Last Wednesday evenings Ellerslie meeting looks to have unearthed yet more three-year-old talent.
These twilight meetings have a habit of proving difficult for punters, and with rain around and the running rail out 12m, upsets again looked the order of the night, especially after Redemption saluted in the first at odds of nearly 20 to 1.
However strong winning performances from two well supported three-year-old fillies reinvigorated punters confidence and saw that a small parcel of the $200,000 Pick Six was struck.
Following her strong last start finish for third over 1400m to subsequent group one placed Randall, the step to 1600m looked ideal for the Towkay filly Chicharita. Allowed to settle back from a wide draw on Wednesday evening, she made a sustained run through the field from the 600m, eventually striking the front with 150m to go, before holding off the fast finishing Poste Restante more comfortably than the long neck margin suggests.
Chicharita is not overly typical of her sires stock and looks to have thrown more to her dam sire Sir Tristram. Tall and strongly made with good bone, the filly reminds me on type somewhat of the Towkay filly Sahara Flight who ran third in the 2005 New Zealand Oaks. Interstingly', like a number of Towkay's better performers, she has Fair Trail blood in her distaff.
Although nearly a second slower than Chicharita's winning time for the same distance, Silent Achiever, having just her second start, was every bit as impressive. The feature of the O'Reilly filly's debut performance for third was her fast closing 200m, and once again she displayed rare acceleration, sitting a little bit closer in the running than Chicharita, before picking up the leaders in a matter of strides with 150m to go, then coasting to the line.
Chicharita runs to the line strongly and will be suited in pattern company at 2000m and further, while Silent Achiever also has the class to be competitive in races like the Eight Carat Classic.
Saturday's Eulogy Stakes underlined the current depth of our three-year-old fillies. The return of Planet Rock and Annabandana to join the emerging talent of Xanadu and Silent Achiever will ensure a fascinating conclusion to the Filly of the Year title.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Ellerslie 3 December: David and Miss Goliath
I headed to Ellerslie primarily to see Xanadu as I had not seen her since she was a foal at Little Avondale. The maiden race also had a number of first starters, quite a few of them well bred and with trials form.
Watching Xanadu parade was like looking at a high school first XV run onto the field, and there suddenly in the middle of the teenagers is Brad Thorn or Andy Haden. She is some physical specimen; tall and long but very athletic with the most fantastic gaskin. She had just the right amount of mental alertness, on toe, and keen to get on with it, but observant and confident.
Craig Gryll's knew he was on the best horse in the race and rode her accordingly. The stakesplaced Vincent Street got away with cheap sectionals in front but despite Xanadu finding the home turn tricky, as many visiting Ellerslie for the first time do, she outsprinted the Darci Brahma gelding more comfortably than the margin suggests.
Knights Tour paraded acting colty and it will take a good training effort to get him through to the Derby with his manhood intact.
The Maiden 1200m presented a totally different challenge. Apart from the O'Reilly colt Miami Provocateur and the Falkirk filly Springtime, the field lacked types. But as the saying goes, beauty's only skin deep and my eye kept coming back to the little Keeper gelding St Yazin Chris McNab was walking around beneath the trees in the parade ring.
His best supporters will tell you that he has had some very good males in Hong Kong but Keeper is one of those stallions whose fillies are distinctly superior to his colts. Often he can leave a a big type of colt and they can tend to be a bit one-paced. Keeper's only stakeswinner in Hong Kong, Special Days, is not a big horse.
Lucky to be 15.1 hands, St Yazin may have thrown to his damsire Montjeu - making a promising start as a broodmare stallion - for he was still a neat and well balanced type. But is was more his eye that I took a liking to, it looked at you and reeked of honesty and courage. Could he gallop?
He sure could. The Savabeel three-year-old gelding Have No Mercy - a good type for a Savabeel -showed high gate speed to get across early from a wide gate and then sprinted clear early in the straight. Little St Yazin had got back in the early rush and was having difficulty extracting himself from traffic with 300m to run, but once he did he really knuckled down and picked-up Have No Mercy, right on the line.
Xanadu will go onto better things than anything else on yesterdays card but between St Yazin and Have No Mercy, I think one of them will win a nice race one day.
Watching Xanadu parade was like looking at a high school first XV run onto the field, and there suddenly in the middle of the teenagers is Brad Thorn or Andy Haden. She is some physical specimen; tall and long but very athletic with the most fantastic gaskin. She had just the right amount of mental alertness, on toe, and keen to get on with it, but observant and confident.
Craig Gryll's knew he was on the best horse in the race and rode her accordingly. The stakesplaced Vincent Street got away with cheap sectionals in front but despite Xanadu finding the home turn tricky, as many visiting Ellerslie for the first time do, she outsprinted the Darci Brahma gelding more comfortably than the margin suggests.
Knights Tour paraded acting colty and it will take a good training effort to get him through to the Derby with his manhood intact.
The Maiden 1200m presented a totally different challenge. Apart from the O'Reilly colt Miami Provocateur and the Falkirk filly Springtime, the field lacked types. But as the saying goes, beauty's only skin deep and my eye kept coming back to the little Keeper gelding St Yazin Chris McNab was walking around beneath the trees in the parade ring.
His best supporters will tell you that he has had some very good males in Hong Kong but Keeper is one of those stallions whose fillies are distinctly superior to his colts. Often he can leave a a big type of colt and they can tend to be a bit one-paced. Keeper's only stakeswinner in Hong Kong, Special Days, is not a big horse.
Lucky to be 15.1 hands, St Yazin may have thrown to his damsire Montjeu - making a promising start as a broodmare stallion - for he was still a neat and well balanced type. But is was more his eye that I took a liking to, it looked at you and reeked of honesty and courage. Could he gallop?
He sure could. The Savabeel three-year-old gelding Have No Mercy - a good type for a Savabeel -showed high gate speed to get across early from a wide gate and then sprinted clear early in the straight. Little St Yazin had got back in the early rush and was having difficulty extracting himself from traffic with 300m to run, but once he did he really knuckled down and picked-up Have No Mercy, right on the line.
Xanadu will go onto better things than anything else on yesterdays card but between St Yazin and Have No Mercy, I think one of them will win a nice race one day.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Ocean Park: Derby Prospects
Outside Rock n Pop the first legitimate New Zealand Derby contender may have emerged in the form of Saturday's impressive Ellerslie winner Ocean Park. And the Gary Hennessy trained colt has the pedigree to suggest the Derby distance should hold no fears.
Following a dead heat debut win at Gisborne over 1400m earlier in the month, the Thorn Park colt was allowed to start at 16 to 1 for Saturday's 1500m contest but won like an odds on shot, sprinting impressively from last in the nine horse field of three-year-olds, picking up the hot favourite Joy's World with 100m to go, before drawing away from the Redoute's Choice filly to record a length and a half win.
Sayidda the dam of Ocean Park looked a filly of untapped potential in the early summer of 2003, although the fact she was by Zabeel, a smashing physical type and trained by Roger James, probably had more to do with her starting favourite for that seasons Avondale Guineas, than two consecutive wins in lower grade events leading into the group two contest. Sadly she badly fractured a cannon bone during the Guineas and initially there were grave fears for her survival let alone a broodmare career.
Nursed back to health by her breeders and owners Trelawney Stud, Sayidda's first mating was to the stud's own shuttle stallion Van Nistelrooy. The resulting filly foal was retained by her breeders and as Ruqqaya, she showed distinct promise in her first campaign as a summer three-year-old, beating Harris Tweed and The Phantom Storm over 2000m at Te Rapa in 2.02, and at one stage held nominations for the New Zealand Derby and Oaks.
Ruqqaya struggled to recapture the same form in two subsequent campaigns and has not started since running unplaced over ground at Rotorua last December. A generously proportioned but most attractive mare, she looks an outstanding broodmare prospect.
Ocean Park, Sayidda's next live foal after her filly the year earlier by Volksraad died, was part of Trelawney's 2010 Karaka Select Sale draft. Why he sold in the second-tier sale is strange, for while Thorn Park was not the force then as he has become, and Sayidda herself is without black-type, he was an outstanding type, fetching $150,000 - the second equal highest price of 29 Thorn Park progeny sold through the top two sessions that year.
Presumably there are tactics at play on behalf of the vendor in selling Sayidda's yearlings, as the mares next foal, a filly by Iffraaj, also found herself in the Select Sale at Karaka this year, selling to clients of her mothers former trainer for $290,000 ,the top price of that session.
The authors yearling catalogue notes on Hip no 675 at the Karaka last year read " lovely mid-sized colt, not heavy with a great head and barrel." My observations on seeing him at Ellerslie on Saturday were that he has developed in proportion but remained very athletic, is still at best medium sized, with the most notable difference being that he has grown a flowing gaskin that allows him marked elasticity with his hind leg stride.
Veyron capped a very good day for his sire Thorn Park when he won the feature race at Ellerslie on Saturday, the Group Three Eagle Technology Stakes at 1600m. The group one successes last season of his daughter The Party Stand at 2000m and his son Jimmy Choux in the New Zealand Derby, lifted the son of Spinning World into the top bracket of our stallion ranks, but significantly also reiterated the ability of an Australian bred sprinting profiled stallion to leave high class middle distance runners when crossed with the stouter local broodmare gene pool.
Sayidda's distaff was responsible for a number of high class performers throughout thr 1980's and 1990's, headed by the likes of Courtza, O'Reilly, Critic and Our Pompeii, however the years since have been rather lean for this old Waikato Stud family. Not for the first time, Zabeel looks to have re invigorated a branch of a once distinguished family.
Given the manner of Saturday's victory, and coming at just his second career start, the future looks very bright for Ocean Park. This author will not be writing a tongue in cheek article again about a son of Thorn Park needing a horse float to run the Derby distance.
Following a dead heat debut win at Gisborne over 1400m earlier in the month, the Thorn Park colt was allowed to start at 16 to 1 for Saturday's 1500m contest but won like an odds on shot, sprinting impressively from last in the nine horse field of three-year-olds, picking up the hot favourite Joy's World with 100m to go, before drawing away from the Redoute's Choice filly to record a length and a half win.
Sayidda the dam of Ocean Park looked a filly of untapped potential in the early summer of 2003, although the fact she was by Zabeel, a smashing physical type and trained by Roger James, probably had more to do with her starting favourite for that seasons Avondale Guineas, than two consecutive wins in lower grade events leading into the group two contest. Sadly she badly fractured a cannon bone during the Guineas and initially there were grave fears for her survival let alone a broodmare career.
Nursed back to health by her breeders and owners Trelawney Stud, Sayidda's first mating was to the stud's own shuttle stallion Van Nistelrooy. The resulting filly foal was retained by her breeders and as Ruqqaya, she showed distinct promise in her first campaign as a summer three-year-old, beating Harris Tweed and The Phantom Storm over 2000m at Te Rapa in 2.02, and at one stage held nominations for the New Zealand Derby and Oaks.
Ruqqaya struggled to recapture the same form in two subsequent campaigns and has not started since running unplaced over ground at Rotorua last December. A generously proportioned but most attractive mare, she looks an outstanding broodmare prospect.
Ocean Park, Sayidda's next live foal after her filly the year earlier by Volksraad died, was part of Trelawney's 2010 Karaka Select Sale draft. Why he sold in the second-tier sale is strange, for while Thorn Park was not the force then as he has become, and Sayidda herself is without black-type, he was an outstanding type, fetching $150,000 - the second equal highest price of 29 Thorn Park progeny sold through the top two sessions that year.
Presumably there are tactics at play on behalf of the vendor in selling Sayidda's yearlings, as the mares next foal, a filly by Iffraaj, also found herself in the Select Sale at Karaka this year, selling to clients of her mothers former trainer for $290,000 ,the top price of that session.
The authors yearling catalogue notes on Hip no 675 at the Karaka last year read " lovely mid-sized colt, not heavy with a great head and barrel." My observations on seeing him at Ellerslie on Saturday were that he has developed in proportion but remained very athletic, is still at best medium sized, with the most notable difference being that he has grown a flowing gaskin that allows him marked elasticity with his hind leg stride.
Veyron capped a very good day for his sire Thorn Park when he won the feature race at Ellerslie on Saturday, the Group Three Eagle Technology Stakes at 1600m. The group one successes last season of his daughter The Party Stand at 2000m and his son Jimmy Choux in the New Zealand Derby, lifted the son of Spinning World into the top bracket of our stallion ranks, but significantly also reiterated the ability of an Australian bred sprinting profiled stallion to leave high class middle distance runners when crossed with the stouter local broodmare gene pool.
Sayidda's distaff was responsible for a number of high class performers throughout thr 1980's and 1990's, headed by the likes of Courtza, O'Reilly, Critic and Our Pompeii, however the years since have been rather lean for this old Waikato Stud family. Not for the first time, Zabeel looks to have re invigorated a branch of a once distinguished family.
Given the manner of Saturday's victory, and coming at just his second career start, the future looks very bright for Ocean Park. This author will not be writing a tongue in cheek article again about a son of Thorn Park needing a horse float to run the Derby distance.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Xanadu: Going Places Quickly
It sounds like the Kelso stable did a pretty decent job of keeping the potential of their three-year-old filly Xanadu to themselves before she debuted on her home track on 28 October. Allowed to start third favourite in the field of nine, the Elusive City filly could hardly have been more visually impressive, picking up the pacemaking Pellegrini well into the short Matamata straight, yet still posting a one and a half length winning margin over the promising Baker trained colt.
Helped no doubt by a New Zealand Herald article this morning that talked up the chances of the Savabeel filly Showing Off in todays Rating 65 1400m at Te Aroha, Xanadu was allowed to open at a $4.50 Fixed Odds quote, before firming to start slight favourite at a touch under $4 for her clash with the unbeaten Savabeel filly and a field of predominantly older horses.
Away slowly after reeling slightly from a bump to her head as the starting gates opened, Craig Gryll's quickly used the fillys high cruising speed to recover and take a position close to the pace, before unleashing her on the leaders shortly into the straight, then clearing out under a hands and heals ride for an authorative three and a half length victory that could conceivably have been four and a half to five lengths if Gryll's had felt the urge.
The ability to sprint twice in a race is rare in a thoroughbred, yet the Little Avondale Stud bred filly seems to do it quite effortlessly.
It is a huge class rise from a midweek Rating 65 to tackle Annabandana, Planet Rock and co but Xanadu looks the type of filly that can often come out from seemingly nowhere at this time of the season; the one that has missed the tough age group racing and really measures up in the Filly of The Year events throughout the summer.
Helped no doubt by a New Zealand Herald article this morning that talked up the chances of the Savabeel filly Showing Off in todays Rating 65 1400m at Te Aroha, Xanadu was allowed to open at a $4.50 Fixed Odds quote, before firming to start slight favourite at a touch under $4 for her clash with the unbeaten Savabeel filly and a field of predominantly older horses.
Away slowly after reeling slightly from a bump to her head as the starting gates opened, Craig Gryll's quickly used the fillys high cruising speed to recover and take a position close to the pace, before unleashing her on the leaders shortly into the straight, then clearing out under a hands and heals ride for an authorative three and a half length victory that could conceivably have been four and a half to five lengths if Gryll's had felt the urge.
The ability to sprint twice in a race is rare in a thoroughbred, yet the Little Avondale Stud bred filly seems to do it quite effortlessly.
It is a huge class rise from a midweek Rating 65 to tackle Annabandana, Planet Rock and co but Xanadu looks the type of filly that can often come out from seemingly nowhere at this time of the season; the one that has missed the tough age group racing and really measures up in the Filly of The Year events throughout the summer.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Melbourne Cup 101
So the Cup is over for another year and the punting post mortem's have begun.
The Cup was a kind race to me in the late 90's and early this millennium, but I had gone off the boil lately, largely due to the increasing competitiveness of the overseas horses and the myriad of different formlines they were bringing downunder. My luck turned this year, yet ironically European horses finished in the first six placings. Maybe the experience had made me wiser...
Excuse me for sounding a little bit like John Mitchell, but in success one should still analyse the accomplishment, as there is still much to learn.......so here it goes:
Dunaden: Watch, watch, watch and watch again. On my first look at the Geelong Cup replay I wasn't overly impressed. Sure he let down well to hit the front 200m out, but then he just seemed to flatten out. I didn't think for a moment it was in the same league as the Cup trials of Media Puzzle, She's Archie or Americain.
But the more times I watched the replay the wiser I became; Williams had deliberately dropped his hands when he hit the front, wanting the horse to have a softer run as possible.
Tanby's consistent form through the spring and his subsequent win in the Bendigo Cup were important pointers, however the clincher was probably Dunadens weight - the records show that 53.5kgs is such a winnable Cup weight.
Red Cadeaux: I liked the way he fought right to the line for a close third in the Irish St Leger. He was off the bit a long way out, and although the time was 7 seconds off standard, he kept closing on the dead heating winners. He carried over 60kgs at the Curragh that day and the race has been a good guide to Melbourne down the years with the likes of Vinnie Roe, Vintage Crop and Profound Beauty performing well in both races.
The clincher came with the Trackside preview show on Monday night. There was a shot of him being hotwalked at Werribee and despite an exercise blanket I could still see that he looked in excellent condition, especially in his coat, which was a rich dark red chestnut colour. Obviously he was warming to Melbourne like his rugby team had to Queenstown. Also his trainer Ed Dunlop knows how to travel a horse - he has done so fantastically well with the marvellous mare Snow Fairy - so despite not having had a run in Australia, he was looked well enough to risk.
Lucas Cranache: You knew the moment he started drifting alarmingly in the market for the Caulfield Cup that the stable knew they didn't have him fit enough and so it proved; he mounted a big run from the 600m and looked a real chance with 200m to go, then peaked. The Freedman's have an ideal property down on the Mornington Peninsula for getting a horse fit off the racetrack, plus they had always signalled their intention to go straight from Caulfield into the Cup, so I wasn't concerned when he didn't run again.
I was also taken with a replay of one of his German wins where he stormed home over the last 200m of a 2400m race, showing rare speed for European stayer. Then when I saw he had only finished five lengths from the authoritative Arc winner Danedream in another of his German runs, I couldn't leave him out. Finally and while it wasn't a deal breaker, but his rider Corey Brown has a good record in the Cup, and seem to gets stayers to relax well, and I could see him spending little petrol on the paint from his draw.
Americain: In hindsight the weight probably beats him, although Mosse believes it was the firm track. Still, if he had been closer to them at the turn I still think he may have won. But we will never know.
The Beaten Brigade: Manighar ran slightly better than I thought he would. As a rule horses don't improve between five and six years to win the Cup now and he had his chances last year. The blinkers that went on for the Cup probably sharpened him up sufficiently to run fifth instead of seventh/eighth.
I had Fox Hunt in my multiples but maybe he just lacks the class and speed that you need to win now. He seemed to fit the profile of a Jardines Lookout type of horse, tough and always finding the line. Or maybe the Mark Johnston recalcitrance which I took for a smokescreen was in fact no mirage and he genuinely thought the race was too bigger step. I must go back and look at his form again, possibly I missed something.
If the track had been dry last year I still maintain Holberg would have gone close to winning, instead of running sixth. Godolphin are going to win this race shortly, however this years pair didn't excite me as much as Holberg who had a racing profile that suggested he was comfortable racing close to the pace and could quicken or slow without coming off the bridle.
Of Godolphin's duo, Lost In The Moment appealed more. He finished strongly at Goodwood in a race that featured a number of his English rivals in the Cup. I only sighted a replay of one of Modun's six career starts and it was on the dirt and right handed. It was a reasonably competitive pattern race and he won it well enough, drawing away over the closing stages, but he did race a fraction boldly, which may only be down to his lack of experience. But I had little hesitation to relegate him when I read a report from Werribee that he looked overly bold in his work, which is contrary to the relaxed types I favour for these type of races.
Niwot: Franked the form that comes out of the Lexus now, with a strong performance to finish eighth. While his Lexus win was very comprehensive, I hadn't rated the field overly and when two moderates Macedonian and Raffaello filled the minor placings it tended to confirm my suspicions. He has an excellent Flemington record, including a two-mile win in the Andrew Ramsden, but it's been a long while since form from those sorts of races has bought any reward in the Cup - the St Leger winner Dolphin Jo finished fifth or thereabouts on a rain affected track three or so years ago. Niwot ran to form.
Glass Harmonium: Something told me that he may do a Jeune, being a big bold six-year-old stallion and all, so I had a few tickets on him just in case. Sure once he missed the kick his race was as good as over but he seemed to settle okay at the back of the field, but just didn't run on. Somehow I don't think that theory was ever going to work.
At First Sight: At first I wasn't overly concerned about him not wining the Bendigo Cup, as it was acknowledged he had missed vital work going into the Caulfield Cup and was still likely to be short of fitness. He went up to win at Bendigo then bottomed out. As a friend so rightly reminded me on Cup eve, you need absolutely everything to go right going into these type of races. Maybe he just isn't quite good enough? I would still like to see this horse with another Australian preparation.
Tullamore: Racing well in his leadups although I was concerned that he has always tended to race up on the bit and may not get 2 miles. A lot of Savabeel's have the same tendency and maybe the are sharp mile and a quarter to mile and a half horses. Also Brisbane Cup form hasn't translated into Cup form for many years.
The Cup is a fascinating race for punters. Chances are I suspect a number of my theories will go out the back door next year. Oh well, the analysis sure beats an investment property.
The Cup was a kind race to me in the late 90's and early this millennium, but I had gone off the boil lately, largely due to the increasing competitiveness of the overseas horses and the myriad of different formlines they were bringing downunder. My luck turned this year, yet ironically European horses finished in the first six placings. Maybe the experience had made me wiser...
Excuse me for sounding a little bit like John Mitchell, but in success one should still analyse the accomplishment, as there is still much to learn.......so here it goes:
Dunaden: Watch, watch, watch and watch again. On my first look at the Geelong Cup replay I wasn't overly impressed. Sure he let down well to hit the front 200m out, but then he just seemed to flatten out. I didn't think for a moment it was in the same league as the Cup trials of Media Puzzle, She's Archie or Americain.
But the more times I watched the replay the wiser I became; Williams had deliberately dropped his hands when he hit the front, wanting the horse to have a softer run as possible.
Tanby's consistent form through the spring and his subsequent win in the Bendigo Cup were important pointers, however the clincher was probably Dunadens weight - the records show that 53.5kgs is such a winnable Cup weight.
Red Cadeaux: I liked the way he fought right to the line for a close third in the Irish St Leger. He was off the bit a long way out, and although the time was 7 seconds off standard, he kept closing on the dead heating winners. He carried over 60kgs at the Curragh that day and the race has been a good guide to Melbourne down the years with the likes of Vinnie Roe, Vintage Crop and Profound Beauty performing well in both races.
The clincher came with the Trackside preview show on Monday night. There was a shot of him being hotwalked at Werribee and despite an exercise blanket I could still see that he looked in excellent condition, especially in his coat, which was a rich dark red chestnut colour. Obviously he was warming to Melbourne like his rugby team had to Queenstown. Also his trainer Ed Dunlop knows how to travel a horse - he has done so fantastically well with the marvellous mare Snow Fairy - so despite not having had a run in Australia, he was looked well enough to risk.
Lucas Cranache: You knew the moment he started drifting alarmingly in the market for the Caulfield Cup that the stable knew they didn't have him fit enough and so it proved; he mounted a big run from the 600m and looked a real chance with 200m to go, then peaked. The Freedman's have an ideal property down on the Mornington Peninsula for getting a horse fit off the racetrack, plus they had always signalled their intention to go straight from Caulfield into the Cup, so I wasn't concerned when he didn't run again.
I was also taken with a replay of one of his German wins where he stormed home over the last 200m of a 2400m race, showing rare speed for European stayer. Then when I saw he had only finished five lengths from the authoritative Arc winner Danedream in another of his German runs, I couldn't leave him out. Finally and while it wasn't a deal breaker, but his rider Corey Brown has a good record in the Cup, and seem to gets stayers to relax well, and I could see him spending little petrol on the paint from his draw.
Americain: In hindsight the weight probably beats him, although Mosse believes it was the firm track. Still, if he had been closer to them at the turn I still think he may have won. But we will never know.
The Beaten Brigade: Manighar ran slightly better than I thought he would. As a rule horses don't improve between five and six years to win the Cup now and he had his chances last year. The blinkers that went on for the Cup probably sharpened him up sufficiently to run fifth instead of seventh/eighth.
I had Fox Hunt in my multiples but maybe he just lacks the class and speed that you need to win now. He seemed to fit the profile of a Jardines Lookout type of horse, tough and always finding the line. Or maybe the Mark Johnston recalcitrance which I took for a smokescreen was in fact no mirage and he genuinely thought the race was too bigger step. I must go back and look at his form again, possibly I missed something.
If the track had been dry last year I still maintain Holberg would have gone close to winning, instead of running sixth. Godolphin are going to win this race shortly, however this years pair didn't excite me as much as Holberg who had a racing profile that suggested he was comfortable racing close to the pace and could quicken or slow without coming off the bridle.
Of Godolphin's duo, Lost In The Moment appealed more. He finished strongly at Goodwood in a race that featured a number of his English rivals in the Cup. I only sighted a replay of one of Modun's six career starts and it was on the dirt and right handed. It was a reasonably competitive pattern race and he won it well enough, drawing away over the closing stages, but he did race a fraction boldly, which may only be down to his lack of experience. But I had little hesitation to relegate him when I read a report from Werribee that he looked overly bold in his work, which is contrary to the relaxed types I favour for these type of races.
Niwot: Franked the form that comes out of the Lexus now, with a strong performance to finish eighth. While his Lexus win was very comprehensive, I hadn't rated the field overly and when two moderates Macedonian and Raffaello filled the minor placings it tended to confirm my suspicions. He has an excellent Flemington record, including a two-mile win in the Andrew Ramsden, but it's been a long while since form from those sorts of races has bought any reward in the Cup - the St Leger winner Dolphin Jo finished fifth or thereabouts on a rain affected track three or so years ago. Niwot ran to form.
Glass Harmonium: Something told me that he may do a Jeune, being a big bold six-year-old stallion and all, so I had a few tickets on him just in case. Sure once he missed the kick his race was as good as over but he seemed to settle okay at the back of the field, but just didn't run on. Somehow I don't think that theory was ever going to work.
At First Sight: At first I wasn't overly concerned about him not wining the Bendigo Cup, as it was acknowledged he had missed vital work going into the Caulfield Cup and was still likely to be short of fitness. He went up to win at Bendigo then bottomed out. As a friend so rightly reminded me on Cup eve, you need absolutely everything to go right going into these type of races. Maybe he just isn't quite good enough? I would still like to see this horse with another Australian preparation.
Tullamore: Racing well in his leadups although I was concerned that he has always tended to race up on the bit and may not get 2 miles. A lot of Savabeel's have the same tendency and maybe the are sharp mile and a quarter to mile and a half horses. Also Brisbane Cup form hasn't translated into Cup form for many years.
The Cup is a fascinating race for punters. Chances are I suspect a number of my theories will go out the back door next year. Oh well, the analysis sure beats an investment property.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Hastings, Saturday 27 August
The first day of the Hastings Spring Carnival invariably generates a lot of enthusiasm amongst the racing fraternity and with it been a few seasons since the days feature had included as many horses with genuine Australian Spring Carnival aspirations, this years raceday carried a little extra significance.
But not sufficient to warrant the decision of the Hawkes Bay Racing Club to charge racegoers $20 at the gate. Sadly the extent of the cost reeked of desperation in times of falling turnovers, and I understand, resulted in tens of people turning around at the gates and going home. It's hard to argue that New Zealand racing clubs cannot now afford to charge for feature days, but the price must reflect the product - which includes the standard of the facility, and be advertised appropriately.
The crowd looked down on recent years although they seemed to come out of rabbit holes for the Makfi Challenge Stakes, generating real atmosphere around the parade ring. The undercard featured some promising performances and history shows that many of them will frank that form on the final two days.
Race 1: As a friend so wisely pointed out pre race, any Volksraad who can win it's debut on a soft track must have some ability, and so it proved with Ginner Hart sustaining a wide searching run from the 600m to win narrowly but meritoriously and remain undefeated.
I thought the runner-up Micken was the horse to take out of the race. Like his highly promising half sister Guiseppina, he is a light type, quite narrow and all legs, but a really nice mover in full stride. Kevin Myers looks to have made another astute purchase, picking the Darci Brahma gelding up for just $25,000 at last years Ready To Run Sale. The Darci Brahma's look to me like they'll stay and be that much stronger as autumn three-year-olds.
Race 2: Manny Pacuiao failed to deliver the knockout blow on this occasion but he's one to follow when going beyond 1200m. He also seemed to get lost around the tight Hastings turn and took a long time to get balanced, so may need a bigger track such as Trentham or Te Rapa.
Race 5: Anywhere near her best form, November Rain would have won this weakish affair easily, but sadly for most of last season and again this prep, she looks but a shadow of the fine three-year from two seasons ago. Sterling Prince looks in good fettle and battled on after getting little peace in front from the 1000m. At eight he is unlikely to return to the form that won him a group two race in Melbourne earlier in his career, but as he creeps down the ratings can pickup a nice handicap between 2000 and 2400m.
Race 6: I'm not sure what to make of Baldovino's effort? To be fair to the horse, he carried almost as much hype into the day as many of the better Makfi contenders and it's hard to be critical of a winning effort, but maybe he has had enough for a first preparation. I hadn't seen him before in the flesh but had visions of seeing a bigger, more robust individual, and perhaps he has just lightened off. It would pay to be careful when taking short odds on the Mossman four-year-old again at the Carnival.
No Excuse Maggie produced the run of the day and can be backed with confidence again at the Carnival, however she would need to get her own way in front if she is to run out 2000m.
Race 7: Smoulder's run was typically game and she deserves to pick-up a nice race this campaign - a race like the Couplands Mile would be a good target. Back In Black didn't have a lot of luck late and with form at the Carnival previously, he is worth consideration if he makes the trip down again from his Te Aroha base.
Race 8: Apparently Twilight Savings has had her share of problems since the 1000 Guineas, so much so that she was nearly heading for a broodmare career this spring, before some of that reknown Murray Baker horsemanship began to turn her world around just a couple of weeks ago. She won well against a strong line-up with that destructive turn of foot she hadn't shown since before Christchurch, and there still looks some improvement in her - especially her coat.
Race 9: Featuring four horses who had won group one races in Australia last season and three other group winners including a previous Horse of the Year, this years Makfi field had depth like probably no previous edition.
Wall Street epitomises everything there is to love about the thoroughbred physique; tall but well proportioned, strong without being bulky, masculine with an intelligent head and an eye of courage. If anything he looked in better physical condition than early last season.
The ten days Scarlett Lady had in the Queensland sunshine after the Oaks looked to have done her the world of good. She paraded with a shinning oily coat and bright in the eye. There was some softness to her girth and she will improve a lot with the run.
The two four-year-old stallions Jimmy Choux and Lion Tamer also looked well, if a tad pretty.
Mufhasa, bucking and squealing like a stallion in the stabling area was obviously well. The one horse who looks like she will take a little time is Kiwi Lady - her coat was back and she carried some condition.
Apart from Wall Street's effort, the race probably ran to script. As he had done in most of his previous five group one wins, Mufhasa sat on the speed before dropping the opposition on the turn, utilising his strength and turn of foot to establish a winning break.
It's almost as if Sam Spratt and Mufhasa were made for each other; both good looking, feisty, free spirited and tough, they are a double act that have consistently provided some of the domestic racings most exciting moments, since claiming their first major race together in the 2008 Couplands Bakeries Mile.
In saying that I'm not sure that Mufhasa, despite five group one wins and a Horse of the Year title heading into Hastings, has quite got all the accolades he deserves. Maybe it's got something to do with him going winless in a couple of Australian campaigns.
That deserves to change after his Makfi win. It's always a tough race to win and a genuine group one contest, which is more than one can say for some other races in our domestic calendar with an equivalent grading.
Round two in three weeks time promises to be another fiercely competitive contest.
Race 10: Affirmation was an outstanding winner of the last; hooked at least four horses wide at the 200m by James McDonald, she balanced quickly and must have gone close to running the fastest last 200m of the day. Like most of the best stock of Cape Cross she isn't overly big. A study of her form showed she was a few lengths below our best three-year-old fillies last season, and while she has undoubtedly improved, it's more evidence of the talent that crop possessed.
Horses to Follow: Micken, No Excuse Maggie, Twilight Savings, Scarlett Lady and Jimmy Choux.
But not sufficient to warrant the decision of the Hawkes Bay Racing Club to charge racegoers $20 at the gate. Sadly the extent of the cost reeked of desperation in times of falling turnovers, and I understand, resulted in tens of people turning around at the gates and going home. It's hard to argue that New Zealand racing clubs cannot now afford to charge for feature days, but the price must reflect the product - which includes the standard of the facility, and be advertised appropriately.
The crowd looked down on recent years although they seemed to come out of rabbit holes for the Makfi Challenge Stakes, generating real atmosphere around the parade ring. The undercard featured some promising performances and history shows that many of them will frank that form on the final two days.
Race 1: As a friend so wisely pointed out pre race, any Volksraad who can win it's debut on a soft track must have some ability, and so it proved with Ginner Hart sustaining a wide searching run from the 600m to win narrowly but meritoriously and remain undefeated.
I thought the runner-up Micken was the horse to take out of the race. Like his highly promising half sister Guiseppina, he is a light type, quite narrow and all legs, but a really nice mover in full stride. Kevin Myers looks to have made another astute purchase, picking the Darci Brahma gelding up for just $25,000 at last years Ready To Run Sale. The Darci Brahma's look to me like they'll stay and be that much stronger as autumn three-year-olds.
Race 2: Manny Pacuiao failed to deliver the knockout blow on this occasion but he's one to follow when going beyond 1200m. He also seemed to get lost around the tight Hastings turn and took a long time to get balanced, so may need a bigger track such as Trentham or Te Rapa.
Race 5: Anywhere near her best form, November Rain would have won this weakish affair easily, but sadly for most of last season and again this prep, she looks but a shadow of the fine three-year from two seasons ago. Sterling Prince looks in good fettle and battled on after getting little peace in front from the 1000m. At eight he is unlikely to return to the form that won him a group two race in Melbourne earlier in his career, but as he creeps down the ratings can pickup a nice handicap between 2000 and 2400m.
Race 6: I'm not sure what to make of Baldovino's effort? To be fair to the horse, he carried almost as much hype into the day as many of the better Makfi contenders and it's hard to be critical of a winning effort, but maybe he has had enough for a first preparation. I hadn't seen him before in the flesh but had visions of seeing a bigger, more robust individual, and perhaps he has just lightened off. It would pay to be careful when taking short odds on the Mossman four-year-old again at the Carnival.
No Excuse Maggie produced the run of the day and can be backed with confidence again at the Carnival, however she would need to get her own way in front if she is to run out 2000m.
Race 7: Smoulder's run was typically game and she deserves to pick-up a nice race this campaign - a race like the Couplands Mile would be a good target. Back In Black didn't have a lot of luck late and with form at the Carnival previously, he is worth consideration if he makes the trip down again from his Te Aroha base.
Race 8: Apparently Twilight Savings has had her share of problems since the 1000 Guineas, so much so that she was nearly heading for a broodmare career this spring, before some of that reknown Murray Baker horsemanship began to turn her world around just a couple of weeks ago. She won well against a strong line-up with that destructive turn of foot she hadn't shown since before Christchurch, and there still looks some improvement in her - especially her coat.
Race 9: Featuring four horses who had won group one races in Australia last season and three other group winners including a previous Horse of the Year, this years Makfi field had depth like probably no previous edition.
Wall Street epitomises everything there is to love about the thoroughbred physique; tall but well proportioned, strong without being bulky, masculine with an intelligent head and an eye of courage. If anything he looked in better physical condition than early last season.
The ten days Scarlett Lady had in the Queensland sunshine after the Oaks looked to have done her the world of good. She paraded with a shinning oily coat and bright in the eye. There was some softness to her girth and she will improve a lot with the run.
The two four-year-old stallions Jimmy Choux and Lion Tamer also looked well, if a tad pretty.
Mufhasa, bucking and squealing like a stallion in the stabling area was obviously well. The one horse who looks like she will take a little time is Kiwi Lady - her coat was back and she carried some condition.
Apart from Wall Street's effort, the race probably ran to script. As he had done in most of his previous five group one wins, Mufhasa sat on the speed before dropping the opposition on the turn, utilising his strength and turn of foot to establish a winning break.
It's almost as if Sam Spratt and Mufhasa were made for each other; both good looking, feisty, free spirited and tough, they are a double act that have consistently provided some of the domestic racings most exciting moments, since claiming their first major race together in the 2008 Couplands Bakeries Mile.
In saying that I'm not sure that Mufhasa, despite five group one wins and a Horse of the Year title heading into Hastings, has quite got all the accolades he deserves. Maybe it's got something to do with him going winless in a couple of Australian campaigns.
That deserves to change after his Makfi win. It's always a tough race to win and a genuine group one contest, which is more than one can say for some other races in our domestic calendar with an equivalent grading.
Round two in three weeks time promises to be another fiercely competitive contest.
Race 10: Affirmation was an outstanding winner of the last; hooked at least four horses wide at the 200m by James McDonald, she balanced quickly and must have gone close to running the fastest last 200m of the day. Like most of the best stock of Cape Cross she isn't overly big. A study of her form showed she was a few lengths below our best three-year-old fillies last season, and while she has undoubtedly improved, it's more evidence of the talent that crop possessed.
Horses to Follow: Micken, No Excuse Maggie, Twilight Savings, Scarlett Lady and Jimmy Choux.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Super Easy: A Sign of Things to Come Methinks
It may only have been a Class Four event in Singapore but the many high profile New Zealand breeders who have invested so heavily in the stallion career of the five-time group one winning Danehill entire Darci Brahma should sleep a little easier tonight, following the emphatic victory earlier this evening by his well named three-year-old son Super Easy.
The colt who had looked so promising in his three previous starts - all in New Zealand last season - was making his Singapore debut and despite the opposition, could hardly have been more impressive, drawing away to win by five lengths without any apparent effort from horse and rider.
It was difficult to assess Darci Brahma's first crop to the races last season. A listed winning colt and a stakesplaced colt in Australia from a handful of starters, and three individual winners of three races and two stakesplaced horses from eleven starters in New Zealand would normally be considered a most satisfactory start, but Darci Brahma is no normal stallion.
Bred in the purple and a most attractive and talked about foal, Darci Brahma may have been a colt burdened with enormous expectations from the day he was born yet he never once showed it, fashioning a racing career the like of which you would expect to see in a Hollywood movie, winning on debut as a two-year-old on the opening day of the Karaka Yearling Sales a year to the day after he had sold there for a record $1.1 million, and culminating in two consecutive group one sprint victories as a four-year-old.
A group one winner at two ( in Australia), three and four years of age between 1200m and 1600m, rarely is our industry blessed with such a well credentialed stallion prospect. Serving books of mares that would have done George Best proud, buyers from throughout Australasia liked what they saw when his first crop yearlings hit the sales in the summer of 2010, paying accordingly for a line-up that were on the whole strikingly similar in type to dad - medium sized, athletic, strongly girthed horses with attractive and intelligent heads.
Although Darci Brahma was a group one winner at two, it was over 1600m in June of his juvenile season and it could be that his progeny throw more to his distaff line, which while full of black-type, does lack two-year-old form - extending to his dam, an Oaks winner by Zabeel. Also, while it is easy to be wise in hindsight, but if one could select one trait from his yearlings that may have suggested his stock would need to be handled patiently, it was that some lacked a touch of maturity, especially through the neck and head.
Super Easy, who was selected from the Karaka Premier Yearling Sale for his Singaporean owners by Michael Wallace Bloodstock and Michael Freeman for $140,000, was always an eyecatcher in the yard here last season but he looks to have matured considerably from his first preparation, especially through the girth, shoulder and neck. This result, all of eight days into the new season should give confidence to Darci Brahma's fans, of which there are many, both financial and non.
The colt who had looked so promising in his three previous starts - all in New Zealand last season - was making his Singapore debut and despite the opposition, could hardly have been more impressive, drawing away to win by five lengths without any apparent effort from horse and rider.
It was difficult to assess Darci Brahma's first crop to the races last season. A listed winning colt and a stakesplaced colt in Australia from a handful of starters, and three individual winners of three races and two stakesplaced horses from eleven starters in New Zealand would normally be considered a most satisfactory start, but Darci Brahma is no normal stallion.
Bred in the purple and a most attractive and talked about foal, Darci Brahma may have been a colt burdened with enormous expectations from the day he was born yet he never once showed it, fashioning a racing career the like of which you would expect to see in a Hollywood movie, winning on debut as a two-year-old on the opening day of the Karaka Yearling Sales a year to the day after he had sold there for a record $1.1 million, and culminating in two consecutive group one sprint victories as a four-year-old.
A group one winner at two ( in Australia), three and four years of age between 1200m and 1600m, rarely is our industry blessed with such a well credentialed stallion prospect. Serving books of mares that would have done George Best proud, buyers from throughout Australasia liked what they saw when his first crop yearlings hit the sales in the summer of 2010, paying accordingly for a line-up that were on the whole strikingly similar in type to dad - medium sized, athletic, strongly girthed horses with attractive and intelligent heads.
Although Darci Brahma was a group one winner at two, it was over 1600m in June of his juvenile season and it could be that his progeny throw more to his distaff line, which while full of black-type, does lack two-year-old form - extending to his dam, an Oaks winner by Zabeel. Also, while it is easy to be wise in hindsight, but if one could select one trait from his yearlings that may have suggested his stock would need to be handled patiently, it was that some lacked a touch of maturity, especially through the neck and head.
Super Easy, who was selected from the Karaka Premier Yearling Sale for his Singaporean owners by Michael Wallace Bloodstock and Michael Freeman for $140,000, was always an eyecatcher in the yard here last season but he looks to have matured considerably from his first preparation, especially through the girth, shoulder and neck. This result, all of eight days into the new season should give confidence to Darci Brahma's fans, of which there are many, both financial and non.
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