Trainer Happy With Crack Team Of Crocks
The Sunday Age
Sunday June 22, 2008
KILMORE trainer Peter Morgan often wonders what it would be like to have a few horses in his stable without problems, but then he would not have the pleasure he gets in winning races with them.
Morgan's team is flying at the moment and he landed a double at Moonee Valley yesterday with the filly Sanpan and Gunfire Messiah, whose problems are so chronic it was not until yesterday morning that Morgan decided to run him in the Geoff Torney Cup (1600 metres). "I was worried about him all week and it wasn't until I saw him in the sandroll this morning that I thought he was right to run," Morgan said. He said the six-year-old had problems with his fetlock joints and his back, which was why the sandroll antics were important as a horse with a bad back usually does not want to roll. After easing from $3 to $4.20 but still starting favourite, Gunfire Messiah, carrying topweight of 58.5 kilograms, held out the $51 outsider of the field Bust Up to win by a long-head, with Redhead Rage ($10) making late ground to finish third, three-quarters of a length away. Jockey Danny Brereton said the victory was full of merit and Morgan said that he might try to get Gunfire Messiah into the final of the Winter Championship to be run at Flemington on July 5. "He was unplaced in his heat, but sometimes the field in the final falls away. It will depend on how he is on the day," Morgan said. The win of Sanpan in the Goodyear Handicap (1600 metres) brought back memories of 1992 Caulfield Cup winner Mannerism, who also carried the light blue, yellow squares and red cap colours of owner-breeder Barry Griffiths and his wife Midge. Ridden by Darren Gauci, Sanpan ($9.50) won by 11/4 lengths from Kindrate ($5), with Perfect Feeling ($9) 11/2 lengths away third. It was a classy win because her rivals had every chance to run her down from the home turn, and the three-year-old now has three wins and four placings from only nine starts. At Bendigo on Friday, Morgan won with the former Lee Freedman-trained Stavka, who was having his first start in more than 15 months. Stavka, out of the former flying mare Special, has twice had bone chips removed from his knees and comes under the definition of "crock" that Morgan usually has to deal with, but he would not mind a few more like him. Probably the puzzle of the day yesterday was why a two-year-old by the shuttle stallion Street Cry out of the Carnegie mare Temple Of Peace brought only $19,500 at the Inglis Classic Yearling sale last year. Trainer Mark Kavanagh said he had no idea why it was so cheap and the gelding, named Whobegotyou, made it two wins from as many starts with victory in the Quest Moonee Valley Handicap (1200 metres). Whobegotyou started at $8 at his first start at Geelong on May 23 but he was not overlooked yesterday, going out favourite at $4 and winning most impressively. Former champion apprentice Nicholas Ryan, who is now getting his career back on track after stabilising his weight, said Whobegotyou was a horse with a future. Kavanagh said he was confident the gelding would measure up in the spring and he could even be a Derby prospect. "He's bred to get a trip and he's just so relaxed in everything he does," Kavanagh said. Jockey Vlad Duric was suspended for 12 meetings for careless riding on runner-up Bubble Act in the last race. Duric, who pleaded guilty, will be out from midnight tonight until midnight on July 4.
© 2008 The Sunday Age
