EF JULY 10 - SOLID BILLING RUNS RIVALS RAGGED
By Graham Potter | Monday, July 12, 2010
Eagle Farm, July 10, 2010.
Queensland Cup (Listed - Quality) - 3200m.
Track - Good 3. Rail - True.
Time: 3-23.14. (carrying 54kg).
1 Solid Billing; 2 Dave The Dude; 3 Mr Mayfair.
In that rarity of a race, a true 3200m staying test, the Craig Richie trained Solid Billing ran his rivals ragged in the Queensland Cup at Eagle Farm on Saturday, scoring an end to end win under a perfectly rated ride by jockey Eddie Wilkinson.
Solid Billing was all set to return to his home base at Takanini in New Zealand after his grinding fifth place finish in the Coloundra Cup the week before, but Wilkinson thought he was a 'dead-set two-miler' and he persuaded Richie to stay a week longer and back-up Solid Billing in the Queensland Cup. The rest, as they say, is history.
Wilkinson took Solid Billing to the front from the break and he allowed his mount to slide along at a steady tempo at the head of affairs.
By the time Solid Billing passed the winning post for the first time the five year old held a two length advantage over Dave The Dude and there was a similar margin back to Mr Mayfair who was racing in third place.
There was another three lengths back to the fourth placed Prix Du Sang who, in turn, was three lengths clear of Body Double, who was the next closest runner to the lead. If you add up that deficit quickly, that means Solid Billing was already ten lengths and more ahead of the two-thirds of the field at that early stage.
This race situation remained in play until Solid Billing turned into the back straight where he traveled comfortably enough to increase the tempo.
Passing the 1200m mark Solid Billing had increased his advantage to five lengths over Dave The Dude and Mr Mayfair. Prix Du Sang had dropped back towards the pack and he and the balance of the field were now twelve lengths and more out of their ground and they were about to come under serious pressure as the frontrunners showed no sign of being about to come back to their field.
On the contrary, it was becoming increasingly clear that if the leading trio maintained their tempo, the rest of the field were already 'also rans'.
Turning for home Solid Billing's lead had been cut to 2.50 lengths by the chasing Dave The Dude and Mr Mayfair but, in spite of an extremely game effort from both of them, that was the closest they were going to get to Solid Billing, who was staying on stoutly, to the degree that he could confidently be called the winner all the way in the home straight.
At the line Solid Billing recorded a winning margin of three lengths while a long neck separated Dave The Dude (second) and Mr Mayfair (third) in the minor placings.
The fourth placed Prix Du Sang finished just shy of nine lengths behind Solid Billing. Prix Du Sang was half-a-length ahead of her stable companion and favourite Tinseltown, who did pass a number of tired runners in the straight.
In essence though, it was only the winner and the two place-getters who could take any credit out of the race.
The rest were nowhere.
WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Craig Richie: "Yeah that was pretty much the plan. I said to Eddie (Wilkinson) before the race, I said, look mate ... it's up to you, because he is not an easy horse to ride.
"He is the sort of horse if you fight him, he will just pull and then he doesn't really finish his races off. I said, look if you go too early and you get collared it is my fault. So I said to Eddie he was able to do whatever he wanted to.
"After Coloundra (where Solid Billing finished fifth, four lengths behind Ironstein in the Coloundra Cup over 2400m) I was going to take him home. I was ready to be negative about it. Eddie got off him and said, he is a two-miler this horse. He said he is a dead-set two-miler and that next week would be perfect for him.
"He said he'd do that with no worries at all. I said ok. Because of the way he goes I didn't think he would get two miles, but Eddie convinced me to stay. So we did on Eddie's advice.
"Eddie and I go way back. He was apprenticed to my dad and although I was away either in Sydney working for Bart Cummings or I was in England working for John Dunlop a lot of the time when he was apprenticed, I knew him fairly well, but only off and on to be honest.
"Look, it was just a super ride. If you ask a jockey to do what he did today ... to rate a horse perfectly over 3200m ... they think you are mad. Eddie did a great job of doing that, because it is very hard to put into words what the horse needs.
"Eddie's been riding the horse in work. He's ridden him the last two starts to get to know him and, you know, the horse was still suspect at the distance going into the race. I'll be honest, I didn't think he would get two miles. To me it was fifty-fifty at best. But it is all about making split decisions, particularly in this game.
"I've been training in my own right for four or five years and well, this is probably my biggest winner now stakes-wise. I won the Summer Cup (at Randwick) with this horse (when beating Zazabeau and Rockwood over 2400m). I think that was a Group 3, but it was worth $125000. This is Listed race but worth $150000, so I don't know how you would classify them.
Jockey Eddie Wilkinson: "Look, he is a tough horse. He likes to roll along at his own speed. I must give the accolades to the trainer. He is a really hard horse to train.
"He had it perfect today. The horse ran very well in the Coloundra Cup. He ran hard early and boxed on to run fifth. It was a nice race to bring him on to this and I thought he would be hard to beat today.
"Yeah, I did four years apprenticeship with the Richies. Then I went to Moroney as stable rider when I finished my time. I came to Australia in 1994. I spent two years here with Bruce (McLachlan). Then three in Melbourne. I was freelance there but riding mainly for Freedman, and then had five years in Singapore. I took a couple of breaks and came back and now things have come full circle with the Richies.
PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Solid Billing): 7.50 in to 5.50.
Favourite (Tinseltown): 2.40 out to 2.90 in to 2.80. Finished fifth.
STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Dave The Dude (C. Munce) was slow to begin. Carry Me Baby (R. Wiggins) and Benaura Girl (P. Hammersley) came together and made contact at the start.
Shortly after the start when caught wide, Tinseltown(S. Katsidis) commenced to over-race for a short distance when being restrained. Dave The Dude (C. Munce) raced wide in the early stages.
Near the 1000m, Don Vito (J. Bowditch) improved up to the inside of Benaura Girl (P. Hammersley) and had to be steadied.
Stewards sought an explanation from S. Katsidis, rider of Tinseltown, regarding the tactics employed on that gelding, which resulted in him settling in a position near the tail of the field.
S. Katsidis stated that he was instructed to obtain cover as the gelding has a tendency to over-race when racing without cover. He added that after the start he was caught very wide from his outside barrier and rather than urge Tinseltown forward and risk the horse then over-racing he elected to take hold and position the gelding towards the rear of the field closer to the fence behind Matter Of Priority.
S. Katsidis further added that during the middle stages he was reluctant to leave his trailing position to move forward as Tinseltown was a risk at running out a strong 3200m and explained that the horse was positioned close enough to the leaders rounding the home turn, in his opinion, to be a winning chance.
Trainer M. Moroney concurred with S. Katsidis's comments and added that he was a little disappointed with the horse's finishing effort.
Stewards sought an explanation from M. Cahill as to the reasons he did not place Prix Du Sang under pressure during the middle stages in order to take closer order to the leading division when it appeared he was in a position to do so.
M. Cahill stated that from leaving the 1400m he was aware that the leading division were opening up a considerable margin over the rest of the field, however he was reluctant to place Prix Du Sang under more pressure at that point as the horse was traveling kindly and he felt it would be detrimental to the horse's chances to place it under further pressure at that point.
M. Cahill added that he felt he was a winning chance on the home turn, however Prix Du Sang only finished the race off fairly.
Trainer M. Moroney concurred with M. Cahill's assessment and under the circumstances was satisfied with the performance of Prix Du Sang.
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