Crack Me Up’s form reflects Farm folly
TALENTED three-year-old Crack Me Up is a prime example of why so many trainers were upset about the state of the Eagle Farm track surface.
Crack Me Up ($2.20) will be attempting to win his third stakes race when he takes on older horses in the Listed Tattersall’s Mile at Doomben tomorrow.
The gelding has run only one bad race in his nine stakesrace starts and that was a 12th placing, beaten 11 lengths in the Group 3 Fred Best Classic at Eagle Farm on May 27.
His usually easy-going trainer Liam Birchley was so upset he publicly condemned the Eagle Farm track as not fit for metropolitan racing.
Officials eventually agreed and the track has been closed indefinitely.
“I told the owners to completely forget that run as I knew Crack Me Up was much better than that,” Birchley said. “And I wasn’t the only one speaking out as something had to be done.”
Birchley’s assessment was proved correct in Crack Me Up’s next two starts.
The Mossman gelding was scratched from the Queensland Guineas when he drew wide and instead tackled open company stakes horses in the Listed Wayne Wilson Memorial on the same day.
He ran second to Religify despite being badly off at the weights.
Crack Me Up then led most of the way to win the Group 3 Sunshine Coast Guineas (1600m) to add to his victory in the Listed Dalrello Stakes as a two-year-old.
■ APPRENTICE Tiffani Brooker has a strong book of seven rides at Doomben as she zeros in on two records to end the season.
Brooker rode a double at Doomben on Wednesday to take her metropolitan season tally to 48 and her overall number of winners to 66 for the season.
She is 22 winners clear of Lani Fancourt in the metropolitan apprentices title.
Brooker has three meetings left to become the first female apprentice to ride 50 winners in a Brisbane season.
And she also has a chance to better Tegan Harrison’s record of 51 Brisbane winners for a female rider set in 2015-16.