DON’T Tease Me has drawn ideally to help the Muswellbrook gelding regain some of his old fighting qualities in Friday’s $25,000 Arrowfield Stud Lone Pine Charge Open (1000m) on his home at Skellatar Park track.
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The Stephen Gleeson-trained five-year-old son of Beautiful Crown jumps from barrier two in one of three races on the eight-race program.
Chris O’Brien is the new rider for the winner of six races in 29 starts after Leanne Henry broke her collarbone in the tragic race fall at Warialda that claimed the life of Darren Jones and left Melanie Bolwell battling a brain bleed and fractures to the neck and ankle in the Gold Coast Hospital.
It was a horrific accident Stephen Gleeson said that has saddened the whole racing community.
“I couldn’t believe when dad (Jim) told me that Leanne had been injured in a race fall and that one of the jockeys had died,” Gleeson said.
“Couldn’t believe it was Jonesie. He’s such a hard worker, reliable and safe rider. I’ve known Darren ever since I first started riding, he was actually in my first race fall when one brought him down in front of me and I went straight over top of him. I thought I had killed him but he bounced up straight to his feet before I was picking myself up.
“He was a great bloke too, I feel for Sheridan and his family.”
He’s also glad to see Bolwell is on the improve in the Gold Coast and marvels at the toughness of Henry as well.
“She’s had a tough run. She was involved in that bad Mudgee Cup fall and a couple of weeks after that fell in a race on one of mine at Gilgandra. A little while later and she fell in a barrier trial and broke a collarbone and did the same collar bone again at Warialda. That was just a terrible, tragic race.”
She is Don’t Tease Me’s regular rider but he thinks Chris O’Brien might suit Don’t Tease Me in Friday’s Lone Pine Charge.
“We haven’t used Chris for a while,” he said.
“But I think he will suit him. I think the last ride he had for us was a winner too.”
Don’t Tease Me is also a family horse and Gleeson said “been a good horse for us” in a career where he has earned more than $150,000 in prizemoney although his recent couple of runs have been disappointing.
“Forget his run at Wellington, he had a terribly hard run,” he said.
“He was a little disappointing at Orange though. He got to the front but was the first horse beaten. I thought he would have kicked on from there. Might not have beaten the winner (Lake Lugarno) who is flying but on his old form would have hung on and run a place. Chris might be good for him and make him concentrate too.”
Don’t Tease Me is one of four Muswellbrook horses in the race, joined by Zero Cash, Don’t Tell Linda and Zippy Hippy.