Caption: The Bundaberg Cup presentation (from left) Doug Lutherborrow (Racing Queesland), Robert Ayres with runner-up Lucky Lance, Robert Jacobsen with winner Jagger Moves, Dale Cartwright (Racing Queensland) and Lorraine Isles (handler) with third placegetter Sunshine Delight. (Photo: Uncle Rustys Photos)
By MIKE HILL
OWNER-trainer Robert Jacobsen was a happy man after Jagger Moves staged a powerful late surge to win the rich Group 3 Bundaberg Cup (550m) in late March.
But the winning margin did surprise him.
“I thought he’d won by at least half-a-length,” the Summerholm-based trainer said a day after the $40,000-to-the-winner victory.
“I was still at the starting boxes and I was shocked when I saw the margin was only half-a-head.
“I thought it would be much more.
“Despite that, it was a very strong win.
“He had to work hard, chasing the leader.”
Jagger Moves (Jagger Swagger-Kept Under Wraps) – a $15 outsider – just got the better of the Robert Ayres-trained $2.50 favourite Lucky Lance with Paul McIlveen’s Sunshine Delight ($5.50) four-and-a-quarter lengths away third.
Lucky Lance, jumping from box one, had punched up along the fence to lead the Cup field into the back straight before opening up a three-length advantage over his rivals headed by Jagger Moves.
The Jacobsen sprinter chased hard, joining the leader on the corner and in a two-dog battle down the straight just managed to triumph by the narrowest of margins.
The win almost doubled Jagger Moves’ earnings, jumping to $87,995 (14 wins, eight placings from 33 starts).
“He’s got a lot of ability,” Jacobsen said.
“He’s run a PB 29.85s at Albion Park and I know he can go quicker than that.
“He was underdone for that run.”
However, the trainer did admit that Jagger Moves was a work in progress.
“He’s an anxious, excitable dog and we’ve put a lot of work into him to keep him calm,” he said.
The white-and-black sprinter began his career in Tasmania with Michael Sherriff, who had bred the Jagger Swagger litter in partnership with Jacobsen, after doing his pre-race training in south-east Queensland.
He was highly consistent in the Apple Isle with a 9-3-1 record from his first 13 starts before returning to the mainland last August.
Since rejoining Jacobsen’s kennels, the talented chaser has added another five wins and was sixth behind Jungle Deuce in the G1 Gold Bullion at Albion Park earlier this year after finishing second to Louis Rumble in a heat seven nights earlier.
Last month Jacobsen was undecided on Jagger Moves’ next major assignment, but indicated he could be aimed at either the Rockhampton Cup or the Grafton Cup.
“The big Grafton track should suit him,” the trainer said.
However, the sprinter failed to fire at his first run over 450m at the northern NSW track early last month and then at his next start was unplaced over 510m when favourite at Rockhampton mid-month.
The Bundy Cup meeting was one to remember for Jacobsen, who finished the day with a winning treble.
Not only did he have He’s So Cool (sixth) in the Cup final, he was also successful with Desley’s Girl (5th Grade, 460m) and Capture Bart (5th Grade, 550m).
Jacobsen, who has six dogs in work ‘with a couple of young ones coming through’, has big hopes for a litter from his wonderful Group-winning bitch Crazy Cool.
By Fernando Bale, the five male and four female pups are five months old.
Crazy Cool (Barcia Bale-Crazy Sexy) raced 37 times for 14 wins and 10 placings, amassing $168,815 in earnings.
Her wins included the Richmond Oaks and she was runner-up to Shima Shine in the 2021 Brisbane G1 Gold Bullion.
Meanwhile, the Robert Ayres kennel just failed to land the Bundy Cup feature double after hot favourite I’m Explosive ($1.30) romped home in the $9800 Cup Consolation (550m) beating the George Clegg-trained $51 outsider Viva Belle by eight-and-a-quarter lengths, with Jeff Crawford’s Perfect Breeze ($15) one-and-three-quarter lengths back third.
The winner’s time (31.11s) was just over half a length quicker than the 31.15s clocked by Jagger Moves in the big final.
