So The Championships are over, as is the Group 1 racing of the Sydney Carnival, with both providing many thrills and enough quality racing to be declared a raging success.
However, it might surprise most to know that there are actually fifteen black type races taking place in four states around the country on Saturday – six at the Gold Coast, four at Morphetville, three at Hawkesbury and two at Caulfield.
The feature of the day is the only Group 1 being run, the South Australian Derby, worth $500,000.
Alfred Chan wrote about his five least deserving races to have Group 1 status on Wednesday, and personally I’d probably start with every Derby and Oaks outside the main two in Victoria and New South Wales.
Gai Waterhouse has been intent on broadening her success beyond her powerful Sydney base in recent times, and she gets a chance to claim a South Australian Group 1 (her first?) with the favourite, Order of the Sun.
And why wouldn’t he top the markets, after strolling in by seven lengths in the VRC St Leger last week, leading all the way to do so, and beating some horses that were in form, albeit at lower levels.
The quick back-up over such testing distances must always be a query for three-year-olds, and might keep his price quite attractive for such an impressive well-seasoned winner over distance.
Bring Something has always shown good signs as a three-year-old, but needed to put a win on the board to show that he could do it. This was done at maiden level two starts back, and he was able to put consecutive wins on the board when taking out the Galilee Series final at Caulfield last time out.
He’s good enough to keep the favourite honest.
Scratchy Bottom is the only filly in the field, but will provide some sort of testing material for the boys, having taken on crack fields almost from debut.
She’ll settle at the rear, as she did last week in the SA Oaks. She was just staring too far back to catch the winner May’s Dream in that race. She looks like she’ll eat up the further ground but is another with a query on the back-up, especially as her last three runs have been a month apart.
Gamblin’ Guru, Gravitational and Excites Zelady bring the form from the Adelaide lead-up races, where they fought out the trifecta in the Chairman’s Handicap with not much between them.
Best Case drops in class from the ATC Derby, where he was far from disgraced in beating more home than beat him. Surge Ahead is from the same stable and can spring a surprise as a bolter if he finds a good track, having run in three Group 1 races this campaign. Their trainer, Anthony Cummings, has won this race before at lucrative double-figure odds.
The rest of the field will either have trouble turning the tables on those mentioned, or appear to be coming from too weak a grade to be competitive here. Honey Steel’s Gold is one that could figure against that sort of thinking.
Selections:
1. Order of the Sun
2. Best Case
3. Bring Something
4. Scratchy Bottom
The Hollindale Stakes, a Group 2 weight-for-age race over 1800 metres on the Gold Coast, is the only other race in Australia worth more than $250,000 on Saturday, weighing in at the unusual amount of $358,000.
The race probably produced a better class of winning horse through the 90s and early 2000s than it has done since. It still normally takes a pretty good horse to win it, but none of tomorrow’s field will exactly be vying for horse-of-the-year honours any time soon.
Streama is the best credentialed horse in the race, but wasn’t able to find her best form over the Sydney Carnival, albeit contesting only the best races. She might just be looking for further than a mile now, and she races beyond that mark for the first time since her Oaks win as a three-year-old.
The warm favourite, Junoob, has put together a broken picket fence for Chris Waller, winning four of five starts through February, March and April over the 1900-2000 metre range. Capable on any ground that gets thrown his way, he’ll be hard to beat.
Precedence is an interesting first-up runner, Moriarty is more than good enough if he can find his best, while Mr O’Ceirin can improve sharply second-up, especially if the cut is out of the ground. Angel of Mercy is a good mare in honest form.
Selections:
1. Moriarty
2. Junoob
3. Precedence
4. Streama
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