Heathcote Blasts Handicappers

By Grant Stockwell
Premier Brisbane trainer Robert Heathcote gave the Racing Queensland handicap panel a blast after his talented mare Fillydelphia was narrowly beaten in the $200,000 Bernborough Handicap at Doomben on Saturday.
Fillydelphia, a four-year-old mare, lugged 57kg and was beaten in the last stride by seasoned Sydney visitor Kontiki Park who carried just 54kg.
Heathcote applauded Kontiki Park's effort but questioned how his mare was handicapped three kilos above the winner.
"How can a four-year-old mare who's won a Group Three race against her own age as a three-year-old give three kilos to a seasoned horse like Kontiki Park?," he said."The handicapping system up here is sometimes a joke. We win an ordinary open company race against weak horses and we can get penalized eight ratings points.
"I've said for ages, the system is a often unfair and needs to be revisited."
In a driving finish, the Gai Waterhouse-trained Kontiki Park ($4.40) nailed Fillydelphia ($7) right on the line to score a short half-head win and give promising Sydney hoop Tommy Berry his third winner for the day.
Gold Coast gelding Emvoss ($10) drove through a narrow gap between the winner and runner-up close to the line to finish a long head back third.
Berry had scored earlier on Nuptse for local trainer Brian Wakefield in the skyracing.tv Handicap (1020m) and also on flying filly Driefontein for Waterhouse in the BJ McLachlan Stakes (1200m).
Waterhouse's stable foreman Neville Auld said Kontiki Park would now head towards the Magic Millions Stayers Cup (1800m) on January 14.