Racing: Calder had no time to rue misfortune

Racing's a funny game of fortunes.

Andrew Calder sat in the jockeys' room 10 minutes after the $100,000 Avondale Cup and reflected how he'd been taken off the winner Ginga Dude for the race and how his own mount Fiorano had failed to handle the wet conditions and finished down the track.

He picked himself up, went out and won the next race, the $85,000 Aussie Butcher Concorde on Irish Colleen.

As painful as it might have been, Calder used his time wisely between the two races watching the Avondale Cup replay several times.

It won the Concorde for him.

From a widish barrier draw he positioned Irish Colleen outside the leaders and on the home bend headed right to the outside running rail where Ginga Dude had won the Cup 35 minutes earlier.

Hard against the inside running rail Mallinson Road produced a brave fight for second, but the winner out wide always had the advantage.

The favourite, Beautiful Girl, handled the steep step up in class by finishing a further head behind Mallinson Road.

Trainer Stephen McKee said there had been a suggestion Irish Colleen might have run in a R90 race recently.

"But I thought this was the perfect race for her," said McKee.

It was Irish Colleen's fifth win and by far the one that will greatly increase the broodmare value for owners Elias and Daniel Nakhle.

McKee said that with a group two win now behind her the obvious target for Irish Colleen is the group one Railway Stakes at Ellerslie On January 1.

Racecaller Alby Gain will do his last gallops call at Avondale on Saturday.

Gain said at Avondale yesterday it was time he gave away calling the gallopers.

"I'll still be doing the trots, but Avondale is the only gallops' club I call for these days, apart from the one day a year at Thames, and you need continuity. When I was calling the gallops all the time I didn't have to spend much time doing study on raceday because it was like falling off a log.

"Now, I have to really concentrate hard before every race.

"I've had a good trot and I've got no regrets."