DOOM OCT 1 - BETTER THAN READY CANES HIS OPPOSITION IN EMPHATIC STYLE

By Graham Potter | Monday, October 1, 2012

Doomben, October 1, 2012.
Track - Slow 6. Rail - out 1m.
QTIS Three-year-old Handicap (No sex restriction) - 1110m.
1 Better Than Ready; 2 Snipzu; 3 Lady Colours; 4 Gibberer.
Time: 1-05.23. Last 600: 34.44.
Margins: 2.30; 0.20.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Kelly Schweida: “That was a bit more like him. I was a bit worried when they went 200m, but Ric (McMahan) has keeps telling me that he has got to be ridden quiet.

“No, I’ve never doubted his ability. Not at all! We’ve just trying to get him to show in a race what he’s shown us all along.

“He’s always gone good in trials. None of his wins … or maybe his first win was something like we thought, but he just does a lot wrong.

“I changed a bit of gear to keep his mouth shut a little bit. Today’s effort was a little bit of what we have being seeing all along, you know. I think the field was ok and he was pretty good at the finish.

“He is an impressive colt. I was a bit worried with the 59 today on the slow track. Sure Ric has been telling me that riding him quiet was the way to go with him, but I’ve been wanting to teach him … because he is by More Than Ready out of a sprinting mare and sometimes you get into a lot of trouble going back … so I wanted him to be a bit versatile.
I wanted to teach him to get up there, you know.

“The other day (when he finished third in his last start, just 0.60 lengths behind Reflectance) we thought there were two horses inside us that would go quick and we thought Wakefield’s horse would come over and we thought we would drop in behind. Of course it didn’t work out that way. He’s also always been a bit tardy away and I told Kirk (Matheson) on that occasion to dig him out the gates.

“I think, the other day, if he was running third he probably still gets away with it. He still hasn’t shown what he has showed me before. I think he is a good horse.”

Jockey Ric McMahon: “He’s always shown good ability. Today from the awkward alley I just rode him a bit quieter. Just the other day he led … he wanted to run through the bridle a bit and did a bit wrong, so Kelly took the visor off him and put a cross-over nose-band on and I just rode him quiet.

“They ran along at a good clip too. He was entitled to run home a little bit, but the way he did it was pretty emphatic.

“The other day he ran through the bridle and had his mouth open. He got galloped on at the half-mile and then he was inclined to hang out so I’m tipping when he got galloped on it might have hurt him a bit, because he never let down at all. So a lot went wrong the other day.

“I do think this is the way to ride him. His three wins now he has come from quite a fair way off them … with a genuine tempo and he has run over the top of them.

“Today was possibly his best win I reckon. In saying that, I did really get a really good run up and did no work but when I came out he really let down.

“Things did open up for me in the run, but I was always bolting. That was going to be my only problem … making sure he got a clear run. I was probably about five off them coming into the straight. I was always confident he was going good enough to pick them up. He just needed clear running which he got.

“The pace possibly set it up for me as well. They were rolling along in front. On paper it did look like that was going to happen, but it doesn’t always pan out like that. Today, though, things worked out perfectly.”

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
Trainer K. Schweida advised stewards that it would be the intention for Better Than Ready (R. McMahon) not to lead. The horse was ridden in a rearward position.

As D. Robinson was unable to be overweight, J. Byrne was substituted as the rider of Heartfelt Quest. Subject to any further submissions from D. Robinson, a fine of $100 will be imposed.

Trainer H. Page was advised that a warning was being placed on Perfect Glory (C. Munce), which was difficult to load. Tralfaz (D. Browne) and Final Impression (J. Lloyd) made heavy contact on jumping away. Sippin'bundy (J. Stanley) was slow to begin.

Tralfaz and Final Impression raced wide throughout.

Near the 800m Tralfaz commenced to over-race and was tightened for room between Heartfelt Quest (J. Byrne) and Ten Gauge which shifted in. Although stewards were mindful of the racing characteristics of Tralfaz, G. Colless (Ten Gauge) was nonetheless advised to exercise more care when shifting ground.

Perfect Glory wanted to hang out rounding the turn near the 700m.

A post-race veterinary examination of Tralfaz, which performed below market expectations, revealed no abnormalities.