By MIKE DILLON
Someone must have been more confident Playful Fingers could win Saturday's Champagne Stakes than co-trainer Frank Ritchie.
Perhaps whoever backed the juvenile into second favourite somehow predicted the startling difference blinkers would make.
Applying blinkers to a horse for the first time can be dramatic. It makes the casual sit up and take notice. It can add a length or two to a horse's form.
On Saturday it put six lengths on Playful Fingers and Ritchie is happy to admit a lot of the credit goes to rider Matthew Williamson.
"In four starts this filly has won twice, but she's never been on the bit and travelling at any point in any of the races, she's always been a reluctant traveller.
"When she won at Dargaville last start Matthew had to give her two or three behind the saddle on the home bend to make her go forward and said she was never hitting out properly until she was clear of the other horses.
"Matthew pleaded with me to put blinkers on her, but I admit I don't like them wearing blinkers unless they have to - I like to give them plenty of chances without them."
The underrated Playful Fingers went from a non-traveller to travelling so well in the lead throughout the Champagne Stakes that the opposition were breathless on the home bend and never had a chance to diminish her two and threequarter length margin.
Equally remarkable was that she did not over race, a common problem the first time in blinkers.
"She was very controlled throughout," said Williamson, understandably a bit pleased with himself.
The filly came to the stable through a couple of friends of co-trainer Craig Ritchie wanting to race a horse. After leasing the filly from Waikato Stud the stable put together a 12-part syndicate predominantly made up of those who had raced horses with the Ritchies.
Ritchie knew the stakes potential on Saturday was always there.
"I've got a lot of time for another 2-year-old filly of ours, Our Tristajet. We've had a lot of problems with her with shin-soreness and such, but I think she's very smart. I work the pair together and Playful Fingers has finished in front a few times."
Playful Fingers heads for the spelling paddock and if she can do what she did on Saturday in the spring fillies' races, there will be more stakes victories in store.
On paper the Champagne Stakes field had an average look about it, but that might be deceptive. The 1:10.86 time was fabulous given the easy track and Brian Jenkins has a big opinion of runner-up Senor Luro, who races in the same ownership as his Melbourne Cup winner Jezabeel, a Champagne Stakes winner.
Jenkins rates Senor Luro a coming stayer and had been hoping the Champagne would have been run at its more traditional 1400m distance.
"Every racing country needs a 1400m and 1600m stakes race late in the season for 2-year-olds to cater for the emerging horses.
"We've got the two Sires Produce at group one, but they are generally a bit early and a bit tough for the horse being aimed at being a 3-year-old."
ARC racing manager Andrew O'Toole said the club had found it was not getting a good response when the Champagne was extended to 1400m and for a few seasons 1600m, because it was often run on a soft or heavy track and trainers shied away.
"We've experimented a lot with the distance, but it's been 1200m for three seasons and is likely to stay at that."
Racing: Blinkers make Playful Fingers serious victor
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