cheesebeast
25-03-2002, 23:36
A little bit of Seamer's wizardry gets Calaway Gal and Ethereal a long, long way
By Craig Young
March 25 2002
From the Sydney Morning Herald
Harry Potter swept through Golden Slipper day disguised as a jockey. Scott Seamer is a wizard. At Rosehill on Saturday he left the 25,100 people there spellbound. His rivals were mesmerised.
"They give apprentices allowances - he should be made to carry more weight," said jockey Darren Beadman, who not long ago was the No1 sorcerer.
That probably wouldn't stop Seamer. He'd conjure up a way to finish in front. His deeds are truly remarkable. The unassuming character who farms macadamia nuts is unstoppable.
"I don't know where he is hiding his angel," last season's premier Sydney jockey Brian York said. Could Seamer be an angel?
He certainly is a punter-friendly one. That's if you've cottoned on to the fact that Group1 racing is all about Scott Seamer. Find a major with the wizard in it and bet up.
You'd have better luck backing the wizard than the person who backed Bel Esprit in the Golden Slipper. Kerry Packer got a mention. Bel Esprit was at $4.80 with two minutes to go and there was just on $2 million in the TAB pool. When they jumped the total had surpassed $2.5million and Bel Esprit came into $3.10. A wager of about $400,000 was required to make that change.
Seamer spoiled most celebrations with another deft display to get Calaway Gal home in the Golden Slipper. He followed Bel Esprit, which had an intimate engagement with the running rail on several occasions.
Yes, the wizard won the Golden Slipper after taking the day's other feature, The BMW. The farmer carrying a wand that looks like a whip arrived in time to win both. It is some feat that puts him in elite company. The master of his own universe Shane Dye did it aboard Tierce and Dr Grace in 1991 while one of the all-time great hoops Mick Dittman did it in 1993 on Bint Marscay and Kaaptive Edition. Seamer makes three.
Little wonder a visiting turf journalist, prone to roasting jockeys when applicable, declared we may have been witness to something heavenly - the reincarnation of Moses.
The Biblical one parted seas. Tough ask. About as tough as parting jammed racing fields. The wizard seems to have little troubling doing it.
The first of four winners on $4.86 million day was divine. Ugachaka rounded the turn with one horse behind her and 13 in front. Seamer moved four horses off the rail and went straight ahead. The field parted and Seamer did not deviate. Ugachaka is now a contender in Saturday's $2.5 million Doncaster Handicap at Randwick. That's $8m day, the real day.
And you can bank on the host, the Australian Jockey Club, breaking with tradition. If required, the one-time racing ruler will evoke its discretionary powers to ensure the best field lines up in the Doncaster.
It will be a first. Racing deserves the best. And that's why Ugachaka's trainer, Lee Freedman, is keen on Seamer. Freedman is looking for Ugachaka to be penalised for Saturday's barnstorming victory.
The filly has 48.5kg in the Doncaster and Seamer can't get near that. He was willing to ride stablemate Chong Tong at 50kg. Jockeys riding horses below 53kg can claim a half-kilogram over.
NSW Thoroughbred Racing Board chief handicapper Mark Webbey hinted on Saturday Ugachaka's win wasn't worthy of a penalty. That's a pity.
Seamer followed up the Ugachaka salute with victory on the AJC Australian Derby-bound Prince Of War. The pair settled at the rear and once again our man sneaks up along the rail.
He doesn't panic and waits for the one-time leader to shift out. Encouraged by Seamer, Prince Of War improves into a winning run. The wizard makes it look easy.
With those two out of the way, Seamer delivers a killer blow on his Caulfield-Melbourne cups-winning mare Ethereal to claim the BMW. And don't for a minute think he let Justin Sheehan on the favourite, Universal Prince, sweep past.
Let him go and then tack on, for the modest Seamer said: "You've got to be kidding. I was going flat out at the turn." Once again, the wizard kept his nerve.
He hooked around the Prince with about 200m to go and let Ethereal do the rest. What a grand staying mare she is.
The great mare Let's Elope couldn't complete the Caulfield-Melbourne cups-BMW treble. Might And Power did when winning at Rosehill in 1998.
As for the Golden Slipper, well, Calaway Gal was on the fence. At about the 600m Moses - sorry Seamer - calmly moved to be one off. It just doesn't happen in Golden Slippers.
From then on it was open spaces. And, to cap it all, Seamer ended with a third aboard Polygram in the final event. That took his points tally for the four-day Golden Slipper carnival to 22.
That's one more than Corey Brown, who never got a mention for riding three winners on Slipper day. For his effort Seamer received the Golden Whip award. The wizard has a new wand.
Seamer's Group 1 wins
2001-2002 season:
Caulfield Cup: Ethereal
Melbourne Cup: Ethereal
Mackinnon Stakes: La Bella Dama
New Zealand Derby: Leica Guv
New Zealand Oaks: Vapour Trail
Auckland Cup: Maguire
International Stud Stakes: Emerald Dream
Orr Stakes: Barkada
Australian Guineas: Dash For Cash
Golden Slipper: Calaway Gal
BMW Stakes: Ethereal
Note: Seamer's first Group1 win was on Ethereal in the Qld Oaks last season.
By Craig Young
March 25 2002
From the Sydney Morning Herald
Harry Potter swept through Golden Slipper day disguised as a jockey. Scott Seamer is a wizard. At Rosehill on Saturday he left the 25,100 people there spellbound. His rivals were mesmerised.
"They give apprentices allowances - he should be made to carry more weight," said jockey Darren Beadman, who not long ago was the No1 sorcerer.
That probably wouldn't stop Seamer. He'd conjure up a way to finish in front. His deeds are truly remarkable. The unassuming character who farms macadamia nuts is unstoppable.
"I don't know where he is hiding his angel," last season's premier Sydney jockey Brian York said. Could Seamer be an angel?
He certainly is a punter-friendly one. That's if you've cottoned on to the fact that Group1 racing is all about Scott Seamer. Find a major with the wizard in it and bet up.
You'd have better luck backing the wizard than the person who backed Bel Esprit in the Golden Slipper. Kerry Packer got a mention. Bel Esprit was at $4.80 with two minutes to go and there was just on $2 million in the TAB pool. When they jumped the total had surpassed $2.5million and Bel Esprit came into $3.10. A wager of about $400,000 was required to make that change.
Seamer spoiled most celebrations with another deft display to get Calaway Gal home in the Golden Slipper. He followed Bel Esprit, which had an intimate engagement with the running rail on several occasions.
Yes, the wizard won the Golden Slipper after taking the day's other feature, The BMW. The farmer carrying a wand that looks like a whip arrived in time to win both. It is some feat that puts him in elite company. The master of his own universe Shane Dye did it aboard Tierce and Dr Grace in 1991 while one of the all-time great hoops Mick Dittman did it in 1993 on Bint Marscay and Kaaptive Edition. Seamer makes three.
Little wonder a visiting turf journalist, prone to roasting jockeys when applicable, declared we may have been witness to something heavenly - the reincarnation of Moses.
The Biblical one parted seas. Tough ask. About as tough as parting jammed racing fields. The wizard seems to have little troubling doing it.
The first of four winners on $4.86 million day was divine. Ugachaka rounded the turn with one horse behind her and 13 in front. Seamer moved four horses off the rail and went straight ahead. The field parted and Seamer did not deviate. Ugachaka is now a contender in Saturday's $2.5 million Doncaster Handicap at Randwick. That's $8m day, the real day.
And you can bank on the host, the Australian Jockey Club, breaking with tradition. If required, the one-time racing ruler will evoke its discretionary powers to ensure the best field lines up in the Doncaster.
It will be a first. Racing deserves the best. And that's why Ugachaka's trainer, Lee Freedman, is keen on Seamer. Freedman is looking for Ugachaka to be penalised for Saturday's barnstorming victory.
The filly has 48.5kg in the Doncaster and Seamer can't get near that. He was willing to ride stablemate Chong Tong at 50kg. Jockeys riding horses below 53kg can claim a half-kilogram over.
NSW Thoroughbred Racing Board chief handicapper Mark Webbey hinted on Saturday Ugachaka's win wasn't worthy of a penalty. That's a pity.
Seamer followed up the Ugachaka salute with victory on the AJC Australian Derby-bound Prince Of War. The pair settled at the rear and once again our man sneaks up along the rail.
He doesn't panic and waits for the one-time leader to shift out. Encouraged by Seamer, Prince Of War improves into a winning run. The wizard makes it look easy.
With those two out of the way, Seamer delivers a killer blow on his Caulfield-Melbourne cups-winning mare Ethereal to claim the BMW. And don't for a minute think he let Justin Sheehan on the favourite, Universal Prince, sweep past.
Let him go and then tack on, for the modest Seamer said: "You've got to be kidding. I was going flat out at the turn." Once again, the wizard kept his nerve.
He hooked around the Prince with about 200m to go and let Ethereal do the rest. What a grand staying mare she is.
The great mare Let's Elope couldn't complete the Caulfield-Melbourne cups-BMW treble. Might And Power did when winning at Rosehill in 1998.
As for the Golden Slipper, well, Calaway Gal was on the fence. At about the 600m Moses - sorry Seamer - calmly moved to be one off. It just doesn't happen in Golden Slippers.
From then on it was open spaces. And, to cap it all, Seamer ended with a third aboard Polygram in the final event. That took his points tally for the four-day Golden Slipper carnival to 22.
That's one more than Corey Brown, who never got a mention for riding three winners on Slipper day. For his effort Seamer received the Golden Whip award. The wizard has a new wand.
Seamer's Group 1 wins
2001-2002 season:
Caulfield Cup: Ethereal
Melbourne Cup: Ethereal
Mackinnon Stakes: La Bella Dama
New Zealand Derby: Leica Guv
New Zealand Oaks: Vapour Trail
Auckland Cup: Maguire
International Stud Stakes: Emerald Dream
Orr Stakes: Barkada
Australian Guineas: Dash For Cash
Golden Slipper: Calaway Gal
BMW Stakes: Ethereal
Note: Seamer's first Group1 win was on Ethereal in the Qld Oaks last season.