Tasmania back on cards for Parthesia
MELBOURNE Cup-winning owner John Richards has lauded Darren Weir’s planning after Parthesia ended a 10-run losing streak with emphatic victory in the Listed Bagot Handicap (2800m).
Winless since claiming the Tasmanian Oaks last February, Parthesia had been set for the Bagot by Weir, using a mix of country tracks to lift her to peak levels.
The ploy paid off when Damian Lane produced a fittingly patient ride to overhaul Etah James and Ormito in an all-Ballarat finish.
“Darren’s been working on this for I don’t know how many months,” Richards said.
“He’s got a wonderful record with races he targets.”
Senior part-owner of 2015 Melbourne Cup winner Prince Of Penzance, he said part of the Parthesia’s success was Weir’s understanding of the Raise A Flag stock.
The trainer also produced impressive young stayer Civil Disobedience, who, like Parthesia, is by Raise A Flag and was ridden to victory by Lane.
“It’s taken a long while for them trainers, I suppose, to work out what they’re [Raise A Flag progeny] capable of doing,” Richards said.
“They’re dour stayers and once they get a bit of maturity and over a distance, they really come into their own.”
He said the Launceston Cup next month was a possible goal for Parthesia, who has campaigned this preparation at Dunkeld and Penshurst.
“Probably the thought would be the Launceston Cup but we’ll see how she pulls up and go from there,” he said.
Lane said Parthesia’s dour nature meant she was a onedimensional mount.
“Unfortunately she doesn’t have too much early speed but that’s just her and you’ve got to ride her that way,” he said.
“I knew she would be tough at the finish. She’s just a genuine stayer, a double for Raise The Flag today.
“They’re tough, they get over ground. That’s what she did.
“I just bided my time in the straight and when I got there she wandered a little bit.
“She hadn’t been there [in a winning position] for a while. To her credit, she was strong to the line.
“She’s always performed well at this sort of trip and she’ll continue to do that.”
Stewards fined Cranbourne trainer Shawn Mathrick $500 after Adirondack was scratched from the Standish Handicap after entering the mounting yard in work plates.