Elusive Touch Gives Them The Slip
- Saturday, 05 June 2010 04:50
Elusive Touch saluted for the first time since transferring from the Tim Martin stable in Sydney to Mark Kavanagh's Flemington setup late last year.
The lightly raced four-year-old gelding bought up win number three in the $75,000 All Victorian Sprint Series Heat Four (1200m) at his home track Flemington today.
Elusive Touch ($2.50,$2.70,$2.50) was only fairly away but showed a lot of speed and Steven Baster rode brilliantly to take the sit behind leader Grand Duels ($5,$7.50) where he settled with cover for most of the straight.
When Grand Duels rolled to the middle of the track he appeared to have Elusive Touch's measure, but the latter dug deep and was going away on the line to score by almost a length with O'Reilly's Clock ($15,$16,$15) running on a neck away third.
Despite strong support in the betting ring, and an impressive debut for the new stable back in January, stable foreman Merv Harvey admitted he was still unsure how the gelding would handle the softer conditions.
"We weren't sure how he was going to handle this track today but he appeared to get through it well," said Harvey.
"It was just good to see him tuck in behind them and finish the race off good."
Harvey explained that Kavanagh felt the gelding needed a spell following his January debut and believed that his decision had been vindicated.
"Mark decided after the Moonee Valley run to give him a bit of a break, he hadn't had much of a break, so we gave him a good spell bought him back and its done him the world of good," Harvey said.
The stable is undecided on the next option for Elusive Touch who lacks experience for his age and according to Harvey the decision will hinge on how the gelding pulls up.
"There isn't a lot around for him this time of year so we will see how he pulls up and decide where to go to then," he said.
Baster didn't waste any time making the most of his riding opportunities in the absence of Kavanagh's stable jockey Michael Rodd.
He observed that although the race played out well for Elusive Touch, the gelding could only improve when able to relax in the early stages of his races.
"He raced a little bit fresh early today but he held them off well," said Baster after the win.
"I think he will be a better horse when he relaxes a bit more early in his races."
It was the third win from just seven starts for the four-year-old and takes his career earnings to more than $100,000.
Photo by Fiona Tomlin.
