Racing: So-close Kiwis to get break after fine showings

BRISBANE - Stradbroke Handicap placegetters Gee I Jane and Cog Hill will return home to New Zealand and spell after their efforts at Eagle Farm on Saturday, with possible Melbourne assignments looming in the spring.

Cambridge trainer Neville Couchman said the A$1 million ($1.18 million) Stradbroke had been Gee I Jane's main assignment for the winter and she deserved a break after her brilliant effort to almost win the race after being wide throughout.

A return to Melbourne in the spring would be considered, but Couchman said he had no firm plans for the five-year-old mare. She campaigned in Melbourne last spring, but was troubled by a virus and raced below her best.

Gee I Jane drew the outside barrier in the 20-horse Stradbroke and jockey Scott Seamer couldn't get cover for her anywhere and was forced to run her six and seven wide throughout.

"She was wide all the way and tracking, but with nowhere to go," Seamer said.

He said he eased the mare behind Miss Potential at the 800m but Gee I Jane was going too keenly.

She sprinted to the front early in the straight and looked to have the race won only for La Montagna to run her down late, winning by half a length.

Couchman didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Unbelievable, she went around the whole world," he said.

"She couldn't get cover and rolled up and rolled up but couldn't get a smother."

Seamer said even if he had drawn one from the outside he probably would not have got the cover he wanted.

The compensation for Couchman and owner Kieran McCarthy was that second prizemoney was A$200,000 ($240,000), while Cog Hill's connections earned A$100,000 for third.

Cog Hill ran home powerfully from the back, with trainer Richard Collett saying weight was the difference, with La Montagna carrying only 48.5kg. Cog Hill had 52.5kg.

Said Collett: "We had a nice run and tracked the winner the whole way. Our horse fought on well but there was no way we were going to beat her [with the weight difference]."

Collett said Cog Hill was more of a miler than a 1400m horse and would be aimed at that distance in major races in the future. He said he would consider a Melbourne programme in the spring.

La Sizeranne, who finished seventh in the Stradbroke, will stay in Brisbane for the Winter Stakes in two weeks time, trainer Roger James said.

A wet track may not have suited La Sizeranne on Saturday, he felt.

Another New Zealand in the Stradbroke was Miss Potential who dropped out to finish 18th after having a hard run from a wide draw.

Her trainer Bill Borrie said he would consider Miss Potential's racing future over the next few days.

"The strategy we had didn't quite work out," Borrie said.

Miss Potential will go to the broodmares' paddock in the spring, but whether she runs before that is undecided.

Meanwhile, after 42 years of trying, the "boy from the bush" - 62-year-old Barry Baldwin - finally celebrated his first group one winner when exciting filly La Montagna scored her explosive Stradbroke victory.

La Montagna became only the fourth filly in the past 21 years to win the Stradbroke, following Canterbury Belle (1985), Dane Ripper (1997) and Private Steer (2003).

- NZPA