Politeness returned to her best form with an outstanding performance in the 2014 Summoned Stakes at Sandown this afternoon.
Politeness jumped out of the ground to record a most impressive win in the 2014 Summoned Stakes. Photo by: Sarah Ebbett
Politeness performed consistently without winning in the first three race starts of her 2014 Spring Racing Carnival campaign and had no luck when seventh in the Group 1 Myer Classic (1600m) at Flemington on Victoria Derby Day, but showed what she was capable of in the Summoned Stakes.
The Street Sense mare was caught wide in the early stages of the Summoned Stakes, but was given a patent ride by jockey Nick Hall, but she exploded when asked for extra effort and ran away from the rest of the field in the final stages to record her second win at Group level.
“She is a real talent this horse and I just think that she needs a really clean run,” Hall said.
“She is a typical filly and she doesn’t like anything going wrong.
“It was disappointing last start when a few things went wrong and it is fantastic to win this.”
Robert Smerdon stable representative Stuart Webb said that Politeness has been considered the best horse in the stable since she made her racing debut and he was clearly delighted to see the talented mare return to winning form in the Summoned Stakes.
Webb admitted after the race that Politeness needs everything to go her way to win, but he was happy that the four-year-old found the clear galloping room that she needs to produce her impressive turn-of-foot.
“She has the tag of the best horse in our place for a long, long time,” Webb said.
“Like we saw in the autumn when she cantered to them from a long way off them, were hoping that we would see that in the spring, but she is a difficult one and she is very one dimensional, she doesn’t always fire when things don’t go her way.
“It was great to see her get good clear galloping room and hit the line like that.
“Nick said last start at Flemington that he had Craig Newitt on his outside and interruptions the whole way and he said that today he would rather be three deep with cover even facing the breath with clear galloping room rather than be bunched up and have nothing happening for him.”
Chris Waller-trained Belle De Couer was well-backed in the lead-up to the Summoned Stakes, but was never able to get into the race and was found to have bled from both nostrils at the conclusion of the race.
