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Scipio gives Marcus a nice kickalong
Michael Lee
Friday, September 24, 2010
Jockey Sean Cormack’s utmost confidence in the above-average ability of Scipio, his only ride of the night, was rewarded with a dominant win in the $65,000 Initiation race (1600m) on Friday.
The South African jockey settled the Basil Marcus-trained galloper the widest in the small seven-horse field – as deep as four wide – before he let rip at the 300m for a devastating three-length win over Listen Up (Barend Vorster) with Decouper (Joao Moreira) third another 5 ½-length away. The winning time was 1min 39.74secs.
Sent out as the $16 favourite, the South African-bred four-year-old entire by Caesour always looked relaxed in transit despite covering the most ground, and was never further away that two lengths off the lead set by the trio of Listen Up, Rieussec Magic (Saimee Jumaat) and Decouper.
Sean Cormack guides Scipio to a comfortable victory on Friday night.
Listen Up kicked away at the top of the straight but Scipio mastered him in a matter of strides to win going away.
“We knew he’s always had ability, but as you know, I don’t rush my horses as I wanted to give him all the time needed to develop,” said Marcus.
“It’s taken a while for him to reach his full form, but now the trick is to make sure he maintains his form.
“Once they jumped, I must say I was a little concerned in the running. But to his credit, he is a real quality horse and a real trier.
“It was his first time on Polytrack. I wanted to be sure we had the right horse and we felt he was the right Polytrack horse.
“He also settled a lot better with the blinkers. He looks like he will go from strength to strength.”
Marcus also expressed his delight at saddling only his second winning horse, with Flying West the only previous in his 40-odd-horse-strong yard to have tasted success – on two occasions.
“It’s never easy to start afresh in a new racing jurisdiction,” said Marcus. “I have to thank the Newbury Stable (winning connections) and all the other owners for their support so far.”
Cormack said he never lost faith in his mount’s ability to overcome the torrid passage in no man’s land.
“I was not the least bit concerned he was caught so wide. I know these may sound like big words but I rate him very highly – as good as a Class 3 horse,” said Cormack.
“The blinkers were also of a big help in making him come full circle. He’s had a few nice trials and I knew he would show his superiority in the end.
“He was a little green in the end but he did the job.”
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