DOOM MAY 29 - PRINCESS QUALO RULES OK

By Graham Potter and Matthew Grimson | Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Doomben, May 29, 2010.
3yo QTIS Handicap - 1200m. Time: 1-10.11. (Carrying 53kg).
Track - Slow 6. Rail – True.
1 Princess Qualo; 2 Purettan; 3 Startling Pleasure.

The Robert Heathcote trained Princess Qualo returned to winning form in the 3yo QTIS Handicap to claim her fourth victory in her eleventh start.

The filly posted disappointing results in the two feature races that completed her previous preparation when she was beaten by 14.50 lengths in the Vo Rogue and then beaten by 11.40 lengths in the Magic Millions three-year-old Trophy in January. Both of those races were won by the highly talented Graceful Anna.

Princess Qualo then finished last of the fifteen runners when resuming in the Gold Coast Guineas on May 8, so her latest winning effort did represent a welcome turnaround in form for her connections as she regained her old level of prowess.

Princess Qualo jumped well enough and then pushed forward to join the leading line. Once there though, with speed coming on either side, jockey Larry Cassidy elected to ease back and sit just behind the leaders. By the time the field sorted itself out, Cassidy had Princess Qualo settled in fourth spot.

Kiss Me Katy had assumed the lead with Our Mr Cashman in close attendance. Purettan held the rail position in third. Princess Qualo raced in-between Purettan and Bevagna, who was caught out three wide on the track.

These five runners held their positions until the turn. As Kiss Me Katy hung out on straightening, Purettan, who had never left the rail, accepted the run offered to him and the grey kicked early and moved up to dispute the lead.

Purettan gained the outright lead with 250m left to run. Kiss Me Katy and Our Mr Cashman were still there but only grinding away. They would make no further progress. Bevagna was left flat-footed when the field quickened at the head of the straight and she lost her chance right there. Bevagna would regain some momentum in the run home, but would not challenge for the honours.

Two dangers emerged to challenge Purettan’s authority with 150m left to run. Sarge In Charge showed spirited acceleration and closed ground along the inside, but the threat from Sarge In Charge disappeared when the chestnut ran into a dead-end inside the final 75m. Sarge In Charge had to be checked and his chance was gone. He, in fact, would not find a place.

The other threat, that of Princess Qualo, was a more significant one. It had taken Cassidy a little while to wind up the filly, but once she got the message she knuckled down to her task, ranged up alongside Purettan, who was still full of fight, and then landed a knockout blow when it mattered most as she edged away to score by a half-neck margin on a rousing finish.

Startling Pleasure and Irish Dream both arrived with a late flourish to earn third and fourth place respectively.

WINNER FEEDBACK
Trainer Robert Heathcote: "It’s nice to win a race any time, but certainly on Doomben 10,000 day it has given me a lot of pleasure.

"Everyone said she didn’t handle the wet track. She had kind of been canned for not handling wet tracks. If you look at her form, conceivably they are right, but ... first time on a slow track she injured herself. She pulled up a bit ordinary, so we gave her a break.

"Oh, it was a back injury. You go back through the stewards report early on ... Larry (Cassidy) nearly fell off her and she kinda just lost her confidence as well.

"Then she came back and went down the Gold Coast and that track the other day down the Gold Coast wasn’t a good track. It wasn’t because it was wet. It wasn't a good track and I think the form has proven was a bit of an upside down race.

"So, I wasn’t convinced that it was the wet tracks that were getting her beat. At the end of the day she has put in three very ordinary runs, but there are excuses as far as we were concerned, which were noted.

"The blinkers went on first time today. We were a little bit confident she’d run well and she has. No surprise to us.

"She beat a pretty good field today on a track that people have said is not her best. She's done it well. That’s a good start to the day. Beautiful run. Look, we'll go on. We’ll leave her around the 1200 there and find a nice race for her.

"You guys know the opinion I have always had of her. She has always been a good horse. She gets beat a couple of times and everybody wants to knock her. I mean, I have a betting ticket here that says she would run better than her last start.

"The owners came up from Canberra and they said, we better scratch her it’s a slow track. I said, run her she will go good ... and she has. She proved us right. Sometimes us idiot trainers get it right. It ran 1-10.11. Brilliant.

"To be honest I haven’t really looked at any other races over the carnival yet, because we just needed to see her turn her form around. She has done that today so onwards and upwards.

"We have never doubted that she has had a lot of ability and you will notice that young Larry Cassidy was back on today and Larry has had a good and long association with her. He got off her for Graceful Anna ... we forgave him ... put him back on today and he has got the job done. Ten out of ten ride."

Jockey Larry Cassidy: "Yeah, look we’ve always had a really nice opinion of her. Obviously I couldn’t ride her when Graceful Anna came along.

"First time she raced on a wet track we thought she was a bit of a wet track duffa. She nearly fell on the wet track and I think she lost her confidence. Rob (Heathcote) did the smart thing and put blinkers on her. Blinkers on today ... I knew it would help her as a confidence thing. But the track did concern me.

"Look, I know the filly is better than her form suggests but, as I say, I was concerned about the track. It is a genuine slow track.

"I still thought she may struggle to handle it. If it was race 8 she wouldn’t have handled it. Race 2 she did. On a good track she would have blown them away."

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Princess Qualo): 16.00 out to 18.00.
Favourite (Monton): 3.20 out to 4.00. Finished tenth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Trainer S. O'Dea was fined $100 for presenting Kiss Me Katy late to the enclosure.

Irish Dream (B. Shinn) and Mr Charlie Brown (J. Taylor) were slow to begin. Startling Pleasure (J. Holder) jumped outwards at the start, making contact with Lady Leo (S. Seamer).

Approaching the 800m, Sarge In Charge (S. Katsidis), when over-racing and hanging out, shifted out, taking Monton (B. Vassallo) out onto Regal Ruben, which had to be checked. Andy Said (L. Nolen), which was following, was also checked in consequence.

Near the 50m, Sarge In Charge (S. Katsidis) had to be checked when tightened for room between Purettan (D. Nikolic), which shifted out under pressure, and Kiss Me Katy (R. McMahon), which was taken in by Our Mr Cashman (C. Munce), which was also taken in by Princess Qualo (L. Cassidy), which shifted in under pressure when not sufficiently clear.
Both D. Nikolic, rider of Purettan, and L. Cassidy, rider of Princess Qualo, were issued with reprimands and advised to make greater efforts to keep their mounts on a straight course in future.

Bevagna (M. Hughes), Temple Of Boom (M. Cahill), Lady Leo (S. Seamer) and Andy Said (L. Nolen) all raced wide throughout.

Kiss Me Katy (R. McMahon) hung out for the majority of the event. This resulted in Kiss Me Katy (R. McMahon) shifting out on the home turn, which enabled Purettan (D. Nikolic) to obtain a run to that filly's inside.

Apprentice B. Vassallo was questioned regarding the performance of Monton. He explained that he was instructed to ride the gelding in a forward position, however after beginning only fairly he had to ride Monton aggressively to take up a handy position.

B. Vassallo added that when he placed Monton under pressure rounding the home turn it did not sprint as expected and was one paced in the run to the finish. A post-race veterinary examination of Monton failed to reveal any significant abnormalities.

Trainer R. Heathcote was questioned regarding the improved performance of Princess Qualo. Mr Heathcote explained that whilst the filly raced wide at its most recent start at the Gold Coast on 8 May 2010, he was disappointed with the performance on that occasion.

Mr Heathcote added that Princess Qualo raced in blinkers for the first time today and was
able to settle in a more forward position which, in his view, contributed to the better performance.

Stewards sought an explanation from B. Shinn regarding the riding tactics adopted on Irish Dream.

B. Shinn explained that he settled the filly at the rear of the field from the wide barrier and after passing the 600m rather than improve his position wide on the track he elected to remain on the rail and endeavour to save valuable ground. He added that he was able to obtain clear running in the straight and the filly finished the race off well.

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