Today is Helen's 40th birthday. A big party is planned up in Geraldton and Helen is really excited about it all.
Just before her celebrations kicked into full gear, Amber ran at Ascot. We thought everything was lined up right with her. She was working well, we had a good strategy for the race. And we backed her.
Today we decided to change tactics in a race that lacked any real pace. We drew barrier 2, and had no hesitation in deciding to lead and try and win from the front. The favourite and eventual winner Gilded Venom has a very strong closing 600m and we knew that the only way to beat it was to be in front by a few lengths at the corner.
Amber jumped perfectly and took an easy lead. She seemed to fight Roy a little, taking a while to settle down. At the 700m the pack started to group behind her, and around the corner it had turned into a sprint home.
She battled on to finish 4th in her closing time of 35:07. Looking at her last 3 finished at Ascot...35:07, 35:09, 35:07....she ran the race she could.
We questioned again the 3 week break, which may not have favoured her, and we realized that we needed to get her moving further out from the post.We head on with the campaign with the hope of keeping her in for 2 more runs to see her over the 2200m again. The way the planning is going, she may end up battling against the Dog!
We'll get back to the drawing board and decide where to go from here.
Race results here.
