Calm Bowman’s risk pays off
There is a bit of magic about how Hugh Bowman got victories out of three-year-olds Golden Mile and Sharp ‘N’ Smart at Randwick on Saturday.
Time will probably prove the pair were the best of the bunch in the Callander-Presnell and Spring Champion Stakes,but without the calm efficiency of Bowman,they could have easily been on the wrong side of the result.
Bowman worked with the situation he found himself in with both of them,and on Golden Mile only produced the whip twice to keep the Caulfield Guineas winner’s mind on the job as he came from well back to beat Communist.
“He is so genuine,the horse,that he was giving his best and wanted to win,” Bowman said. “He had to work to get the other horse,but he has a real quality about him that was clear out there.”
Bowman admitted after Sharp ‘N’ Smart’s win in the Spring Champion Stakes that if he had been beaten the blame would have been on him.
But there was some genius as Bowman elected to be three-wide but close enough to the front on Sharp ‘N’ Smart. That allowed him to exploit his horse’s strengths of being the strongest stayer.
“I was prepared to put my head on the chopping block to ride him where I wanted to ride him and if it didn’t come off,I would have been to blame,” Bowman said. “I did have confidence in him.
“I didn’t think I could spot those horses many lengths and run them down,and I think that was proven. The reason I was able to win was because I was camped on their backs throughout.”
Bowman will stay in Sydney on Saturday to ride Lost and Running in the Nature Strip Stakes and Fangirl in the Golden Eagle,but endorsed Sharp ‘N’ Smart as a possible Victoria Derby winner.
“He was screaming out for these distances and now that he’s got to them,he’d have to be a live chance in the VRC Derby. I wish I could go and ride him,” Bowman said.
“It is a case[of] choosing where your best chances are for the day and for myself it was here[on Saturday] and again next week.”
Stewards review lightning policy after Manikato
Racing Victoria stewards’ decision to send the Manikato Stakes field out on the track after a delay caused by a lightning storm on Friday night looked foolish as jockeys and horses scrambled back to the safety of the mounting yard.
Chief steward Robert Cram said procedures were followed before a lightning strike close to the track ended the night as the Manikato field entered the track.
“It was a bad look but the storm cell that hit us as the horses went onto the track came up out of nowhere on the radar,” Cram said. “We were disappointed because it was dangerous.”
Victorian Jockeys Association boss Matt Hyland will be part of the review.
“On reflection,that[trying to run the Manikato] was probably the wrong option to take,” Hyland said. “As it turned out,it was too risky to send them out. That’s easy to say after the ball.
“If that lightning[struck] during the running of the race,everyone knows[how bad it could have been].”
“There were no jockeys who raised the fact they didn’t want to ride,but they’re relying on the information the stewards are getting. The stewards are solely responsible for managing this process.”
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Mahagoni might miss the Four Pillars after win
David Payne started the spring preparation hoping to get Mahagoni,Adios Steve and Tympanist to the Four Pillars at Rosehill on Saturday,but he might be left with only two of the three in the $500,000 race because the preparation of Mahagoni has been too good.
The handicapper will have the final say on Mahagoni’s Four Pillars hopes after he was a winner again on Saturday.
“He is racing in great form,but his rating might just see him get too much weight,” Payne said. “I wouldn’t want to run under an enormous weight and that might happen,given it is a benchmark 68.
“The other two should get in the field and are both are going to be very well suited at the 1500m. We looked at this race a long way out and I think we are going to go close to winning it.”
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