EF JUNE 26 - MELITO MAGIC

By Graham Potter and Matthew Grimson | Monday, June 28, 2010

Eagle Farm, June 26, 2010.
Winter Stakes (Group 1 - Fillies & Mares - WFA) - 1400m.
Time: 1-21.83. (Carrying 55.5kg). New Race Record
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 5.5m.
1 Melito; 2 Wealth Princess; 3 Beaded.

The Gerald Ryan trained Melito, who had done everything but win in her previous three starts during the Queensland Racing Winter Carnival, set the record straight in emphatic fashion when out-toughing her opposition with a bold front-running display when taking out the Group 1 Winter Stakes at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

Shrugging off the disappointment of the nose loss to Albert The Fat in the BTC Cup and the even more dramatic short-half-head, last gasp defeat when cut down in the final stride by Black Piranha in the Stradbroke, Melito took matters into her own hands on Saturday, going forward from her wide draw at the break before settling down to dictate the course of events from the front.

While Melito had jumped well at the start, initially jockey Corey Brown had taken his time weighing up his options over the first 100m. At one stage there were four runners across the track (with Melito the widest) leading the way. Beaded, from pole position, had landed in the lead while Gold Water and Melito had come across from there outside barriers and Culminate was right there with them.

These four runners matched strides momentarily, with Set For Fame racing hard on their heels, while Brown bided his time, waiting to see if anything else was keen to go forward and take the outright lead.

When the other riders passed on that option, Brown took that initiative himself and pushed Melito to the front. The move would, amongst other things, test his mounts adaptability as she was now racing outside of her normal racing pattern.

For the plan to come together, jockey Corey Brown had to rate Melito perfectly and the filly had to respond on cue when asked for her final effort, because there were some more than useful horses lining up behind her, ready to take her down should Melito display any vulnerability when the pressure was brought to bear early in the home straight.

The first part of the race went to script for Melito with the filly able to hold her advantage at a comfortable gallop as Cuminate (in second), Gold Water (third), Beaded (fourth) and Set For Fame tracked the leader to the turn.

It might have been a relatively pressure-free run for Melito until that time, but the temperature was turned up on straightening. Melito turned for home with a narrow lead, racing two wide. Culminate (three wide) was the first to lay down a challenge. Gold Water (racing to the outside of Culminate) also quickened up. She was perfectly poised to strike, as was Beaded. The latter had never left the rail and clear run to the now beckoned to her along the inside.

As these runners tried to impose their will on proceedings, Brown asked Melito to go slowly through her gears. The filly showed solid commitment, gradually increasing the tempo before Brown gave her more rein and asked for her finishing effort with 250m left to run.

Up until then Culminate and Gold Water had stayed within a length of Meilito, but a simple flick of the wrists by Brown and a positive response from Melito quickly put paid to those challenges. By the 200m mark Culminate and Gold Water had dropped three lengths off the action. They were now out of contention.

Beaded had also stayed close to Melito in the first half of the straight and, while she showed courage in fighting on when Brown sent Melito for home, she too was a beaten horse inside the final 200m as Melito set out to stamp her authority on proceedings.

But Melito had one more challenger to deal with before she could claim a well deserved win.

Wealth Princess had been put to sleep towards the rear of the by jockey Michael Walker in the early part of the contest. The four-year-old raced in second last place some nine lengths behind Melito in the sweep to the turn. She cornered four wide, still well out of her ground, then switched wider still into clear running to line up her finishing effort.

Wealth Princess was all of eight wide when she finally balanced up on straightening and she was still seven lengths behind Melito.

At the same time that Brown gave that telling flick of the wrists and sent Melito on her way when the leader passed the 250m mark, Walker also asked his mount to extend and start to make ground from the rear of the field.

Wealth Princess is renowned for her superb turn of foot, but it is also commonly accepted that she only has a relatively short sprint of a couple of hundred meters in which to try and claim victory. Both of these attributes were clearly on display in the run home.

Wealth Princess still had just under 300m left to run when Walker clicked her into gear. Her response matched her reputation. Her storming turn of foot quickly carried forward to the degree that she not only loomed as lively threat to Melito, but, for a moment, she looked likely to sweep all before her.

But this time Melito was not going to be denied.

A combination of the Gerald Ryan trained runner's fighting spirit and the fact that Wealth Princess's run once again seemed to peak inside the 100m meant that Melito had the race won as she fought on to hold a game Wealth Princess to 0.75 lengths at the line.

Beaded finished a creditable third. Culminate was fourth.

WINNER FEEDBACK
Gerald Ryan: “Great when the plan worked. We decided to ride her that way (forward into the lead) when there was not a lot of the speed in the race. Sensational ride by Corey (Brown).

"When I first saw the barriers on Thursday (Meilto drew the widest barrier) my first idea was to go straight to the front on her. I hadn’t spoken to Corey until he came out to get on her and he said the same as what I did, so we did it.

"Corey rode her terrific and dictated once she got to the front. He eased back on her and when she just arched her neck. I thought she was home.

"She’s as good as she’s ever been. She’s just a great filly. She’s got the best nature and she is relaxed. She’s quiet. Anyone who has been looking at her walking in the mounting yard in her four runs up her will have seen she certainly hasn’t lost an ounce. She has got what seven runs this prep, so if you look after them at home ... don’t gallop the heart out of her ... and she is a great filly, you know.

“I knew she came back well when she resumed. Right from when she came in. You know, we were worried after the Oaks ... after the Oaks when she pulled up we were a bit worried. (Melito was not persevered with in the Oaks when something appeared to be amiss and she finished well tailed off behind the field) But she spelled really well (Melito was off the track for four-and-a-half months) and, you know, she has just kept coming up, coming up.

"I know the gallop before her first-up run, where she got beat in a Listed race, the bloke who has ridden her in work all along since she was a baby ... he reckoned she was better than ever and that was good enough for me.

“I would like to see her get Three-Year-Old Filly of the Year. It is a credit to Reavill Racing (the syndicate who owns Melito) and that. It is well documented the story how we came to get her. Reavill has stuck by me. Right from the first time she galloped I sent John Rippon a message and I told him she was a Group 1 filly and it is just great to see it happen, you know.

"She has had here last six starts in Group 1 races and hasn’t finished further back than third. Ounce of luck ... not that she had bad luck ... but if things had fallen her way, she could have won four of them.

"She is a bloody terrific filly. She’s the best. She’s been the best for a long time. I’ve never had a three-year-old filly that can do what she’s done. I don’t think there is a three-year-old filly in Australia that has done what she’s done this preparation."

Jockey Corey Brown: “She had to work for the win. She had to race not totally out of pattern, but I was hoping that Gold Water from the bad gate, drawn just inside me, would go across and Nash (Rawiller) would lead and I would camp up just up outside him.

"If they went even quicker and Beaded kicked up beneath him I was going to sit one-one ... if I could get there, but they elected to hold me out there. I give her a little squeeze to get her across to the front. Once she got to the front I backed her off.

"I had actually asked Gerald (Ryan) beforehand would he mind if I strolled up and sat outside Gold Water, who I thought was the only speed in the race. Gerald did tell me, if you happen to get the chance to go to the front if Gold Water doesn't want to lead, he said, just rate her in front.

"After about 100m ... 150m, Nash was playing a little bit of cat-and-mouse, so I elected to go to the fence and dictate terms.

"I wouldn’t say it was all over by the time I went to the front, but I knew once she got to the 200 that she was going to be very hard to run down because I knew she was still full of momentum and full of courage. I knew it was going to take a good horse to beat me because just the way she felt. She was still full of running and she was happy to be there.

"I was a little bit concerned on straightening. Like I said I had to ride her out of her pattern. When she straightened for home, although she was travelling really well, I could hear them clicking and making runs behind me.

"I was a bit concerned then, because I didn't want them to grab me too early. It might have made a difference but, like I said, from the 200 I knew she was home.

"She has really shaped up well this preparation. The key to her is the seven furlongs ... maybe up to a mile. We tried to stretch her out last time in. We put her in the Victorian Oaks (over 2500m) and I ended up pulling her out of the race. She just wasn't right.

"She was spelled after that. That was probably a bit of a saviour actually for this preparation, but, yeah, Gerald's got the key to her this time in and the results have shown that."

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Melito): 3.40 out to 3.70.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Messenger (J. Byrne) and Deer Valley (D. Nikolic) were slow to begin. Set For fame (B. Shinn) over-raced early stages of event. Deer Valley raced wide throughout event.

A post race veterinary examination of Prima Nova (S. Scriven) revealed the mare to be lame in the near-side for leg. Trainer A. Cummings' representative will be advised that a veterinary certificate of fitness must be produced before Prima Nova again races.

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