The Tony Gollan trained Socialising dropped back from Listed company and got back to winning ways by taking out a Benchmark90 contest at Doomben with last stride win on Saturday.
Socialising had failed to fire in the Listed Nudgee Stakes in her previous start, but Gollan suggested there were good enough reasons to dismiss that run and he praised the mare for her concentrated effort in this latest win.
“She came back in grade but, when they kicked like that off the bend, they are bloody hard to run down she had a job to do,” said Gollan. “She is a nice fit mare and she really showed that tenacity late for me.
“You just had to forget about the run at Eagle Farm the other day (when unplaced in the Nudgee). She is a Bel Esprit and she probably hasn’t got the best set of knees on her, so she wants just a little bit of cut in the ground.
“With a little bit of juice in the track today and back to the right grade … that was the key to her … away from stakes racing … back in grade. We had a throw at the stumps for the Black Type and it didn’t work out, but she is a lovely mare and she did a great job today.
“I was a bit nervous early on and I was actually glad when Jimmy (Byrne) cut the corner a bit. If he had tried to come around them, he would have run a nice third. It was a really good ride by Jimmy so full credit to him as well.”
Jockey Jim Byrne gave his insight on the race.
“There was one that came off the fence and put me in a real awkward spot,” said Byrne. “I actually had to jump it’s heels and go back to the fence. It was one of those scenarios where there was no other alternative … jut to ride the fence and get out when I could, and that is basically what I did.
“I didn’t want to be back too far. I thought there would be good temp and they would back it off mid-race … which is what they did.
“I was pretty confident at the top of the straight. The leader did get away on us a little, but she really stuck to her guns and dug deep. It was a good effort.”
