Change of luck
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Eddie Wilkinson guides Noble Gaze to the line (Noel Pascoe photo) |
Noble Gaze changed the luck of trainer Robert Heathcote’s recent drought from the winner’s circle on a Saturday metropolitan meeting by claiming the recent $50,000 IDEC Solutions Handicap 1350m at City Pacific Doomben.
“Certainly from a personal perspective it was nice to be back in the winner’s circle,” Heathcote said.
“I’ve had a dreadful run of seconds. I’ve probably had a dozen in the city, all beaten in photos. But fortunately for Noble Gaze, he turned it around for us.”
Ridden by Eddie Wilkinson, Noble Gaze (G6 Intergaze-Dream’s Delight) travelled nicely behind early leader Sweet As before sprinting away at the 200 metre mark.
“Our tactics were to go forward but not with aggression, just let him roll forward and it worked out a treat with Sweet As taking the lead and giving us a lovely sit just behind it. The horse just kicked strong in the straight,” Heathcote said.
Rampant Lion (Brad Pengelly) finished one and a quarter lengths behind and fought hard to claim second place against Tropical Express (Jason Taylor) who was only half a head back in third place. Daunting Lad finished fifth and jockey Sheree Drake was questioned by Stewards after a misjudged run on the $2.60 race-favourite.
“We were quietly confident he would run a mighty race on Saturday (February 23) and he did paying super odds. He was definitely much better than a $20 to one chance,” Heathcote said.
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Noble Gaze and winning connections after claiming the IDEC Solutions Handicap at Doomben
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“Even my friends thought Daunting Lad would be hard to beat, but that’s racing. You go in and take your chances and Eddie Wilkinson got a late minute call up when Glen Colless couldn’t make the weight and he did a super job on him.”
The win was Noble Gaze’s third start this preparation for the trainer. “He trialled brilliantly twice post EI and we were very confident that we were going to have a good preparation with him. But his first race he got caught wide in a speed battle which bought about his undoing and a couple of weeks later he ran on a wet track and stopped. I was absolutely convinced it was only the wet track that did it because his trackwork leading into the race was brilliant,” Heathcote said.
In 47 starts, Noble Gaze has provided his owners with a lot of fun winning over $252,000 in prizemoney including 12 wins.
“There are no plans, we continue along and keep looking for the wins along the way. We’ll enjoy the spoils as they come along without any set targets. It’s fair to say that he is not absolutely top draw but he has given the owners and connections a lot of pleasure that’s for sure.
“When you are racing for prizemoney like that, we’ve certainly had a lot of fun with him,” Heathcote said.
QUEENSLAND Racing web news: Claire Power – February 25
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