No Loving D'amore As Munce Hits 'flat Spot'

Sun Herald

Sunday November 28, 2004

MAX PRESNELL

WHILE holiday destinations were very much the topic, many punters figured Chris Munce would have been well placed on Devil's Island after his effort on Aqua D'Amore in the Oxinium Handicap at Royal Randwick yesterday.

Larry Cassidy, refreshed and bronzed following a stint on Hamilton Island, had a winning double, while DarrenBeadman was on Hayman Island, enjoying the fruits of his recent success.

Munce produced a copybook treble for Gai Waterhouse on Basra, the two-year-old Permissive and Jovial.

Alas, Aqua D'Amore, $3.70, was never comfortable, be it from pilot error or self-imposed behaviour, nor was the favourite, Corey Brown's mount, Happier ($1.75).

Acting chief steward Greg Rudolph sought an explanation.

Munce maintained that around the 600 metres, Aqua D'Amore "hit a flat spot" and was off the bit as rivals went around him.

"Were you caught napping?" Rudolph questioned.

"No," Munce retorted. "Larry Cassidy [on the winner But I'm Serious] held me in."

Rudolph stressed that Aqua D'Amore "ran into all sorts of trouble" in the straight, but Munce reckoned he "had to look for runs" on the inside.

Thus Aqua D'Amore weaved to the rail and scraped through an opening that became even tighter in transit, just one of a series of mishaps that prompted Rudolph to comment that "she should have tested the winner".

Yet Aqua D'Amore went down by 11/4 lengths with Happier three-quarters of a length away third.

Despite her mishaps the Waterhouse filly did better than Happier.

Favourite-backers were aghast to see her wide after a tardy start and throwing her head around like she had a toothache.

Rudolph asked Brown whether Happier "missed the kick", but the jockey did not think this was relevant, admitting, however, that she overraced.

"The whole way," Brown, becoming agitated, added.

"You keep saying I had to do a bit of work. The only time she raced comfortable was when she went outside the leader."

Due to her early endeavours, Happier did not run on as expected, a point on which both Brown and the stipes agreed.

But what caused Happier to act in such a manner? Asked outside the stewards room, he replied: "She's a 1400-metre horse and does not get the mile [yesterday's distance]."

What can be said is that Happier will settle better over the shorter journey but doesn't react generously to the slower tempo.

Again, how much blame should be attributed to the jockey or the horse?

When horses win, like in the Munce treble, the jockey gets his rightful acclaim for making difficult tasks look easy, but do they tend to blame the horse too much for defeat?

It would appear stewards also may revisit what has become a controversial ride at a recent Canterbury night meeting, after a radio commentator recently questioned the performance of a bush jockey.

Rudolph said yesterday that he would seek a transcript of the blast and could later question the parties involved.

Yesterday stipes certainly did not miss Baranbali in the Birmingham Handicap. Baranbali raced erratically before being beaten a neck by Munce on Permissive.

Rudolph mentioned a "lack of vigour" over the latter stages by Jaime Innes, who pleaded his whip became tangled in the reins.

The explanation was accepted, but Rudolph pointed out the ride "was a touch on the sloppy side".

Following early failures, Brown came with a late run to score on Fangio in the Profix Plate.

© 2004 Sun Herald

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