Myagi has them covered
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Jason Holder and Myagi has the field covered well before the winning post (Noel Pascoe photo)
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Warwick-based trainer John Collins has primed Myagi perfectly this season. The trainer has had the horse running since December and has only missed out on prizemoney three times.
The first Saturday metropolitan race for the 2008/09 racing season gave Myagi his fourth win in town for the trainer who has secured 13 of his 15 career wins.
Collins set Myagi (G8 Canadian Silver-Still Friends) for the $75,000 QR Handicap 1200m at City Pacific Doomben, a week after an unlucky second on the same track and came up trumps with the horse winning by two and a quarter lengths.
“I didn’t think he could beat them so well. He got into a good position early and he just travelled well,” Collins said.
“A week before he was very unlucky so we thought he would go well if he got into a good position from the wide alley.”
Ridden by Jason Holder, Myagi drew the outside alley in the 11-horse field and was forced to race wide.
He had the field covered early in the straight sweeping to the front 100m from the post. Bitabiff (Scott Seamer) finished in second only a nose ahead of Blood ‘n’ Bone (Scott Galloway).
“Jason’s had three rides on him and he rides him very quiet. The horse used to race just behind the pace but he races a little further back now. He gets to the line really strong,” Collins said.
“We more or less said see how he jumps. If he can be a little bit closer it would be good.”
Holder rode out the race instructions as predicted by Collins and turned around his luck of drawing the barrier 11.
“The trick was the barrier draw for us. It was either go back or go forward but today he jumped so well so I thought I would put him there and if I was three wide, which I was, I would have to keep him balanced. I was able to get a nice trail from there on,” Holder said.
“The other week I got caught up on the fence and had too many horses around me and couldn’t get out. I thought at the half mile (today) if I can get him out here he’ll have no excuses and that’s the way it turned out.”
Myagi has been in superb form recently winning two out of his three city starts in the last three weeks. He only missed out on the three in a row when he finished a short neck behind for second in his last start.
But his wins haven’t been restricted to the metropolitan tracks with Collins happy to chase the races that suit the gelding including wins at Chinchilla, Kilcoy and Dalby this season.
“Anywhere’s good but a win in town is much better,” Collins said.
“I take them where they can win. I took him to Chinchilla when it was worth a bit of money and he wasn’t going as good then as what he is now. He carries big weights out there but he is a big strong horse.
“He’s been in (work) since the flu and I was nearly going to give him a break after Dalby when he ran sixth but he was very fresh after and I thought we’d keep him going a bit longer.
“When he’s racing pretty often, like three weeks in a row, I don’t do much with him through the week. That’s the way he likes to race; fresh.
“He’s won 15 races, I’ve won 13 with him and he is a lovely horse to train and has a bit of character about him.”
In addition to the four metropolitan wins with Collins, Myagi won his first race start back in 2003 as a three-year-old at Doomben with previous trainer Danny Bougoure.
QUEENSLAND Racing web news: Claire Power – August 4 |
