Song Of Seas wins first Nevele R Fillies heat

Ohoka harness racing trainer Tom Bagrie was relatively confident of a good showing from his three year old filly Song Of Seas, (Downbytheseaside) in the first heat of the Nevele R Fillies Series at Addington on Friday night.

Bagrie shares in the ownership of Song Of Seas with Claire Sarsfield, Brian Cowley and his partner Sue Ruffell.

“There was too much pressure on that front. We gave the horse as long a spell as possible. She took a week or two longer to get to the trials. We were going to drive her cold and treat it like a bit of a glorified trial. Because it was a conditioned heat and a small field, I thought it was worth having a punt to get qualified for the final. I was pretty sure she was forward. After her trial she blew pretty hard but recovered pretty quickly afterwards. We thought we weren’t too far away, but didn’t know it was going to unfold that well,” Bagrie said.

In Friday night’s race Song Of Seas was given the perfect trip by Rick May on the back of Queen Lizzy.

“It was a good bit of driving by Rick to get that spot on the back of the favourite.”

Turning in, May brought her to the outside of the track. She showed a brilliant turn of foot and powered home to win by two and a quarter lengths.

SOUND OF SEAS REPLAY

The win was her third in just eight starts.

“She’s always had the feel of a nice horse, but you never really know until they go out and do it on the track. But she seems to be putting together not a bad record.”

Song Of Seas is out of the six win Sportswriter mare Pressed For Time whom Bagrie also trained.

“The mother was a very nice horse who won the Southland Oaks. She had a limited number of starts, had a few problems and ended up breaking down, so we never saw the best of her. She’s (Song Of Seas) a full clone. They’re two peas in a pod.”

Bagrie says the filly isn’t the complete package yet.

“She’s fairly highly strung and everything is go, go, go with her in all aspects of life. She’s just one of those horses that has always got somewhere to be and wants to get there. When she was two and in a couple of starts at three, she misbehaved going up to the mobile. She was a bit keen last night (Friday) so there’s a few things to iron out. I don’t think she’s going to be that placid laid back horse.”

The win qualifies the three year old for the $200,000 Nevele R Three Year Old Fillies Final at Addington on Cup Day.

“I’ll probably look to go to another one of the heats and pick a path. We’re under no pressure now. She’s quite a big mare, on the leaner side of things and she’s still growing, but she doesn’t take too much work.”

Bagrie also won early in the night with Playing With Stars (Always B Miki). The six year old mare was bred and part owned by Cowley and was handled by junior driver Tom Borkoskie.

“She’s been around the stables for a long time and is actually our resident GP (galloping pacemaker). She was coming back from a spell and she hadn’t had a trial, but she was pretty fit. I put Tom on and it worked out perfect. The race was run to suit. When they run hard and don’t run home too quick, she’s not too far away.”

It was a great night for Cowley. Not only did he breed two winners, he bred Bella Ciao which ran second.

“He doesn’t breed too many and it was pretty hard case with all three racing on the same night, for two wins and a second. He’s been an enthusiast in racing forever and loves the breeding side of things.”

For complete race results, click here.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink