Racing: Punters well off track after Railway Stakes upset

Miss Raggedy Ann and jockey Tasha Collett after winning Race 8 the Blandford Lodge Railway Stakes. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Miss Raggedy Ann pulled up sore after winning Saturday's $200,000 Blandford Lodge Railway and has to have a veterinary clearance before next racing.

But she wasn't as sore as punters who had to take on the chin the $87 dividend.

No one had given Miss Raggedy Ann any chance in pre-race discussions and stewards asked trainer Andrew Scott to explain the form turnaround after the Matamata mare had finished 11th of the 13 runners in last Sunday's lead-up Newmarket Handicap.

Scott told stewards he felt Miss Raggedy Ann had improved with recent racing and she had done it tough when wide in the Newmarket.

Afterwards Scott told journalists he had been worried about getting Miss Raggedy Ann fit enough. "I haven't been able to get the weight off her."

Barrier draws can win or lose you sprint races, particularly Railways, and senior owner Des Hawkins said "here we go again" when Miss Raggedy Ann drew gate No 13 at last Wednesday's barrier draw.

"It's almost never-ending, the bad draws she has had," said Hawkins, who races a band of horses under the banner of Llanhennock Trust.

Since she started racing her barriers have been 11 of 13, 8 of 12, 11-14, 10-11, 8-9, 6-8, 5-14, 9-14, 6-13, 12-16, 14-14, 11-12, 4-6, 9-14, 10-10, 8-10, 8-10, 10-14, 8-14, 2-7, 9-10, 4-14, 11-11, 9-12 and 8-11.

Hawkins' sons Leigh, Sean and Dean, who share in the ownership, admitted they'd picked up some of the $87 dividend.

Did they really think the mare could win?

Sheepishly, the brothers all shook their heads.

Doubtless we'll see Miss Raggedy Ann back at the racetrack, but when a mare has won a group one Railway and a couple of hundred thousand dollars, not racing again is far from the worst result.

The winning rider was Tasha Collett, not long out of her apprenticeship.

Miss Raggedy Ann and Collett got home by a bare nose from Atapi with two further outsiders Tip The Wink and Double Barrel a long head and a neck away.

The trifecta was a massive $16,323 and it surprised no one that the First4 wasn't struck.

The First4 in Showcause's City Of Auckland Cup Cassini (2), favourite Red Ruler (3) and roughie Back In Black (4) was a massive $61,317.

James McDonald is an old head on young shoulders if there ever was one.

He summed up the victory by King's Rose in Saturday's $100,000 Royal Stakes beautifully: "That was a lot better than it looked."

King's Rose, at $1.60, looked likely to go under when Annie Higgins and Queen Of Pop came either side of her at the 200m.

That's a tough scenario even for a hot-pot, but the high-class Matamata filly showed there is no substitute for that one quality everyone seeks in horse racing - sheer class.

Just when she looked vulnerable, King's Rose switched up a gear and the other two fillies didn't have another gear.

"I know the margin says differently, but I felt she didn't win by a long neck, I thought she won easily," said McDonald, who said it had been a torrid ride. "They were all riding to beat her.

"I had to take off earlier than I wanted to and she was basically in front on straightening up.

"But at no stage did I think she was going to be beaten. She's good."

There is no truth in the rumours sweeping Ellerslie on Saturday that King's Rose is a chance to run in the $2.2 million Telecom Derby on March 5.

"We want the Filly Of The Year series," said Te Akau Racing Stables principal David Ellis.

Te Akau has won the fillies' series three of the past four years and it's difficult to see how King's Rose should not be $1.50 to make that four of the past five.

"She'll run in the Sir Tristram Fillies Classic at Te Rapa next, then be aimed at the Oaks," said Ellis.

"If she needs another one before the Oaks there's always the Lowland Stakes."

King's Rose is owned by Hong Kong-based doctor Gene Tsoi, who has raced horses in New Zealand and Australia for the past two decades.

The victory was a further confidence boost for trainer Jason Bridgman, in his first full season as trainer at Te Akau.

Annie Higgins was brave after coming around the home bend outside the winner and deserves her turn.