A whole-Hearted effort
He had his heart set on it for months and Heart of the Citi came through for trainer Pat Duff in the $1Million Conrad Jupiters Magic Millions 3YO Trophy 1400m.
“We set him up for this race a good few months ago and this was the race we wanted and we were happy to get it. This here’s a brilliant racehorse,” said Duff.
It was a race not free from controversy as there were several cases of interference from the back.
“He got a bit of a ruck in there and for a while it didn’t look too good, but he’s a good racehorse, a very good racehorse.”
Brad Pengelly had the ride and managed to get through the trouble to chase hard for the line. “There was a few horses where there shouldn’t have been. It was a bit hairy but it all worked out in the end,” said Pengelly.
“We had to do the best we could and it worked out really well.
“We had to charge course a bit, but we weren’t that affected. It was just fortunate that not one came down and no one got hurt,” said Pengelly.
Once Heart of the Citi (G3 Show a Heart-Citichy) got clear, he just raced off. “We planned the race a little bit that way. We’ve been riding him forward but Brad said he can sprint quick and it’s a matter of being at the right end. I said well it’s no good sprinting the first half what you haven’t got for the second half. So that’s what we’d planned and that’s the way it went,” said Duff.
The change of race plan for Heart of the Citi panned out. “From the eight alley we had no choice, we had to do it.”
“We’ve had to ride him forward in races but we planned today. You’re not going to beat these horses, match them for pace, we’ll ride him for luck and that what we did do,” he said.
It was a trial and error race for Duff. “We took a punt today to ride him off the pace. Both Brad and I decided he’s got a brilliant burst of speed and we just wanted to be at the right end up over there,” he said.
They claimed the win by one and three quarters of a length ahead of Wind Shear (Stephen Baster). Race-favourite Absolute Glam (Steven King) settled for third by three quarters of a length.
Pengelly was also pleased the plan worked. “I rode him six starts ago. Mandy’s (Radecker) been riding him. I drew a wide barrier in the start I rode him in. The plan was to sort of go good that day, but he never had much in the end. I rode him quiet today and happy days.
The plan was to ride him a bit quieter because he’s shown a lot of promise and natural ability,” said Pengelly.
Duff is very proud of what the gelding has achieved and what he could potentially achieve. “When he lets down, he’d have one of the best 400m sprints of any horse I’ve ever trained, even Star of Florida can’t sprint as quick as he can.”
“I’ve never gone into a race more confident. It certainly was a nice race,” he said.
Duff has high hopes for the gelding after all his very impressive form. “He’s a really good horse – this horse could win anywhere. I wouldn’t put him beyond the (Doomben) 10,000 or Stradbroke. He gets in on a light weight, they’ll know they’re racing him. He’s the style of horse that can win that – very good racehorse,” he said.
Pengelly agreed, “Well you never know with Pat training him, anything’s possible.”
QUEENSLAND Racing web news: Hollie Roberts – March 24
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