EF MAY 01 - TABULATE EXTENDS WINNING SEQUENCE

By Graham Potter and Matthew Grimson | Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Eagle Farm, May 1, 2010.
Tails Stakes (Quality - Listed) - 2150m. Time: 2.13.69. (Carrying 55kg).
Track - Dead 4. Rail - out 8m.
1 Tabulate; 2 Encosta Tszyu; 3 Royal Hope.

The Robert Heathcote trained Tabulate continued his fine run of form as he scored his fourth successive win under another superb ride from jockey Jim Byrne who has formed a formidable partnership with the five-year-old gelding.

Byrne followed the now familiar pattern of allowing Tabulate to settle towards the rear of the field. This time he was second last some eight lengths behind the front-running Agnes Dream and Byrne was happy to bide his time all the way until the approach to the home turn where he started to angle off the rail in search of a clear run home.

Tabulate’s cause wasn’t helped at this stage by a similar outward movement from Royal Hope. The latter started to carry Tabulate out wider on the track so that Tabulate eventually cornered seven wide will plenty of work to do, still seven lengths behind Agnes Dream who was covering far less ground.

That wasn’t the end of the outward movement for Tabulate as Royal Hope continued to push the gelding wider still early the straight.

That’s where a bit a character kicked in from both horse and rider as both Tabulate and Byrne refused to become unsettled by their limited progress at a vital stage of the race.

Instead, they balanced up, knuckled down and started to hunt the leaders.

Up front, Agnes Dream was under pressure from Spechenka with 300m left to run. Both of these runners continued to kick on well enough, but they both had to give way to the faster finishing Encosta Tszyu who hit the lead at the 150m mark.

Byrne now had Tabulate flying out wide on the track with the Royal Hope in tow and the Heathcote trained runner had built enough momentum in testing circumstances to get up in the final few strides to beat the luckless Encosta Tszyu by 0.75 lengths with the persistent Royal Hope finishing a further half-neck back in third place.

Tabulate has now won eight of his twenty-nine starts. He also has eight minor placings to his credit and has earned $210478 in stakes.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Robert Heathcote: “I have never done that before. Given a horse ... he had nearly twelve days ... in fact it was twelve days, in the paddock between runs and the owner kind of wanted him out a touch longer and I said geez mate, if I leave him out much longer I don’t know how much hardness or fitness or enthusiasm to race I am going to lose.

“Jimmy Byrne has had faith in this horse from day one and he was happy to get on him and he just knows him.

"At the 200m I said to the people I was sitting with in the stands that he was coming. While we knew it was going to be tight, we could see him winding up. So I think with nearly two weeks off he might take some improvement out of it.

“Take nothing away from Jimmy Byrne. He just knows this horse. He has a great affinity with him. More importantly, his timing. He is just getting it right every time.

"Jimmy was always confident. I could see in the run. He is one of those horses that has that special quality as a stayer. He has a nice turn of foot.

“An Ipswich Cup is on.” (Heathcote will be looking for back-to-back won Ipswich Cups having won the race with Our Lukas last year).

“Even the next six weeks, the Ipswich Cup, the Caloundra Cup, the Tattersalls Cup, they are probably his main goals at this stage.

"It was a bit unusual to give him a couple weeks in the paddock between his last run and this run, but any horse that can win three or four in a row ... they’re going pretty good.

“You know, there has been a few knockers suggesting that he hasn’t been beating a lot a quality, but he showed them again today ... he come from last and he did the job nicely. Any stayer that has a turn of foot is going to win some nice races. He’s a pretty handy horse.

“Even his first couple of races for me that he didn’t win, his runs were enormous. I mean we knew it was only a matter of time before he started to put it together. Four wins in a row now, it’s super.

“I think in two or three weeks time there is another 2200m handicap here, a Listed race. Then we will take him through to the Ipswich, Caloundra, Tatts Cup.”

Jockey Jim Byrne: “Yeah look, there wasn’t much tempo in the race today. They did start to pick up the tempo just passing the 1200, but I got some pretty soft sections in mid-race.

“I was nearly going to stay on the fence and then ride for luck, but when Scotty Seamer started making a move on his horse (Attallus) I tried to jump on his back and then Royal Hope, just after the old crossing at the three there, just keep laying out on top of me.

"He couldn’t let down today because of that, you know, because the other horse was laying out on top of him and taking him off of the track.

“He has had the third place getter (Royal Hope), from the three home, laying out on top of him the whole way down the straight. You know, if they are going to push you out ... I let him push me out as long as he is keeping on an even keel. But he just kept coming out and coming out and bumping him. So he just couldn’t let down.

“It just left him a bit flat footed, you know, obviously because you want them to step on the pedal and ask them to pick themself up into the race. But he just kept taking me further and further wider on the track. In the end though, to his credit, he still found the line.

“There is a nice race in this horse through the carnival, at least I think so anyway. I have always said all the way along, there is a nice race in this horse and he’s proven that.”

HRO asked trainer Brian Smith if he had any message he would like to send to the connections of Tabulate, who has now beaten Smith’s horse Encosta Tszyu into second place the last three times they have clashed.

Trainer Brian Smith: “Yeah, I wish he’d get some more weight. I was proud of Encosta Tszyu today. He really put in and I think he will run the mile-and-a-half. Maybe we’ll sneak a better race one day.

“The handicapper will handicap Tabulate right sooner or later ... we’ll get there.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Tabulate): 2.30 out 2.90.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
As A. Best was to be overweight, A. Pattillo was substituted as the rider of Tripitz. A. Best was fined $100 under AR. 120(b).

Attallus (S. Seamer), Warrior Within (P. Hammersley) and Tripitz (A. Pattillo) were tightened on jumping away between Royal Hope (J. Taylor) and Lyncean Academy (S. Katsidis), which shifted in.

Near the winning post on the first occasion Encosta Tszyu (B. El-Issa) shifted in and made contact with Bell Academy (L. Cassidy), which was briefly cramped for room.

Spechenka (J. Holder) was caught wide on the first turn and was obliged to race wide until assuming a position outside the leader near the 1600m.

Warrior Within raced three wide for the majority of the event.

Triptiz (A. Pattillo) was tightened for room over the concluding stages between Spechenka and Lyncean Academy and as a result A. Pattillo was unable to fully test the horse over the concluding stages.

Stewards sought an explanation from C. Munce in respect to the performance of Drumshanbo. C. Munce stated that he was instructed to ride the horse a little closer today and was able to do so from his good alley, however in his opinion the horse raced a little strongly and this may have had an effect on the gelding's capacity to finish off the race. Trainer M. Nolan was unable to offer any excuses for the disappointing run today.

Following the disappointing performance of Pyramids, M. Cahill reported that the horse did not handle the step up in distance as it was having its first start over a middle distance today. A post-race veterinary examination of Pyramids failed to reveal any abnormalities.

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