The crowd that gathered in the birdcage after Please Shuddup's win made up a fair portion of those that were on-course today at Ascot Park as many racegoers, including the horse's trainer Murray Brown, were in their Mai Mais for the opening of duck shooting in the province.
By Auckland Reactor, Please Shuddup drew two on the second row in today's R51 -R9 Mobile Pace. With the rush to the first bend, driver Craig Ferguson was able to ease the gelding off the inside running line and he settled fifth on the outside. At that point he started to get keen and threw his head in the air.
"He's perfect at home but when he gets to the races he gets a bit keen. He's got a lot to learn, but with a bit more racing he should grow into being a nice racehorse," said stable representative Haley Croft, who does most of the work with the gelding.
With 1600 metres to run Ferguson came out three wide and progressed forward. With a lap to run he moved to sit parked.
With 800 metres to go Please Shuddup was level pegging with leader Machitelli. Just before turning in Ferguson got busy on the gelding and while favourite Just Dance had to wait on the passing lane Ferguson pitched a bit of a break and that proved to be the winning of the race. Please Shuddup held on by a head. His winning time on a cold day was a respectable 2-43.5.
Please Shuddup showed a lot of promise early this season running second on his home track in early December before winning at Winton later that month. His form then tapered off.
"He had a problem with a tooth and that set him back quite a bit. We just lost too much time to race those good ones (in the Supremacy Stakes) so we just had to take a different road. But he's all good now."
Croft says the stable has also tried a different tactic when presenting the horse to the races.
"We've taken a bit of a different approach this time and come in fresh. Last time he had a trial and a workout. He probably ran his race in his trial because they went 2-45. It was a fresh approach today and obviously it worked. He doesn't take too much work. As you can tell he's a lean machine."
He's raced by the Tricode Racing Syndicate, The Tricode Racing Syndicate Number 2 and The Dolce Syndicate, and was bought by syndicate manager Peter Kett for $22,000 at the 2016 Sale of the Stars. The Tricode Syndicate had raced his half-sister Soapbox which won three races before she was exported to Australia.
Happy winning connections – Photo Bruce Stewart
"He's the type of horse that can't race week in week out so he'll probably have a couple more starts and then head to the paddock."
Bruce Stewart
Southland Harness Racing