Tindal's Tactics Do The Job
- Saturday, 29 May 2010 04:24
There was no second up syndrome to speak of as Tindal ground away a victory in the $70,000 Geoff Torney Cup (1600m) at Moonee Valley today.
Tindal ($7,$8) was ridden off a solid pace set by Conquering ($4,$4.40) with apprentice Jack Hill choosing to track Bird Of Fire into the race approaching the turn.
Mondano swooped around the field to take the lead thanks to mid-race move by jockey Chris Symons, checking Conquering out of the race, and setting up a home straight showdown between Tindal and Bird Of Fire, the latter going down a short head with a neck away to The Sportsmen ($5,$6) third.
The lightly raced four-year-old was having just his second run off a yearlong break and a change of tactics from the Williams camp worked wonders according to Hill.
"The other day my instructions were just to come out and try and get him to switch off and let him work home," said Hill weighing in.
"Today i was asked to be more positive out of the gates and have him up there and he proved too strong."
Hill highlighted a mid-race move by Chris Symons almost bought his good run undone forcing him to make an early and wide move.
"When Mondano swooped around us it flushed Bird Of Fire out and meant I had to go three wide without cover," Hill said.
"I thought Bird Of Fire had my measure up the straight but to my blokes credit he toughed it out."
The win takes Tindal's career earnings to almost $300,000 from just the three wins.
Photo by Fiona Tomlin
