raced well despite being beaten over sprint distances and advised stewards that the horse is most effective when racing over distances of 1600m and further.

Listen Son (K. Banks) lost its near-fore plate in running. Ponzi Scheme lost its off-hind plate in running.