DOOM MAY 22 - ROTHESAY SCORES WITH A TOUCH OF ARROGANCE

By Graham Potter and Matthew Grimson | Thursday, May 27, 2010

Doomben, May 22, 2010.
Lord Mayor’s Cup (Group 3 - WFA) - 1615m.
Time: 1-36.43. (Carrying 56.5kg).
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 2m.
1 Rothesay; 2 Our Lucas; 3 Hadaaf.

The Gerald Ryan trained Rothesay gave his rivals in the Group 3 Lord Mayor’s Cup a galloping lesson as he stormed home with a touch of arrogance to justify the big opinion the stable have had of him since he kicked off his career, just six starts ago.

Rothesay had three runs in his first campaign. The son of Fastnet Rock beat Stryker by 1.80 lengths on debut over 1100m at Rosehill and was then given a freshen up before making it two-in-a-row, this time beating Turf Express home by 1.50 lengths over 1200m, again at Rosehill.

Those two successes set Rothesay up for a bigger test and he stepped into Group company for his third start where he tackled the Group 2 Roman Consul over 1200m at Randwick. The colt suffered a bleeding attack in the race when coming back in fifth spot behind runaway winner Shellscrape, who had every right winning the race in the fashion he did.

Shellscrape was already four-time winner going into the Roman Consul (including two Group 3 victories in the San Domenico and the Up And Coming Stakes) and he was contesting his thirteenth start which gave his a huge edge in experience over the Ryan trained runner who was still very much in the process of learning his trade.

Rothesay earned a three month suspension for his first bleeding attack and he was allowed a further three months off following his run in the Roman Consul. He resumed six months later in the Gosford Guineas where he finished third behind Latin News and Flowerchild over the 1200m trip. Rothesay then finished one place better in at Rosehill second-up when stepping up to 1400m. He did not have a comfortable passage on that occasion, being held wide for much of the trip but, while there was no cigar, the result was encouraging enough, particularly as it came on May 8, just two weeks before the start of his Queensland campaign.

That is when Ryan brought the sights into sharp focus and took aim at the Group 3, Lord Mayor’s Cup.

The race provided a further step up in distance for Rothesay and he was expected to embrace the mile trip. Punters certainly figured Rothesay was fully primed for the challenge and the colt was duly installed as the clear-cut favourite at $2.80 ... and he came back like the good thing the betting suggested he was.

Rothesay raced in the second half of the field in the early part. Jockey Blake Shinn was content to allow the favourite to bowl along three to four wide, some seven lengths off Rockdale who tried to power away at the head of the field as he carted the field down the back straight.

Rockdale initially led from Excelltastic and Hadaaf who both settled in behind the front-runner. When Our Lukas, who was caught four wide, pressed forward past Excellastic and Hadaaf to assume second spot racing on the heels of Rockdale, that left Excelltastic in third spot, racing just outside the fourth placed Hadaaf who held the rail position.

These leaders held their positions until the turn. All this time Shinn was untroubled by his wide run on Rothesay and he continued to ride the colt patiently. The main fancy eventually cornered a full eight horses wide in ninth place, some six lengths off the front-runner.

He would have had to be the best horse in the race to win from there ... and that was exactly what he would prove to be.

Our Lukas took the lead away from Rockdale with 180m left to run. Hadaaf was staying on well enough n the inside, but neither of these runners had any answer to the fluent finishing effort of Rothesay.

Shinn had wasted little time setting the colt alight early in the straight and, although he wanted to run in early in the straight, he quickly had the measure of his rivals as he chased to the lead at the business end of affairs and went away to win by a widening 2.30 length margin in a most impressive fashion.

Our Lukas was second best on the day, but his runner-up finish was full of merit. The chestnut came home comfortably ahead of Hadaaf who, although he was only one-paced in the finish, did enough to keep Fulmonti back in fourth placing.

WINNER FEEDBACK
Trainer Gerald Ryan: “He’s a very good horse. Today he lived up to what I thought he could do. I know the company might not be the best but to sit three, four, five wide and sprint away from then the way he did ... well, he is a very good horse. In saying that it is the first time he has ever been able to get on the bit in a race too.

“When I saw how wide he was, I was just praying ... but I could see when I got a proper look just inside the 800m mark that he was still travelling. I knew then if he could nurse him into the race well he’d let down pretty bloody quick and he did you know.

“His two runs have been sensational really and that just proved today getting up to the mile, you know, that is probably just what the horse has been looking for.

“We will go home and sit down. I got him to the mile now. Why come back to the 1400 for the Stradbroke? Why not stay in the Guineas against his own age. I’ve got a good record in the race and I would like to win it again.

“He’s a very good horse and he will be a better four-year-old as well. He’s always shown it right from the word go. That was when he came into the stables and we were going to sell him, but we couldn’t sell him at the sales. I said to Sue Sudak ... it’s sad she’s not here (Sudak sadly passes away earlier in the month) ... I said to Sue, if you want to race a colt race this one, because I thought he was a very good horse right from the word go.

“They had $150,000 on him at the sale and they got nowhere near it. I loved him at the sales. I kept going back and looking at him and looking at him. It was the year of the EI and I had to go back and he was still there about ten days after the sales.

“Sue saw me looking at him again and she said if I like him that much I can have him to train ... I’ll try and sell him out of the stable, but once he was broken in and I galloped him once I called Sue and said don’t sell him Sue.

“He is only going to have four runs this time in. He is a lovely balanced horse. He is a big horse but he is very well balanced, you know. The Guineas is the probable target now.

“I haven’t thought as far ahead as the Cox Plate. I thought the Emirates Mile, those mile races in Melbourne in the spring.”

Jockey Blake Shinn: “I drew wide. I didn’t have many favours from the barrier today. My horse always travelled very well. It was well balanced and breathing well and I had the race won a long way from home. When I pushed the button he really accelerated like a top class horse.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Rothesay): 2.40 out to 2.80.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Connections advised that S. Katsidis would be instructed to ride Our Lukas up on the speed if possible.

Go Cart (D. Oliver) and Baughurst (B. Melham) were slow to begin.

Near the 1400m Warrior Within (P. Hammersley) had to be steadied to avoid the heels of Armstrong Jones (N. Rawiller) which shifted in slightly.

Our Lukas (S. Katsidis) raced three wide in the early stages before improving forward to be positioned outside the leader near the 1000m. Rothesay (B. Shinn) raced wide throughout.

Approaching the 600m Pepperwood (M. Cahill) shifted out from behind the heels of Jazz Heart (J. Byrne) and bumped heavily with Rothesay.

Shortly after straightening Armstrong Jones, which was inclined to shift out away from Jazz Heart, was momentarily hampered by Rothesay which shifted in under pressure.

A post-race veterinary examination of Baughurst revealed the gelding to be sore in the off-fore pastern. Trainer B. Wilde was advised that he must produce a veterinary clearance for Baughurst prior to its next race start.

A post-race veterinary examination of Excelltastic (L. Nolen) failed to reveal any abnormalities.

Ryan