Placement Key To Falaise This Winter
- Thursday, 17 June 2010 04:59
The Peter Snowden stable is treading a fine line with Falaise as it tries to place the seven-year-old to advantage this winter.
While a winner on heavy ground, Falaise has always preferred firmer going which is making the task of finding suitable races for him harder at this time of year.
Melbourne foreman Paul Snowden said big weights and age were also catching up with the gelding who has won 10 of his 51 starts and more than $700,000 in stakes.
Falaise will be looking to improve on that record when he lines up in Saturday's Le Pine Funerals Cup (1200m) at Sandown.
Again he is one of the topweights with 58kg on a track that was rated a heavy (8) on Thursday and was likely to deteriorate with more showers forecast.
"He has never really had a liking for wet tracks," Snowden said.
"As a three-year-old he won a few races in a row including some in the wet but he was in his prime and beating horses like Mentality.
"He is older now and feeling his old bones a bit and the hardest part for him is the weights he has to carry.
"His competitiveness is there for one or two runs a preparation whereas before we could get four or five out of him."
Snowden said Falaise was a difficult horse to ride and that Mark Zahra would again ride the gelding.
"You can't really claim on him with an apprentice as he is a bit cagey nowadays," Snowden said.
"He knows when young blokes are on him and he has a bit of a lend of them.
"He is a horse who just needs the right run in a race."
Falaise won first-up at Moonee Valley in March but has had his subsequent three runs spaced, his most recent five weeks ago when fifth to Skiddaw Peak at Flemington on May 15.
Topweight Pinnacles resumes on Saturday with 59.5kg and Steven Arnold takes the reins while El Mandon, In the Shadows and Arch Symbol are among the other leading chances.
