Doomben Review: Nathan Exelby looks back at winners and losers from Saturday’s Brisbane meeting

DOOMBEN review brings you an all-compassing breakdown of what the beaten brigade and the big winners had to say at Saturday’s Brisbane meeting.

THE Courier Mail racing editor Nathan Exelby reviews Saturday’s Doomben meeting, with comments from the beaten division and the big winners.

RACE 1

GATTON trainer Brenton Andrew notched his first Saturday city winner when Royal Hussy held off Collywobble to win the opener.

“The programming of the two-year-old races has made it very hard,” Andrew said.

“It meant we had to go straight from 1050m to 1350m last time and that just left her vulnerable at the end. I knew she would be a lot fitter today.”

Andrew has only held a license for the past 12 months and has a team of 10 in work.

“The key is getting better horses and we’re starting to get a bit of support now,” he said.

THE BEATEN DIVISION

Ben Currie (Trainer runner-up Collywobble)

“I thought my bloke was a bit stiff. She gave the winner a peach and I just lost a length when she got going.”

Luke Dittman (jockey third Stryking Stunnah)

“She just missed it half a length and that meant I had to do more work than I wanted getting to the front and it just left her a bit vulnerable late.”

RACE 2

RYAN Wiggins tipped Darley discard Torbay to “keep winning races” after a solid staying effort to win his first Saturday race.

THE FAVOURITE

Kaiser Franz, 4th

“From the half mile onwards I was just jammed in there. He needed to get into the clear, but the run never came,” jockey Damian Browne said.

RACE 3

L'entrecote gains the upper hand on the outside to take out the third race. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography

PUNTERS ignored the 595 days and 18 runs between wins and came up trumps after plonking on the enigmatic L’Entrecote at Doomben.

There were a few hairy moments at the top of the straight, but jockey Damian Browne said he was never concerned.

“I wanted to get in the clear, but I didn’t want to go. I saw it opening up on the inside, so I knew I had an out if the run didn’t come on the outside,” Browne said. “He’s not the sort of horse you want to get to the front too soon on.”

THE BEATEN DIVISION

Old Smokey, 3rd

“He’s coming along very nicely. That was a tidy effort,” trainer Brian Smith said.

RACE 4

WICKED Intent became one of the few three-year-olds to beat older horses in Open company in Brisbane with a sustained display of speed on Saturday.

Very few 3YO’s take on older horses these days and outside of stakes races, Wicked Intent is the first member of his age group to win an Open company race in Brisbane since Ferment in July 2013.

“What a relief,” trainer Chris Munce said. “He’s had a few niggling issues this horse, but this was the best I’ve had him going into a race since I started training him. The only worry was that he might be one gallop short, so he’s done a really good job.”

RACE 5

Luke Dittman returns to scale on Beatniks. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography

STEVE O’Dea thinks talented mare Beatniks is now ready to fully deliver on what her talent has long promised.

“She had a chip taken out of her hind fetlock and she was always a mare that was a bit soft,” he said.

“She’s a bit different now. I thought they might have been a bit sharp for her, so it’s good to see her come back so well. Hopefully she can be competitive in a carnival race for mares now.”

THE BEATEN DIVISION

Stewards quizzed Jim Byrne, who eased up late on Satirical Lass after striking traffic trouble.

Chief stipe Allan Reardon said the mare should have been beaten about 4L, rather than the much bigger official margin.

“In any case, she wasn’t going to finish in the first five,” Reardon said. Byrne was issued with a reminder to ride his mounts out to the line.

RACE 6

Col 'N' Lil (left) shows her genuine ability. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography

BEN Currie pointed out Col ‘N’ Lil had been mixing it with names like Winx last winter, so there was never any doubt she had the class to be winning in Saturday city grade.

What Currie was concerned about was whether the mare would find the 1350m too sharp, but once Jimmy Orman settled her in a prominent spot, the trainer’s confidence spiked.

“He’s given it an absolute gun run,” he said.

THE RUNNER-UP

Barry Lockwood’s affection for Liberation continues to be tested.

“He let down awesome, but pulled up just as quick,” jockey Brad Pengelly told him.

Lockwood noted Liberation has to have every single thing go right for him in a race. “He’s a bugger of a horse,” he said.

THE PLONK

Deconstructed was freely available at $6 everywhere on Saturday morning, but bookies put up $2.80 and punters then backed him to $2.30! Damian Browne ran into dead ends for the second time on the day.

“He’s not a horse that likes being cluttered among others. He’s better when he can get into a rhythm away from horses. When we ran into that first jam, he just resented it,” Browne said.

RACE 7

OAK ‘N’ Arthur was the least fancied of the trio coming out of the Heart Of A Warrior race last time, but landed the prize nonetheless when Beau Appo brought him to the outside.

ONE MORE

James Orman told trainer Brian Smith topweight Loch’s Legend came up one run short.

“He just needed that again. He’s going good. He loomed up to win but just peaked on his run,” Orman said.

RACE 8

Big Tree takes out the final race at Doomben. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography

BREEDER and part-owner Tom Ware could recall a horse running seven consecutive seconds in a former life in Sydney and had been hoping Big Tree wouldn’t break that record.

The Peter Balzen-trained Big Tree had earned the title of Queensland’s unluckiest horse with his string of placings, mostly off bad barriers.

He drew badly again on Saturday, but jockey Brad Stewart reached into his bag of magic and conjured the perfect ride to land Big Tree a winner.

“You always need a bit of luck and the fast pace helps,” Stewart said. “I thought it would be on the cards (fast pace) and that’s the way it worked out.”

Originally published as Doomben Review: Nathan Exelby looks back at winners and losers from Saturday’s Brisbane meeting