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Racing, like most sports, thrives on the presence of top class athletes. When good horses are at the races, good attendances and media interest will follow.
Over the last few seasons Australian racing has been lucky to profit off the back of Black Caviar and Atlantic Jewel.
And behind those superstars high-profile thoroughbreds like Pierro, It’s A Dundeel, All Too Hard and more recently Guelph and Zoustar have provided a nice layer of depth.
Two-year-old racing can often be frustrating to follow with so many inconsistent performers and upset results, but it is also where so many champions are first identified.
At two Black Caviar, Zoustar and All Too Hard had shown glimpses of the qualities that would define their careers.
Pierro and Guelph, on the other hand, were household names in, and maybe outside of racing, by the time they turned three.
In winning the two-year-old Triple Crown, Pierro had attained a certain level of greatness, while Guelph continues on that path to greatness after taking her Group 1 tally to four in the spring.
And I suppose that’s what intrigues me about two-year-old racing. I’m not a massive Golden Slipper (1200m, Group 1, two-year-olds) fan and I don’t get particularly excited by watching two-year-old barrier trials like a lot of racing fans do.
But I always enjoy racing in the new year because it reveals so much about the nation’s young sprinters and the future of Australian racing in the lead-up to an Autumn Carnival that is littered with important two-year-old races.
So after Saturday’s Magic Millions (1200m, restricted two-year-olds) that was won well by Unencumbered I wonder what we can garner from the happenings in juvenile racing so far in season 2013/2014.
To talk about and analyse a January crop of two-year-olds is an exercise fraught with danger because there is so much we are yet to learn about these untapped racehorses.
Obviously it’s hard to gauge which of them have peaked physically, which are only beginning to flourish and which will be improved sharply by more experience or a spell in the paddock – but it’s a worthwhile discussion nonetheless.
Unencumbered right now is the highest-profile and highest-earning two-year-old in the country. At his last three starts he’s won the Wyong Magic Millions (1100m, restricted two-year-olds), McLachlan (1200m, Group 3, two-year-olds) and the Gold Coast Magic Millions, taking his career earnings to nearly $2m in the process.
What I like about Unencumbered is that he is not a one-dimensional speed machine like so many one-hit wonder babies are.
Unencumbered likes to race just off the speed and is usually very strong late in his races. He also has no problems running a high pressure 1200m and these are good assets to find in the game of any top-line sprinter.
Unencumbered has the potential to reach the top of Australian racing like his Magic Millions winning sire Testa Rossa. But will he?
You can’t be certain in January but I think this is a strong two-year-old year and it’s that which makes me think Unencumbered may need to improve if he is to remain at the top of his age group.
And it’s hard to see him going on to reach the top of Australian racing if he can’t remain one of the best two-year-olds.
The two-year-olds I’m most excited about are Earthquake (a filly by Exceed and Excel out of the Maruading mare Cataclysm), Risen From Doubt (a colt by Not A Single Doubt from the Fantastic Light mare Coconut Mamma) and Bold Circle (a Bernadini colt out of the Anabaa mare Courtyard Circle).
Earthquake’s one start was in November at Randwick and she belted a field that included the runner-up Sheer Style. At the time Sheer Style was coming off a second-place finish in a race won by Bold Circle with Unencumbered in third.
Since that day, Sheer Style has won the Magic Millions race at Ballarat (1000m, restricted two-year-olds) before finishing third in the Wyong Magic Millions and 14th in the Gold Coast Magic Millions both won by Unencumbered.
Nonetheless it wasn’t the Sheer Style formline that drew me to Earthquake, it was her brilliant turn of foot. As I was watching the race my immediate thought was ‘this horse will win a Group 1′. Her acceleration took my breath away.
After the race, jockey Christian Reith confirmed the suspicion declaring Earthquake “the next Guelph”.
Like Earthquake, Risen From Doubt won a lot of praise last October, when at his only start, he obliterated the Maribyrnong Trail (1000m, Listed, two-year-olds) field.
There’s a few things that make me love the performance. First of all, he beat the eventual three-length winner of the Maribyrnong Plate, Boomwaa, by four lengths.
Boomwaa won’t get a great mention here but I’d happily rank him in the best ten two-year-olds I’ve seen this season.
But the most exciting thing about Risen From Doubt is his sustained speed.
In that Maribyrnong Trail he blew his rivals away by producing a slick 10.87s section between the 400m and 200m mark. No other rival could get close to that mark because the most of the field, including Risen From Doubt, went sub 11s for each of the two preceding 200m sections.
Risen From Doubt completely dominated a field that I think was very good. He has to be, along with Earthquake, right at the top of Blue Diamond (1200m, Group 1, two-year-olds) and Golden Slipper (1200m, Group 1, two-year-olds) calculations.
Bold Circle, the third horse I want to highlight, reminds me of Star Witness – the horse that won the 2010 Blue Diamond in freakish circumstances (he came from near last on the home turn to win the last stride) before claiming the Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m, Group 1, three-year-olds) the following season.
Star Witness won by a narrow margin on debut, running on strongly out wide at Moonee Valley before going to a new level to win a Listed race at Flemington. He then improved sharply once more to produce that incredible Blue Diamond win.
I think Bold Circle has the same potential. On the same day last October that Risen From Doubt won, Bold Circle was brave in defeat in the Breeders’ Plate (1000m, Listed, two-year-olds) at Randwick when third behind Law having raced four-wide for the entire way. Even though he had a wide run, Bold Circle still found the line strongly.
At his second start, (1100m, two-year-olds) Bold Circle charged in the last 100m to beat Sheer Style and Unencumbered at Rosehill. It was the kind of freakish performance usually produced by horses that tend to make Group-level grade. It had Star Witness written all over it.
It was a late flurry highlighted by Bold Circle really stretching his neck to get up in the last bound. It’s fantastic to see the will to win in such a young horse.
Bold Circle has performed really well against the best juveniles in Sydney. If he has improved since we saw him last in late October I’m sure he can make his presence felt this autumn.
Now I wonder, who are the two-year-olds you’ve got your eye on?
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