Anything but Unpickable

Michael Lee
Friday, April 03, 2009

Debutant Unpickable probably had punters scratching their heads as to whether his name meant he should not feature in any selections, or he could not be picked up by his opponents in the home straight.

Luckily for his connections, it was the latter that came to the fore on Friday as the son of Eliza Park stallion Delago Brom got the better of a valiant Dollars & Cents before staving off a determined challenge from raging favourite Newfoundluck inside the last 50m to score at debut.

After a tense duel with Dollars & Cents (John Powell) down the home straight, Unpickable with Danny Beasley up got the ascendancy to go and score by 1 ½ lengths from raging favourite Newfoundluck (Saimee Jumaat).

Unpickable (Danny Beasley) comes through at debut.

Trainer Steven Burridge for one was pleased with the way Unpickable hit the line in the $65,000 Restricted Maiden-2 (2&3YO).

“He’s not a big horse and Danny told me he probably felt a little underdone today,” said Burridge.

“He’s had a few problems when he came to me and I didn’t want to push him.

“His trials were pretty good but though I thought he would run well, I wasn’t sure he could be a winner.

“But he showed plenty of guts to win at debut and I think he’s got a nice little future here.

“It’s great for his owners who also own Happiness Come. They’re not big owners but they are very enthusiastic about racing.”

Unpickable who started at $16 for a win was allowed to settle in second position outside leader Dollars & Cents only to issue his challenge at the 300m while Newfoundluck looked a little boxed in on the rails.

Dollars & Cents was however not giving up so easily and it had to take all of Beasley’s persuasion to lift his mount over the line. Newfoundluck found the line late after angling out wide to settle for another second, 1 ½ lengths away.

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Terrific treble for Burridge

Michael Lee
Friday, April 03, 2009

Trainer Steven Burridge continues his good patch of form with a winning treble on Friday.

After Unpickable saluted at debut (read earlier report), the Australian handler was back in the winner’s enclosure three races later when Bionic Boy took out the $65,000 Restricted Maiden-1 (2 & 3 YO) race (1200m) and wrapped up the wonderful evening with a third win with $11 favourite Five Claws in the $35,000 Class 5 race (1200m).

Twice second from his first two runs, the Falvelon three-year-old never gave his adversaries a look-in controlling the race from barrier to box.

Bionic Boy (John Sundradas) opens his account at his third run.

Ridden by John Sundradas for the first time, $12 favourite Bionic Boy jumped smartly again and took up the running as he did at all his races. Second favourite $17 Shinkansen (Vlad Duric) took the sit on him with Twoeighto (Saifudin Ismail) third on the rails.

Shinkansen gained some ground on Bionic Boy at the top of the straight and for a fleeting moment it looked like the favourite would fold under pressure.

But once John went flat to the boards, Bionic Boy skipped clear to score by a widening margin of 4 ¼ length over Shinkansen, with Glory Knight (Mark Gallagher) running on strongly for third another 1 ¾ lenths away.

“It’s good he finally won. He’s been a bit stiff in his previous races,” said Burridge, referring to his two seconds over 1000m.

“I actually told John to race off the pace tonight, but again he was too keen and John had no choice to let him go forward.

“We actually wanted him to take a sit at his previous starts, but he always rushes to the lead.

“The funny thing is we’ve taught him how to settle. The other day Julie rode him in a trial and he settled very well but he seems to overrace all over again in his races.”

Burridge is not sure if he will shape up as Three-Year-Old Challenge material but is certainly keeping that scenario up his sleeve.

“I’ll see how he goes at his next races to have a better idea. But he’s done a good job tonight.”

John was glad he was given the nod for the ride and doubly glad he has delivered the goods.

“He was very fast at the gates. I couldn’t hold him back and let him roll to the lead,” said John.

“But once he got there he settled better. I think it’s a good think it was a 1200m instead of 1000m.

“He kicked very strongly in the home straight. I think he will learn to settle better in the future.”

Bionic Boy is raced by the Top Champ Stable and was a $35,000 purchase as a two-year-old.

Five Claws (Joao Moreira) scores a narrow win after a close tussle.

Sent out as the punters' elect at $11 in Race 8, Five Claws justified the odds by coming up trumps, albeit following a tough fight down the home straight.

The Langfuhr American-bred bounced into contention at the top of the straight after sitting fourth one off the fence. Under stong riding from jockey of the moment Joao Moreira, Five Claws stuck his head out but could not quite draw clear.

Tough Question (Din Azis) and Prior Viscount (Barend Vorster) were still thereabouts but Five Claws did enough to pick up his first win in 11 starts.

"There is so much wrap on him, but he's no superstar. He had to fight hard to win," said Burridge.

"The Brazilian lad rode him very well. He's a very good rider.

"But I've got a treble. It's a nice day at the office."

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