CRACKING THE CODE
STRATEGY PAYS OFF
TRAINER Stephen Lee avoided trialling Rock The House leading into his maiden career win on the Gold Coast and the move paid off.
Lee finally cracked the code for the frustrating fouryear-old who won the Maiden Handicap (900m) at Aquis Park on Saturday with jockey Anthony Allen in the saddle.
It was the first run of Rock The House’s third preparation and he looked to have finally turned a corner.
Rock The House ($15) had won a trial leading into both of his previous preparations but a sixth at Ipswich on debut was his best performance from seven race starts.
“I’ve only had him for a month or so going into this preparation,” Gold Coastbased Lee said.
“His trials were good before but he wasn’t quite switching on properly and putting his mind on the races.
“He has always worked quite well and so I thought I wouldn’t trial him this time and just give him a run to see he lived up to those performances.
“Looking at his trials before, you would think he could win a race but he wasn’t putting it together at the business end.
“Sometimes the penny just drops with these horses over time.
“When he isn’t under pressure in a trial he was performing quite well but when he was under pressure in a race he was losing the plot a bit.”
Allen said Rock The House, the biggest horse in the field on Saturday, surprised him with the win.
“He is still a little green and can get lost in a race,” Allen said.
“The horse on the outside (Underthemistletoe) of me was the one I thought would be the hardest to beat but it switched my horse on and when I asked him to go he went nicely and hit the line well.
“He is a big chunky horse but he has a big stride on him.
“He is a nice horse and will probably get a bit more ground later on.”
It was a memorable day for Lee, whose eight-year-old gelding Anton En Avant finished second in the Group 3 Queen’s Cup (3200m) at the Sunshine Coast.
Anton En Avant ($10) was beaten by 1½ lengths by former Irish stayer Plot Twist, who is now trained in Sydney by Peter and Paul Snowden.
Lee had scratched Anton En Avant from the Grafton Cup on Thursday to keep him for the Queen’s Cup, which doubled as the annual Queensland Cup this year.