DOOM MAY 22 - MARHETA SCORES IN STYLE

By Graham Potter and Matthew Grimson | Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Doomben, May 22, 2010.
Hidden Dragon The Roses (Group 3 - Fillies - Set Weights) - 2020m.
Time: 2-03.57. (Carrying 55.5kg).
Track - Dead 4. Rail - out 2m.
1 Marheta; 2 Femina Fashion; 3 Dariana.

There are certain trainers who visit the Queensland Winter Carnival every year and always go away with a winner or two. They don’t necessarily take out any Group 1’s, but they almost always strike at least once in the lower tier feature races.

Clarry Conners is one such trainer. Mike Moroney is another and it was the Moroney trained Marheta who took the honours in the Group 3, Hidden Dragon The Roses contested over 2020m at Doomben on Saturday.

Marheta had won two in a row before moving north to tackle her Queensland campaign. The first of those wins came in Maiden company over 1400m at Sale where she won second-up. Her follow-up win came when she stepped up to a mile at Sandown and those results booked her ticket to Queensland where her first assignment was in the Gold Coast Bracelet on May 8.

Here Marheta was continuing her gradual step up in distance and she ran a strong race over the 1800m trip finishing in second spot, just a length off the strong frontrunner Femina Fashion.

Marheta and Femina Fashion renewed their rivalry in The Roses. In spite of her previous courageous win Femina Fashion was not one of the three runners vying for a place at the top of the betting boards. Femina Fashion in fact was easy to back at $11.00 while Marheta and the Bart Cummings trained Dariana went off as equal favourites at $5.00, half a point ahead of the other main fancy Status Quo.

The basic pattern of the race was fairly predictable. Femina Fashion had little option but t go forward from her extreme outside draw. All things being equal, she was always going to do whatever it took to cross the field and lead and she did just that.

Also predictable point was the fact that Marheta was going to have an easier passage this time (compared to her Gold Coast run), if she had the early speed to put herself in the race. At the Gold Coast she jumped from the number fourteen barrier. This time she had barrier number one.

Femina Fashion led the field through the first turn and out into the back straight at a useful enough gallop. Coulis ($41) got to second while Mark Zahra ensured that Marheta made every use of her draw to race up in third spot early inside the $9.00 chance Spera. When Damian Browne elected to push Spera forward to try to unsettle Femina Fashion, Marheta went back to fourth place, still travelling very comfortably.

Shane Scriven knows a thing or two about how to rate horses from the front and he kept Femina Fashion going at a tempo which suited his mount. By the same token Damian Brown was happy to position Spera a length back, just outside the leader until the home turn where he moved Spera up alongside the front-runner to join battle in earnest.

Just behind them Zahra had Marheta, who had moved up to third place approaching the turn, perfectly poised to strike as he switched the filly out into clear running and prepared to launch the filly into overdrive.

At that stage the joint-favourite Dariana, who had raced well back towards the rear in the early part, was being urged forward by Michael Rodd. Dariana had it all to do from where she was. She cornered in ninth spot, four wide, all of six lengths off the leader and with traffic congestion ahead of her further complicating her task.

Femina Fashion once again displayed all of the courage that had helped carry her to victory in the Gold Coast Bracelet and Spera all but matched every move of the Trevor Whittington trained filly, but this time Marheta was not going to be denied.

Benefitting from a trouble-free, pressure-free run of the race Marheta responded superbly when Zahra asked her for her final finishing effort and she moved forward relentlessly to shoot down the ever-game Femina Fashion before going on and win by 0,75 lengths.

Marheta only got to the front inside the final 50m, but such was the strength of her stride and the power of her momentum that she had the result under control well before she hit the lead.

Femina Fashion and Spera, who ultimately finished second and fourth respectively, both finished within a length of the winner which translated into bold efforts given that they were asked to do it at both ends.

These two runners were separated at the line by Dariana who arrived late to claim third place. As with the other place-getters, although she never threatened the result, Dariana’s run was full of merit.

Chasing from those six lengths back at the top of the straight, Dariana’s initial progress was restricted when she became involved in a bumping duel with Pinpoint Accuracy. That incident was of her own making and earned Michael Rodd a suspension (see Stewards Report). Once she moved beyond that Dariana let down like the above average filly she is, but it was all a case of too little too late in a race where things never went her way at any stage and she had to settle a minor share of the prize-money.

WINNER FEEDBACK
Trainer Mike Moroney: “The barriers do make a big difference.” (Marheta had the number one draw here. She had draw number fourteen at the Gold Cast in her previous start).

“Probably at the Gold Coast it might have been a bit better being positive from the start. We tried to get a little bit of cover and it didn’t quite work and Mark (Zahra) had to soldier on. It was a very good ride today and just the difference in the runs.

“She looks like she has a stayer’s action to watch but, you know, there’s not much to her. She is a lightly framed filly and she has always shown a little bit of speed as well. She is just going to have to get the right run and the distance sort of thing. We will go straight to the Oaks from here.

“It will obviously definitely help her run the trip if she can get a decent barrier and get put to sleep, like what happened today. So we’ll have a fingers crossed for that.

“She has got gate speed and she could use that and as long as they look like they are going to go at a normal rate and she draws the right gate, well she’s always been her best when she’s been ridden forward.

“She is a similar type to Eskimo Queen and she’s not big and not a heavy sort of filly but, you know, Eskimo Queen sort of could race back a bit at times too, whereas this filly here is probably a filly who has a bit of gate speed and pace. Probably not much in it ability wise.

“She always showed speed. We were probably disappointed with her in her first campaign. We thought she was very good. We actually ran her in town ... we actually ran her in a Stakes race as a Maiden during the carnival as a three-year-old. We just thought she’d come back a little bit stronger than she did, but she’s just taking a little while to get strong. She ran a nice fifth.

“We put her away sort of aiming to get to South Australia or here with her. She is still a tad on the weak side to look at, but she has got talent.

“She is out of a Generous mare and there is a bit of staying in the back half of the family so we just hope we can draw a reasonable gate in the Oaks.

“Paul (Moroney) bought her. It was the year of the EI and they had all the sales on the end and Paul stayed back on for those lesser sales and we bought her there. I think we paid $80,000 for her from memory. We bought about thirteen and I think about five or six of them are probably in Stakes class.”

Jockey Mike Zahra: “Yeah, I was happy in the run. The thing that beat us the other week (Femina Fashion) was leading. I knew it would take us a long way.

“She jumps well ... puts herself there. All you’ve got to do is put your hands on her neck and let her go at the right time. Everything went to plan today.

“She is a real tough filly. She has got that bit of crankiness about her which most of the good ones do have. She loves a fight. She didn’t come out and go bang, but then once I got within half-a-length she sort of put her head to the task and she was very strong on the line.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Marheta): 5.00 steady.
Favourite (Dariana): 4.80 out to 5.00. Finished third.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Shabana (L. Cassidy) jumped away awkwardly and shifted out, taking Dariana (M. Rodd) out across the heels of Danaupair Starlet (M. Cahill). Fairy Oak (L. Nolen) threw its head in the air at the start and lost ground.

Status Quo (K. McEvoy) jumped awkwardly and made contact with the hind quarters of Devoirs (B. Shinn). Shortly after this Status Quo was bumped heavily by Coulis (B. Melham) which shifted in abruptly despite the efforts of its rider.

S. Scriven, the rider of Femina Fashion, pleaded guilty to a charge of careless riding under AR. 137(a), in that near the 1900m he permitted his mount to shift in when insufficiently clear of Mistaken Grace, resulting in that filly clipping the heels of Femina Fashion and blundering. S. Scriven's licence to ride in races was suspended for a period of 7 meetings, with the term of suspension to commence at midnight on Saturday, 29 May 2010, and expire at midnight on Thursday, 10 June 2010.

Devoirs had to be eased to avoid the heels of Danaupair Starlet approaching the winning post on the first occasion when Danaupair Starlet shifted in when not sufficiently clear. M. Cahill, the rider of Danaupair Starlet, was advised to exercise more care when shifting ground in future.

S. Katsidis, the rider of Ambitious Princess, was found guilty of a charge of careless riding under AR. 137(a), in that approaching the winning post on the first occasion he permitted his mount to shift in when insufficiently clear of Shabana, resulting in that runner having to be checked and being taken in on to Devoirs, resulting in tightening to Devoirs and Dariana, which was racing to the inside of Devoirs. S. Katsidis's licence to ride in races was suspended for a period of 7 meetings, with the term of suspension to commence at midnight on Saturday, 29 May 2010, and expire at midnight on Thursday, 10 June 2010.

Near the 1600m Dariana raced in restricted room for some distance to the inside of Devoirs. B. Shinn, the rider of Devoirs, was reprimanded under AR. 137(a) and advised to allow sufficient racing room to his inside in future.

After passing the 1600m Italian Beauty (G. Colless) commenced to over-race and had to be checked off the heels of Marheta (M. Zahra). Italian Beauty then shifted out and made contact with Status Quo. Shortly after this Ambitious Princess (S. Katsidis) was hampered when momentarily tightened for room by Mistaken Grace (S. King), which shifted in slightly.

Spera (D. Browne) raced wide in the early stages until assuming a position outside the leader approaching the 1200m. Cassini Contest (J. Byrne) raced wide for the majority of the event.

Approaching the 600m Ambitious Princess (S. Katsidis) had to be steadied when tightened for room between Mistaken Grace (S. King) and Dariana, which shifted out in order to improve its position.

M. Rodd, the rider of Dariana, pleaded guilty to a charge of careless riding under AR. 137(a), in that upon straightening he permitted his mount to shift out, making heavy contact with Pinpoint Accuracy (B. Pengelly), resulting in that horse being severely hampered and becoming unbalanced. M. Rodd's licence to ride in races was suspended for a period of 6 meetings, with the term of suspension to commence at midnight on Saturday, 29 May 2010, and expire at midnight on Wednesday, 9 June 2010.

Ambitious Princess laid in when its rider was endeavouring to position it to the outside of Status Quo into clear running approaching the 250m.

Shabana (L. Cassidy) bled from both nostrils during the event. As this was the first occasion on which Shabana has bled, it will incur a mandatory three-month ban from racing under AR. 53A.

A post-race veterinary examination of Mistaken Grace revealed the filly to have sustained a wound on the near-fore fetlock and an abrasion on the near-hind leg.

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