EF AUG 07 - DEACON BACK TO HIS BEST

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Eagle Farm, August 7, 2010.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 3m.
Open Handicap - 1815m.
1 Deacon; 2 Shuffle The Cash; 3 Sir Kingsford.

The David Murphy trained Deacon returned to his best form when coming home under a finely judged ride from Michael Cahill to claim the ninth win of his career at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

It was the gelding’s second win in his last three starts and this city win cemented the impression gained when he stormed home to win over 1400m at the Sunshine Coast on July 11 and when he hit the line strongly when beaten by Fifteen Carat and Bold Glance in the Listed Tattersall’s Mile, namely that the Zabeel seven-year-old was on his way back.

The step up to 1800m suited him better this time around and he should even enjoy more ground. But a lot of patience had to be exercised before Deacon showed his true form again as, for some time, the son of Zabeel was lagging way behind the potential he had promised earlier in his career.

Deacon contested four races between July 30, 2008 and September 2008 and he won three of those starts over distances ranging from 1300m to 1615m.

At the end of that sequence, Deacon had won five of his ten starts and he had only finished out of the first three places on one occasion.

The gelding was seemingly on his way up, but his momentum slowed and he recorded only one more win in his next ten starts. That win came on July 18, 2009 over 2200m in the ninth run of a busy preparation which had kicked off back in April of that year. Two more runs and another win completed that fifth preparation.

Deacon’s sixth preparation yielded little. He never finished closer than seventh place in five starts over distances ranging from 1350m to 2020m. He was then put out for five months and returned to action on June 6, 2010.

Three runs in and Deacon became an eight-time winner when scoring at the Sunshine Coast. His subsequent strong showing in the Tattersall’s Mile put the writing on the wall for the success that arrived at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

Deacon jumped superbly and landed in the leading line. Cahill had no intention to lead though and the rider was happy to let Rebounded move past him.

When Toubouggie Woogie (who went to the lead from Rebounded) and Shuffle The Cash (who settled third) came across from the outside of the field, Deacon settled in a comfortable fourth placing. Cahill was giving him the run of the race along the inside running rail. Sir Kingsford settled fifth, racing outside Deacon.

Deacon went back one further position when Bugsytwoshoes, who could not get in from his wide draw, made a forward move to go up to join Toubouggie Woogie at the head of affairs, but Deacon remained no more than four lengths off the leaders.

These runners held station in the first half of the sweep to the turn, but on the final approach to the home bend there were moves aplenty and runners lined themselves up for their final chase to the line.

Tobouggie Woogie (on the inside), Bugsytwoshoes (two wide) and Shuffle The Cash (three wide) straightened alongside each other, disputing the lead. Out wider, Sir Kingsford was also in clear running, perfectly poised to strike. Rebounded was stuck in behind the heels of the leading trio while Cahill had maneuvered Deacon off the rail and he was now tracking Sir Kingsford into the race.

Halfway up the straight and Tobouggie Woogie was the first to cry enough. Bugsytwoshoes went up to head that one, but he in turn gave way to Shuffle The Cash as the grey hit the front with 200m left to run. In behind that, Sir Kingsford was battling on well enough to stay in contention. Rebounded was still there, but he had no clear run to the line which ultimately compromised his chances.

Deacon, for his part, had taken time to go through his gears, but he was building momentum now and starting to close in on his target. Once fully wound up, Deacon swept into real contention, but he had to deal with the stubborn resistance of Shuffle The Cash before he could claim the honours.

The latter sustained his effort all the way to the line, but Deacon took his measure when it mattered most to claim the decision by a head. Shuffle The Cash was second. Sir Kingsford finished third.

Jockey Michael Cahill gave a salute short of the line. He was not so much signaling victory but was rather giving his own farewell wave to race-caller Wayne Wilson who was calling his last race at Eagle Farm after an illustrious career going back over many decades.

To win a race in these circumstances clearly gave Cahill a genuine thrill. Seldom has he smiled so much when bringing back a winner.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Jockey Michael Cahill: “He is a nice horse. He is a well-bred Zabeel … a maturing Zabeel. He is probably racing in the peak of his career now.

“He relaxed good enough. They didn’t go all that quick that’s why he was a bit closer in the run. I would have liked them to have gone a bit quicker. I had to wait a little before I could get him to the other side. Once he found open space and got into the clear … I had to stand over him a bit … but he toughed it out to the finish and got to the line good.

“He is a capable horse and when he gets things to suit he can win those sort of races.

“I’ve just got to say one other thing. Wayne Wilson has been a great caller for so many years. He’s called a lot of big race winners so it was a real thrill for me to win his last official call here at Eagle Farm.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Deacon): 4.20 out to 4.80.
Favourite (Tobouggie Woogie): 3.40 out to 3.70. Finished ninth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
M. Cahill, rider of Deacon, was fined $200 in that he made a celebratory gesture prior to the winning post.

Go Cart (R. Wiggins), Kinsmate (J. Taylor) and Yield Curve (J. Byrne) were slow to begin.

Bugsytwoshoes (M. Walker) raced wide in the early stages.

Yield Curve shifted out to improve from the 1000m and raced wide from that point onwards. Near the 700m, Sir Kingsford (C. Munce) shifted out, forcing Yield Curve wider on the track.

Passing the 600m, Shuffle The Cash shifted out to obtain clear running and in doing so made contact with Sir Kingsford, causing both horses to become unbalanced.

Rebounded (J. Wood) was unable to obtain clear running at any stage from the 500m onwards. Deacon was held up for clear running rounding the home turn.

Leaving the 200m, Tobouggie Woogie (S. Seamer) was inconvenienced when tightened for room to the inside of Rebounded, which shifted in.

Over the concluding stages, Sir Kingsford was tightened for room and had to be steadied between Shuffle The Cash and Deacon, which shifted in under pressure.

Stewards sought an explanation from S. Seamer regarding the seemingly disappointing performance of Tobouggie Woogie.

S. Seamer stated that he was obliged to race wide in the early stages and he was forced to press forward and take up an uncustomary leading position and this, in his opinion, may have had an effect on the horse's capacity to finish the race off. S. Seamer added that Tobouggie Woogie may not have backed up from its last start at Doomben on 31 July 2010.

C. Gilby, rider of Able Seaman, pleaded guilty to a charge under AR137A(5)(ii), in that he used his whip in a forehand manner in excess of 5 times prior to the 100m.

C. Gilby was suspended from riding in races for a period covered by 8 meetings. Stewards ordered the term of suspension be served concurrently with the penalty handed down for a breach of the same rule on 24 July 2010.

In addition, stewards acting under AR92A(2) ordered jockey Gilby to attend 3 remedial sessions with Racing Queensland Riding Skills panel members, one of which must be conducted prior to his riding commitments on Tuesday, 10 August.

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