EF NOV 14 - LEFT STANDING STRIKES AGAIN

By Matthew Grimson and Graham Potter | Monday, November 16, 2009

Eagle Farm, November 14, 2009.
Track - Good 3. Rail - out 9m.
NMW Handicap (C, G & E) - 1200m. Time: 1-09.62.
1 Left Standing; 2 Gundy Son; 3 Brigadoon Star.

Gillian Heinrich saddled her second winner at the Eagle Farm meeting when Left Standing proved to be too strong for his rivals.

“Both of the Heinrich winners were ‘come-back kids’ in a manner of speaking. Dance The Waves (Heinrich’s first winner on the card) had not won since January 2007, while Left Standing was capping off a victorious return to racing after a long injury-enforced layoff.

But the result represented even more for the jockey. Jason Holder suffered severe, career threatening injuries in a race fall at Eagle Farm in January. The long rehabilitation, the fight-back, the frustration, the focus all melted into this moment of success which Holder acknowledged by punching the air in triumph.

It has been all about taking little steps and Holder has been ticking off the boxes. Since returning to the saddle Holder has ridden some provincial winners and he also saluted at Doomben at a midweek meeting. This was his first Saturday Metropolitan winner at the scene of his greatest distress. It was important to get it out of the way. Thus the victory signal.

Holder rated Left Standing perfectly to score from pillar to post. The duo were in control throughout the contest and the four-year-old never weakened in the slightest in the final chase to the line, leaving a game Gundy Son, on whom jockey Stathi Katsidis had weaved some magic from the wide draw early on, having to settle for settle placing.

Left Standing has now won three out of twelve starts. He has also finished in the minor placings on six occasions.

WINNER FEEDBACK:
Trainer Gillian Heinrich: “You want to have a look at his hip ... it’s terrible. He injured his hip. There was a storm on and he ran into a pole and knocked his hip right down ... right down. So he’s got no hip. If you have a look at it, you can tell.

“He had to have twelve months in the paddock. We had to keep re-x-raying him, making sure that it was going the right way. Then we brought him back. We were actually just going to give him a light prep, but he’s come through this prep so well so we’ve just kept going with him. We’ll probably go again and then we’ll give him a break.

“Anyway, so he had twelve months out. He came back. First-up, he ran second and then next he won and now he’s made it two-in-a-row. So it’s a really big effort after having been forced to have that time off. The horse is going enormous. He’s done a great job.
“I think he’s quite a decent horse. I’ll see how he pulls up. I might give him one more run this time. I’ll see. He has been injured and I don’t want to hammer that injury. I don’t want to cause any further damage to that old injury.”

Jockey Jason Holder: “All of the hard work is paying off for me now, which is good. I’m getting great support from the trainers here in Queensland. To ride a winner here today was something I’m been waiting for a while. You know, there are good riders here and they keep you on your toes, which is great.

“I missed racing. Racing is my life. One thing it did teach me was to be a bit patient and to really do your best and everything else will fall into place. I’m working hard. I had to get my weight down to create opportunities, but I’m glad I’ve done so.

“Gillian Heinrich has been great. She has supported me ever since I’ve come back. The horse jumped really well and just jumped straight into the bridle. I thought, if anything beats me I’ll probably run second to it, because he just travelled well and finished his race off well.

“He’s come a long way since I first rode him at the Gold Coast a few weeks ago. He’s really on the improve that horse.”

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS:
Winner (Left Standing): 5.00 out to 5.50 in to 5.00.
Favourite (Soulima): 3.40 out to 3.70. Finished sixth.

STEWARDS REPORT EXTRACT:
General Nonsense (L. Cassidy) jumped inwards at the start, making contact with Golden Kid (M. Hellyer). Gundy Son (S. Katsidis) and Iluva Queenslander (J. Byrne) both began awkwardly.

Near the 1000m, Gundy Son improved on to the heels of Golden Kid and had to be steadied. Leaving the 800m, Brigadoon Star (P. Hammersley) improved on to the heels of Left Standing (J. Holder) and had to be steadied. J. Taylor, rider of Stature, dropped his whip near the 200m. Smokin’ Dave (M. Speers), Stature (J. Taylor) and Mohawk (K. Wharton) all raced wide for the majority of the event.

Apprentice M. Hellyer reported that he had been instructed to lead on Golden Kid, however after the horse was a little slow to begin he received tightening between General Nonsense (L. Cassidy) and Left Standing (J. Holder) and as result the horse raced further back than he would have liked.

Jockey A. Pattillo, rider of the Soulima, was found guilty of a charge under AR137(b) in that he failed to ride his mount out to the finish of the race. A. Pattillo was fined the sum of $200.

A post race veterinary examination of Soulima failed to reveal any significant abnormalities.

Holder