Mare's Coup As The Favourite Stumbles
Illawarra Mercury
Monday January 12, 2009
WHITEHOUSEWHISPERS would get all the ticks if you looked at the results of the Bakers Delight Cup (1200m) from Kembla Grange on Saturday - a class record, and a clear margin but the story should have been different.
The lightly raced five-year-old mare from the Ross Simpson stable did everything right while favourite Elusive Song didn't.Whitehousewhispers stopped the clock at 1.10.16 in her 1-1/4 length win but the margin came from an incident 350m from home when Elusive Song, which was leading on the fence, shied and blundered just when it appeared ready to explode away."I don't know what happened to the other horse," Simpson said."He looked like he was going to fall."My mare is a very good horse and we were confident coming here today, but it was an unusual way to win."Elusive Song and Whitehousewhispers travelled aside for most of the trip but the winner got her decisive break when Elusive Song stumbled, losing a couple of lengths.Jockey Patrick Murphy thought he was going to have an unwanted birthday present on Elusive Song when he ducked and slipped."I thought he had snapped a leg and I was waiting to hit the ground," he said."He just shied at something and lost his front legs."He was travelling beautifully until then and I thought he was going to win - easily."He picked himself back up quickly and chased all the way to the line but the other horse just got that break."It was a remarkable effort to finish second by Elusive Song, considering the final 600m was run in 34.41sec and he lost all his momentum in the incident.He will head for Sydney for a race on Australia Day over 1400m while Whitehousewhispers is also likely to try and add a city win to her successes at Goulburn, Nowra and Kembla."She is among the better ones I have had and it was a good strong win," Simpson said."Her only defeat was here when she didn't have a lot of luck and she is an exciting horse."Her next run will be in the city.
© 2009 Illawarra Mercury