IPSW JUNE 19 - ADNOCON TOO STRONG IN THE EYE LINER

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Ipswich, June 19, 2010.
Eye Liner Stakes (Listed - Quality) - 1350m. (Carrying 53kg).
Track - Good 2. Rail - True.
1 Adnocon; 2 Barinka; 3 Maxisun.

The Gerald Ryan trained Adnocon has been a revelation this preparation and his form continued to build momentum when he landed the Listed Eye Liner Stakes in style at Ipswich on Saturday.

The gelding is unbeaten in three starts this time in and it is not just the succession of wins which is obviously pleasing his connections, but it is the authoritative manner in which he has gone about his business since resuming on May 19 (after being spelled for four months) that is of particular significance.

That trait was exemplified in his Eye Liner run.

Adnocon landed in the leading line. He held third spot briefly behind Zahas Pride and Prince Braeman, but then, when Skiddaw Peak pushed around his field from his wide draw to go up and sit on the back of the leader (relegating Prince Braeman back to third) and Drenalin pushed up on the rail into fourth, Adnocon went back to settle in fifth place some three lengths off the lead, sitting comfortably behind a good pace.

The pressure was fairly intense in the sweep to the turn. Zahas Pride continued to hold the advantage, but the top weight Shiddaw Peak was quick to cry enough and he dropped back through the field. Prince Braeman was another to feel the pinch a long way out. Drenalin went past that one approaching the turn to line up his shot at the front-runner, while jockey Paul Hammersley had now taken Adnocon out across the heels of the tiring Prince Braeman to find daylight in which to launch his challenge.

So it was that Zahas Pride turned for home with a lead of a length over Drenalin who, in turn, held a length advantage of Adnocon who cornered in third place.

Drenalin wasted little time in tackling Zahas Pride, but the latter still had plenty of fight left in him and he refused to bend under the pressure being applied by Drenalin. These two runners matched stride at the head of affairs from the top of the straight until the 200m mark, but their quest for the honours was always under threat from Adnocon who matched their acceleration in the first half of the straight to loom up dangerously on their outside.

Inside the final 200m Hammersley asked his mount to find another gear and Adnocon duly obliged. He swept to the front with the minimum of fuss and from that moment he never looked in any danger of defeat as he maintained a strong gallop to the line.

The contest for the minor placings proved to be a close call with little separating Barinka ($7.50), Maxisun ($7) and Blazing Hearts ($7) who finished second, third and fourth respectively. Drenalin finished fifth.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Gerald Ryan: “We gave him a bit of a hammering before. He had about eleven runs last preparation.” (Adnocon’s previous preparation, the fourth of his career, contained twelve runs and it extended from June 27, 2009 until January 9, 2010 over distances ranging from 1200m to 1900m. During this time the gelding scored two victories).

"I think I might have been a bit soft on him early in his prep last time and I got a bit tougher with him in terms of his work and he coped with it very well.

“We spelled him after the Magic Millions (where he finished third to Hidden Wonder in the Stayers Cup) and he spelled really good. He’s come back. To be honest I didn’t think he would be up to win a race like that but the owner convinced me to run him and he was right.

“When I got him he’d only won two races, both over 1000m at the Sunshine Coast. He’s going real good now. I just put that down to maturity. Even though I had doubts before, when he jumped well and put himself there I thought he was going to be very hard to beat.

“He straightened up good at the corner. He is a horse that likes a bit of room … he like to see a bit of daylight. He can be a tricky horse to ride. Paul (Hammersley) … it was his first time on his back and he rode him bloody terrific.

“When he came up here he was going to run at Eagle Farm next Saturday and then go on to the Glasshouse (at Coloundra) … but he won so well the other day (when beating the useful Eire Of Magic over 1300m at the Sunshine Coast) we decided to have a crack at this race and then go to the Glasshouse.

“Like I said to the owners, if he wins today and goes well in the Glasshouse, well, we’ll pull up stumps with him. The way he is improving, he might be up to a good race in the Spring.”

Jockey Paul Hammersley: “We got a lovely run through the race. The horse jumped good the first couple of strides. I had to just sort of help him to get to the possie we were. From the 700 onwards he was just travelling that good.

“I had to jostle for a position outside Danny Nikolic’s heels at the 550 (Nikolic was riding Prince Braeman) but from there on I honestly thought he wasn’t going to get beat. I was laughing to myself all the way down the straight. It’s good to get one for Gerald (Ryan).

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Adnocon): 6.50 out to 7.00.
Favourite (Drenalin): 5.00 out to 5.50. Finished fifth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Maxisun (G. Colless) was slow to begin and shifted in across the heels of Zahas Pride (S. Seamer) at the start.

Felixtrinidad (B. El-Issa) over-raced for a short distance passing the 800m.

Maxisun (G. Colless) had difficulty obtaining clear running in the straight and was obliged to shift wider around the heels of Adnocon (P. Hammersley) over the concluding stages to obtain clear running.

Blazing Hearts (C. Munce) raced extremely wide throughout the event. Helideck (J. Byrne) raced wide throughout the event.

Stewards sought an explanation from D. Nikolic regarding the performance of Prince Braeman. D. Nikolic explained that the gelding failed to respond to his riding from the 400m and in his view is better suited on rain affected tracks.

A post race veterinary examination of Skiddaw Peak (S. Katsidis), which compounded after racing wide, revealed no significant abnormalities.

More articles