Neither 59 kilograms nor a heavy track could stand in the way of Spin Doctor’s surge to victory in the Taumarunui Cosmopolitan Club & TAB Premier over 1200 metres at Te Rapa today.
Just as Barbaric and Twilight Dragon appeared to have the race to themselves, Spin Doctor drew up on their outside and wore them down.
Conceding four kilograms to Barbaric and even more to Twilight Dragon, Spin Doctor dug deep and overpowered his rivals. He edged away to win by a length and a half.
"Big effort, especially dropping back from 1600 last week,” said Trevor McKee, filling in for his holidaying son Stephen.
"I probably won’t get the sack now,” he quipped.
Te Rapa has been a happy hunting ground for Spin Doctor, who now has four wins and three placings from seven visits to the Hamilton course. He has won his last three races at the venue.
McKee said Te Rapa’s superior drainage was a key factor today for Spin Doctor, who would ordinarily not be suited to heavy ground.
"This is the only heavy track he’d be able to handle,” he said. "Everything else is too heavy.”
With the rail the place to be in the first two races and runners on or near the lead excelling, there was a ton of pace in today’s sprint feature.
On-pace runner Twilight Dragon charged forward along the inside and tried to assert his dominance early in the piece. But favourite Barbaric was having none of it, moving into an uncharacteristic trailing position to keep his dangerous rival within reach.
The two turned for home together, opening up a four-length break on the rest of the field. But Spin Doctor, having enjoyed a beautiful run in a midfield position, angled out and made his move.
"The speed was on,” winning rider Rory Hutchings said. "I was able to push out and get on to the back of Barbaric. It worked out perfect.”
Hutchings got Spin Doctor to the leading pair’s outside, and the horse took care of the rest.
"He had to lug 59 kilos against some smart horses,” Hutchings said. "He put them away like he only had 55 on his back.”
Barbaric took second, beating Twilight Dragon by a neck. Sunbeam was almost four lengths away in fourth, but made up ground down the straight.
The time was 1:13.13 on the Heavy 10 surface.
"The track’s quite testing for Te Rapa, but he (Spin Doctor) got through it easily,” Hutchings said.
Source: http://theinformant.co.nz
