Racing: St Reims wins despite controversy

Rival jockey Noel Harris is denying allegations of team riding after St Reims and Leith Innes overcame difficulties to win yesterday's $150,000 Zabeel Classic.

Harris said pre-race plans were never for his mount Society Bay to try to upset St Reims by taking him on in front to make the race for stablemate Distinctly Secret, who was trailing.

Harris claimed Innes asked him at the start if he [Harris] intended taking him on in front to undermine St Reims' natural pacemaking talents.

"I said no, and I had no intention of doing it, but Society Bay races fiercely even at 1600m, so at 2000m he was always going to go forward," said Harris.

Society Bay challenged St Reims hard on his outside from the 1400m, to the point where Harris went ahead and gave St Reims a trail.

Innes had to quickly extract St Reims when Distinctly Secret moved up and had the opportunity to put him in a pocket behind the two stablemates.

Asked what Harris had said to him mid-race, Innes said: "It's more about what I was saying to him."

Harris said he felt he had done little wrong.

"Leith might be a bit upset with me at the moment, but he'd have been really annoyed if I'd sat outside him and annoyed him."

Early in the run home Distinctly Secret looked as though he would take full advantage of his saloon passage and St Reims' hard work.

Innes thought he was certain to be beaten.

"I thought he'd done too much in running," said Innes. "Then suddenly he lifted and I said 'yes, we're going to win'. He's a terrific horse, he's so tough"

He said he was not initially worried when St Reims lost the lead.

"I know him now, he gets into a rhythm. Having said that, he likes to be in front on his own."

St Reims beat Distinctly Secret by half a length with half a head to the slightly unlucky Lashed.

Managing owner Rob McAnulty was thankful the decision had been made to run in the Zabeel rather than the Auckland Cup.

"We'll aim him at Hong Kong [Queen Elizabeth Cup] in April and if he doesn't get invited we'll look at the Singapore International in May."

Lashed raced at the back of the field and struck trouble finding a straight path in the home straight.

Opie Bosson would not say the run cost him victory, but said it certainly cost Lashed ground.

"She's racing like she was this time last year. She went a great race."

* The race had a tragic ending when great old campaigner Cent Home had to be put down after shattering a front leg with 220m to run.

Cent Home struggled with soundness through his career, but managed to win just short of $750,000.

He won the Kelt Capital in 1999 and included among his other 11 wins, the St George Stakes at Caulfield in 2001.