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Saturday Post Mortem with Chris Scholtz

by Chris Scholtz , 6 years ago

3 minute read

Chris Scholtz reviews racing around Australia on February 3.

THE STARS

KERRIN McEVOY: Outstanding return to the spotlight landing four winners at just his second meeting after six weeks on the sidelines recovering from a wrist injury.

CHRIS WALLER: Shared the honours with McEvoy rolling out four winners led by his gun two-year-olds Performer and Fiesta.

TRAPEZE ARTIST: Wow! Doesn't this big boy fire when the blinkers go on!

NATHAN McPHERSON/EURACK: Roof tiler and part-time trainer is doing a great job keeping this rising sprinter unbeaten in four starts.

TONY McEVOY/KINKY BOOM: Super debut by a top shelf filly. The lessons McEvoy learned at Lindsay Park have made him a one of the best in the business with two-year-olds.

DARREN WEIR/CLIFF’S EDGE: Fine training to bring this classy colt back with a first-up win over 1200m. Genuine Australian Guineas contender.

PAUL GATT: Dominated the Morphettville card with three wins.

TALKING POINTS

STEWARDS – DO YOUR JOB! Two big issues that are squarely in the stewards court and need addressing are the whip rules and apprentice’s taking rides when they are unable to claim their full allowance.

WHIP RULES - It’s obvious the stewards continue to struggle to apply the whip rules that they formulated. There are breaches that should bring protests into play almost every day of the week but there seems to be an unwritten law among riders and stewards not to go down that path. And the jockeys know they are rarely going to be suspended as stewards continue to apply cheap fines that are no more than a slap on the wrist. It’s seems to be all in the too hard basket (the majority in the industry still maintain that we don’t need these rules) but if we must have whip restrictions that appease the welfare lobby, then please take it all back to the table and start over again.

APPRENTICE ALLOWANCES - Stewards have to crack down hard on apprentices taking metropolitan rides when they cannot claim their full allowance. Claims of up to 3kg are there for a reason as it reflects an apprentice’s experience and skill level yet we see far too many cases of a 3kg claimer, for example, claiming only 1kg because they are too heavy! It’s tantamount to a senior jockey riding overweight and basically robs punters and the connections of horses who engage the kids of a fair go! The stewards need to come down hard and make the young riders more accountable!

BOUQUETS AND BRICKBATS

KAONIC: The jury is out – big betting drift told the story but future clouded by post-race report that he was mildly lame.

MEMES: Saddle slipped at the start. Was aiming a bit high but this was a forgive run

CHRIS WALLER/VAUCLUSE BAY: One day he’s ridden up on speed, next time he’s out the back again! Please stop baffling punters and the horse with confusing tactics – my view is he goes best on pace!

DANNY WILLIAMS: Fine horseman has made an outstanding return to training from his near fatal accident. He’s got a real talent in Don’t Give A Damn to lead his strong Country Championship team.

JEAN DUBOIS: Talented French trainer is based in the southern highlands and knows what he’s about with his horses. This was his first Sydney win but he did land a plunge in last year’s Albury Cup with Green Sweet.

AARON PURCELL: Winners at Monee Valley (Friday night), Caulfield and Morphettville continue the fine job he has done since taking the stable reins from the suspended Ciaron Maher. He should make the most of the next seven weeks before Maher returns at the end of March.

MICK TUBMAN/WINONA COSTIN: The veteran Kembla Grange trainer and his former apprentice are back together with another good horse Bye See. Remember their fairytale ride with this mare’s dam Chance Bye.

RIDE OF THE DAY

Plenty of contenders but we’ll leave it as a split between Kerrin McEvoy for his weaving effort on Fiesta at Rosehill and Craig Williams sweeping home from last on Kinky Boom at Caulfield.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“When I go to the doctor's now they go through the records and say, 'You've got heart problems, kidney problems, blood pressure problems' - I'm just getting old, that's all." – veteran trainer Mick Tubman tells it like it is.

THEY SAID IT

• "That money gets us to the big dance. Three weeks out it's too hard to pass up when you have a filly of this ability." – Tony McEvoy’s Blue Diamond hopes for the impressive Kinky Boom.

• "She's pretty special and she's going to attract a big following now. I'm going to have to get used to this for a little while longer.” – rookie trainer Nathan McPherson coming to terms with his success with Eurack.

• “I was happy at the 100 metres but concerned the last five. He is still learning and is where I want him to be.” – Performer’s trainer Chris Waller.

• "You can't pigeonhole Performer. He doesn't give me the normal Slipper feel. Whether he is just a speed horse I’m not so sure but he is a nice colt going forward.” – Kerrin McEvoy’s view.

• "I have a big wrap on this bloke. It's always the sign of a good horse when they win at their first start and in the rain to boot. I think he can win a stakes race," trainer Rob Heathcote’s hopes for debut winner Pinch Memory.

• "He's won at weight-for-age now so we may well take on Winx next. He is much stronger than he was last time and I would love to win another Group One with him while he is a three-year-old.” – Gerald Ryan outlines plans for Trapeze Artist.

• “I had good rides. It's always nice to get on the board early and blow the cobwebs out." – Kerrin McEvoy’s delight on his big day at Rosehill.

• “I’ve always felt he's a Doncaster horse. It's just a matter of whether he's going to get enough rating points between now and then.” - Danny Williams is aiming high with Don’t Give A Damn.

• “We were talking about spelling him three starts ago. Fortunately we didn't because he's got a bit of money in the bank now. He's just a good advertisement for our stable.” – Chris Waller on the winning form of Cellarman.

• “He's a beauty. He's just a real racehorse. He's on a Guineas path.” – Darren Weir was delighted with the first-up win by the classy Cliff’s Edge.

• “We didn't know if she was good enough but there you go. With get-back sprinters, you always need luck - it didn't work out at all last start, today it's worked out really well." – Aaron Purcell on his upset Caulfield winner Lady Esprit.

• "He's a horse that wasn't going anywhere six months ago. He's probably matured a bit and he might even be better in another six months as there's not much of him.” – Anthony Freedman on his progressive stayer Bedford.

THE SACK FILE

FLOW: Has earned free milk for the next 12 months. Meow!!

GLOBAL GLAMOUR: Not quite on the milk cart but she is struggling to get back to her best.

SAMADOUBT: One dimensional. Needs all the favours.

LAST WEEK: They should check the brands. Must be two of him.

WILLI WILLI: Another one to lose lengths from his Flemington win.

BLACKBOOK

STRATOSPHERE: Obvious talent with big scope for improvement.

PROBLEM SOLVER: Negative ride from the start cost her a win.

TIARA STAR: Fine effort second up from long spell. Going well.

MORE ENERGY: Building nicely for a suitable distance event.

INSENSATA: Genuine mare. Best against own sex.

OVERSHARE: Excellent second after working hard. Best to come.


Racing and Sports

tags

FLOW GLOBAL GLAMOUR SAMADOUBT LAST WEEK WILLI WILLI STRATOSPHERE PROBLEM SOLVER TIARA STAR MORE ENERGY INSENSATA OVERSHARE

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