OUR LUKAS DOES IT EASY

By Graham Potter | Monday, June 15, 2009

The Robert Heathcote trained Our Lukas scored an untroubled end to end win in the Listed Ipswich Cup on Saturday.

The five-year-old gelding was allowed to dictate the speed of the race throughout the contest. With energy saved in the bank due to being allowed such a soft lead, it was no surprise when Our Lukas kicked away strongly in the straight to leave his rivals floundering. Their race was run without ever posing a threat to the winner. Our Lukas had outgunned them. Larry Cassidy had out-thought them. The win was all too easy.

The fact that Cassidy was the only rider to seize the opportunity took the bite out of the contest. The lack of response from the opposition for the first 1700m ... their reluctance to show any real fight ... turned the race into a pedestrian affair with an entirely predictable finale in the home straight.

That is not to take anything away from the winner. Given the way Our Lukas was turned out, he probably would have won anyway and all credit must go to the Heathcote team. It just would have made it more interesting and a better spectacle if some of the other runners had shown more commitment to getting a result.

When the field seemed to be lining up for a crack at Our Lukas approaching the home turn, that was just an illusion. The truth was it was Cassidy who was stacking them up, preparing to shoot them down. The fact that they came home quicker over last 600m in this 2150m event (in 34.98 seconds) than they did in the 1350m Eye Liner (35.93 seconds) says it all.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Robert Heathcote (who was away at Rockhampton where he won with Maraquitas): “I was confident the horse the horse was going to be running a big race – win, lose or draw. My job had been done, you know, and I’ve got other horses, so yeah I had to go Rockhampton, but it was a good day wasn’t it?

“I told Larry (Cassidy) to be aggressive. I’ve seen too much carnage go on at the winning post corner and I’ve said to Larry, come out aggressive and be there. If you come out and you try to find a position when they hit that corner ... Ipswich has always got a great racing surface but, it is fair to say that the turns are, you know, probably five degrees sharper than most other tracks and that tends to unbalance a lot of horses ... and with a big field that can create problems. I said to Larry to be aggressive mate. When he actually passed the winning post (first time around) and found the fence, and they just all were happy to sit behind him, I had a smile from ear to ear.

“The thing that has pleased me the most ... and I’ve always had a bit of an opinion about Our Lukas that’s why I’ve kinda looked after him a little bit ... was that even though it was step up in distance, his three races over a mile (prior to the Cup) were good, hard, solid runs. So that set him really nicely to go to 2150m ... but, as it turned out, it was probably only another mile race anyway.

“It’s a pleasure to train these type of horses because you don’t know where the bottom of the tank is. I certainly haven’t touched it yet. Everything I do with him he seems to go to a new level.”

Jockey Larry Cassidy: “I knew I was going to be forward. I was happy to lead if nothing wanted to because I know that he runs the journey. He began well and I just let him roll down the straight. I got him into a nice even tempo ... a nice breathing pattern. He likes to be able to control the tempo. I just knew he would outstay them which he did.

"Yeah, there were no real moves to test me early. If there had been a move ... if something had come around and attacked, I would have just let him slide a bit quicker. We didn’t go that quick. We just went a nice even tempo. He was able to sustain that and have a bit of a dash at the furlong. One thing he can do is dash at the end of a staying race.

“I spoke to Robert (Heathcote) on Thursday and he said, just go forward and ride him confidently. If he ends up in front all well and good ... or outside the leader. That was pretty much the plan. One thing he did say was, just win!

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Our Lukas): 4.00 out to 4.40 in to 3.80.
The winner was the favourite.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
A post race veterinary examination of Obvious Choice revealed the gelding to be slightly lame in the off-fore leg and have a slow heart rate recovery. Trainer P. Messara will be advised that a veterinary certificate of clearance must be produced before Obvious Choice races again.

A post race veterinary examination of Sphenophyta revealed the gelding to be making an abnormal respiratory noise. Trainers R. & C. Otto will be advised that a veterinary clearance and results of an endoscopic examination must be produced prior to Sphenophya racing again.