Prebble delivers in style(04 December)

MARK YOUR CARD by MURRAY BELL

Mark Richards has been given a walk-up start in judging this season's "Ride of the Year" award, with Brett Prebble setting a benchmark on Saturday with his performance on Danesis.

The Aussie, once again running a clear second to Douglas Whyte in the jockeys' premiership, was outstanding in his execution of a difficult task from a wide gate at the 1,650m start on the dirt. This is perhaps the most perilous start for horses drawn wide, but Prebble made it look so easy after taking hold at the jump and allowing the Tony Cruz-trained Danesis to find his feet in the early stages.

Danesis, the HK$7.5 million record-priced International Sale graduate last year, settled near the tail as the playmakers set a strong speed up front. Prebble, knowing the form well, realised he had some no-hopers in front of him and whipped around them before coming off the back straight, putting his mount into the race and within range.

Then, on the circle, instead of maintaining a wide run, Prebble sensed an opportunity and cut back from four wide to go through on the inside, saving many lengths before producing Danesis on the inside of one of his key rivals, Courageousheart. In the final 200m, with Prebble having done his part superbly, it was up to Danesis to show what he was made of  and the answer was significantly more than we previously realised.

Our own speed ratings show Danesis to have produced a remarkable - in Class Three terms, at least - 106 rating in victory, with the race measuring 10 pounds better than average.

The time was one second faster than standard after factoring out the speed of the track and Danesis spread his rivals out over 22 lengths, so all available evidence confirms this to be a high rating race.