EF MAY 01 - STEEL DRAGON UNDERLINES HIS POTENTIAL

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

Eagle Farm, May 1, 2010.
2yo QTIS 600 Handicap - 1200m. Time: 1-10.66 (Carrying 59kg).
Track - Dead 4. Rail - out 8m.
1 Steel Dragon; 2 Big Chance; 3 Raise Up.

Jockey Stathi Kasidis chased Steel Dragon out of the barriers from his wide draw and the gelding responded with a smart display of early speed which easily carried him across his field and into an immediate lead.

By the time Steel Dragon settled on the rail he was two lengths clear of the pack but, having established prime position, Katsidis then allowed Steel Dragon to come back underneath him.

The favourite Animated took the opportunity to range up alongside Steel Dragon, a half-a-length back on the outside of the leader, and these two runners took the field along at a useful gallop until the home turn. The unbeaten Miss Imagica (posted out three wide throughout) and Raise Up tracked the leaders. Danewin Girl held down fifth spot while Steel Dragon’s stable companion Big Chance saved ground, back on the rail, in sixth place.

Katsidis gave Steel Dragon more rein on straightening. The increased tempo that brought into play quickly sorted out the contenders. The tough run had taken too much out of Miss Imagica who quickly cried enough. So too did Danewin Girl and both of the runners dropped away early in the straight.

Animated was under pressure the moment Steel Dragon changed gears. The main fancy battled on briefly, but was a beaten horse a long way out. Raise Up went past the favourite and, while she fought on fairly enough, she was really only marking time relative to the acceleration shown by the Steel Dragon. Third place was a fair return for her honest effort.

So it was that it was left to Big Chance to chase the winner home. Fifth, hugging the rail some two-and-a-half to three lengths behind Steel Dragon on straightening, Big Chance showed a useful turn of foot to make up ground steadily in the straight.

The colt was up to second with 250m left to run and, although his stable-mate had stolen a winning lead by that stage, Big Chance continued to make every effort to close ground on the leader and he did that with encouraging commitment to get within 0,75 lengths of Steel Dragon at the line. Raise Up finished a further three lengths back in third place.

Steel Dragon kicked off his career by winning four races in succession for trainer Ray Long. The gelding’s last Townsville win came in dominant fashion in a $150 000 QTIS 600 Plate at Cluden Park on March 8 (when beating Tough Love into second place).

That success prompted co-owner Graham Nicolls to seek a bigger stage for his promising two-year-old. A run in the lucrative $250000 QTIS 600 feature at the Gold Coast on March 20 became a point of issue between owner and trainer. Long was not keen on the Gold Cast race. He preferred to bypass the Gold Coast in favour of giving Steel Dragon a let-up, although, if pushed, he said he was ready to oversee the horse’s preparation for the Gold Coast race.

What transpired then is best told by Long. Speaking to the Townsville Bulletin on March 13, Long said, “we sat and had a talk and were going to give him a little bit of a let-up, he didn't eat up that well after the race,” Long said.

“We said we'd give him a freshen up, we weren't going to rush him to get down to the Coast. We nursed the horse through the hot weather and all that, and he's won the race we set him for."

“Yesterday morning I got a phone call saying the horse was going to Gillian Heinrich.”

Long described Steel Dragon's departure as a 'kick in the guts', while owner Graham Nicolls said the decision to go with a new trainer had been a tough one.

“Ray didn't want to take him down to the Gold Coast,” Nicolls said, as quoted in the Townsville Bulletin. “It leaves a really bad feeling in my stomach but I've just got to give that horse a chance at that big race.”

Steel Dragon lost his unbeaten record when finishing fourth, three lengths behind Denivardi in the big race at the Gold Cast.

Heinrich then took the colt to town for two runs in April where he turned in two solid performances.

Steel Dragon had the misfortune to clash with the very smart, unbeaten two-year-old Buffering on both of those occasions and there was certainly nothing wrong with the two runner-up finishes he recorded in those outings.

Fast forward to Saturday where Steel Dragon recorded a strong win to add to his other four successes from eight starts. The colt has now banked $291800 in stake earnings.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Gillian Heinrich: “I just thought he hit a flat spot about 150 out after sitting just off them the other day (when running second to the unbeaten Buffering on April 17). Then he picked himself up.

"I tried the blinkers through the week and they made him pull a bit hard in the gallops. So then we put the winkers on him and that seemed to do the trick. Just to make him focus that last part, that’s all ... just to make him focus a little bit more on that, which he did.

“He is always somewhere there. Stathi (Katsidis) said that if he can get an easy lead, well ... that would be good, but you have to bear in mind that he had 59kgs as well. It’s very hard to pick up with the 59kgs when you get back a bit. Under 59kg he led and won. Great effort by the horse.

“It was very, very deserving, and the other horse (Big Chance who gave the Heinrich stable the race quinella) ran a great race too. I was very happy with him. I think he is going to be a very nice horse too but, like I said, I think deservedly the right horse won today.

“I keep waiting ... keep thinking ... because he has been up for a little bit. But the horse, you know, obviously ... just maybe the change in environment has helped. We take him to the beach and look after him so at this stage he will keep going.

“Everybody ... well the jockey keeps telling me he is looking for 1400 and then the mile, so I guess if he holds together we will just keep going with him.

“Stathi, when he got off him last time, and also Dan Griffin when he rode him told me that he was looking for further. We haven’t been able to find a race for him yet at this stage, but if he does hold together there is the Sires Produce and also the Castlemaine. The Sires ... yeah, maybe.

“I did nominate him for the Castlemaine. He’ll let me know when he is ready to go out. No, I won’t back him up next week at the (Gold) coast.”

Jockey Stathi Katsidis: “I just went out to be aggressive. I knew the speed was directly inside of me with Chris Munce (on Miss Imagica) and another one inside, but once I was able to get across I thought the horse would be hard to beat from here.

“Originally I was worried about the alley, but the horse made short work of that early.

“Yeah I might even have went a little bit early on him at in the start of the straight, but I had a soft lead and I thought I would take full advantage of it.

“If something got to me with him with that weight ... if something with a lighter weight sprinted past him he would probably fight back and get them or almost get them on the line. So that’s why I thought to make full use of him being in front.

“I have got to give full credit to Gillian (Heinrich) for this win. I rode this horse last start. He had a couple different bits of gear on him and I said, look, I’m not sure, but try and make a few changes - winkers, blinkers, and take this other gear off him - and Gillian listened and I think it did the job today. It’s really good when trainers do listen to you ... and make a judgment for themself as well ... and it comes off.

“I don’t think 1400m would be a problem but you’d definitely ride him in behind the pace, or I suppose if there is no pace on you could lead on him, but today with the 59kgs, 1200 was as far as he wanted. I am not sure about 1400 or the mile, but it would be definitely worth a go to see where he is at.”

“He is going to better positioned (over the winter carnival]). He will be in with a much lighter weight in those races. He has been up for a long time. Gillian will have to see how he pulls up. He has tried his guts out today. I don’t know if he has many more races in him this time, but if anyone knows, Gillian will.”

Katsidis parted company with Steel Dragon a couple of hundred metres past the post.

Katsidis: “Yeah, after the race he shied at something and I ended up with two feet on the one side, so I had to step off him.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Steel Dragon): 6.00 in to 5.00.
Favourite (Animated): 5.50 in to 3.80 out to 4.00. Finished sixth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
G'Day Old Mate (C. Spry), De Lago Bloom (G. Colless) and Run For Levi (J. Taylor) were slow to begin.

Approaching the 1100m Miss Imagica (C. Munce) shifted in and away from Steel Dragon (S. Katsidis), resulting in Turnitup (D. Browne) having to be checked when tightened for room between that horse and Bulldog Mack (K. Banks).

Miss Imagica, Just Destiny (J. Holder), G'Day Old Mate and Turnitup all raced wide throughout.

Approaching the 200m Animated (M. Speers), which was tiring, shifted out under pressure inconveniencing Raise Up (S. Scriven). A post-race veterinary examination of Animated failed to reveal any abnormalities.

Connections of De Lago Bloom, which performed disappointingly once again, advised that the filly would now be sent for an immediate spell. A post-race veterinary examination of De Lago Bloom failed to reveal any abnormalities.

Stewards sought an explanation from C. Munce in respect to the performance of Miss Imagica today.

C. Munce stated that the horse was fractious in the barriers prior to the start being affected and failed to show its customary speed in the early stages. C. Munce added he was never completely happy with the way the horse travelled throughout the race and proved very disappointing in his opinion. Trainer M. Nolan agreed that Miss Imagica was disappointing and would be sent for an immediate spell.

M. Speers, the rider of Animated, which performed below expectations, advised stewards that the filly had stepped up in class sharply today, and its performance was satisfactory bearing in mind it was only the horse's second start in a race following its win at Ipswich. Trainer L. Birchley agreed with M. Speers' assessment and indicated the horse would now be sent for an immediate spell.