Taking The Mickey takes Winter Cup
- Saturday, 01 August 2009 00:00
A son of Christchurch-bred parents Ken and Barbara Collie, although he was born in Wellington, the Matangi based Collie is retired, but has helped out at the stable of training partners Tony Pike and Mark Donoghue at Cambridge where Taking The Mickey is prepared for the last nine years.
Collie said, "It is the first horse I've had race here at Riccarton and this is special because my family is from Christchurch."
After making up a huge slice of ground for third to Point Guard (Woodbury Lad) over 1400 metres at Te Rapa last Saturday, a decision to race in the Winter Cup was a late one.
"It was a last minute decision to come down here, and I was so nervous. I've been around horse all my life and this is fantastic. Racing has its ups and downs, but moments like this make it all worthwhile", said Collie.
A fifteen minute delay following a false start could have been a blessing in disguise for Taking The Mickey and his rider Vinny Colgan.
Colgan said he had given his mount a couple of digs before the start, as he is generally a slow beginner, resulting in Taking The Mickey situating handy before the riders sighted a red flag being waved to signal the false start.
Colgan said, "When he jumped well the first time it would have meant riding him upside down, so I just let him find his own way out the second time and he settled well back."
Still back and wide straightening for the 500 metre run home, Taking The Mickey was still giving The Twist (Danske), who had made the front, four lengths at the 200 metres, and rounded off with a terrific burst to win a close finish.
Taking The Mickey beat The Twist by half a length, with half a neck to third placed Don't Say Clang (Clang), and a nose to Elblizem (Elnadim) in fourth.
In winning his seventh race, his fifth over a mile, Taking The Mickey extended his prize money to $240,000, and returned double-figure odds of $10.40 & $3.10.
On a track that continued to improve during the day, from an initial read of Heavy10 to Slow8, the time for the mile was 1:39.31, last 600 metres in 37.27.
Taking The Mickey was the second horse by Tuscany Flyer (Rory's Jester) to win at Riccarton on Saturday following Toms Oscar, trained by Ross Beckett, two races earlier.
From three-time winning mare Mary Ford, raced by Collie, Taking The Mickey had been a marvellously consistent performer throughout his career since winning his Maiden on debut in November 2005, finishing fourth or better in thirty-one of his forty-five starts, with his biggest win prior coming in the $40,000 Chairman's Trophy at Ellerslie in May, as well as rushing home for third to quality gallopers Culminate (Elnadim) and Gaze (Cape Cross) over 1400 metres at Ellerslie last October.
