There are two Group 1 sprints over 1200m in Australia tomorrow, racing some 1600kms apart.
The BTC Cup, to be run at weight-for-age at Doomben in Brisbane, has attracted a small but select group of contenders, and is the higher quality race, but the Goodwood, the prize South Australian sprint under set-weights-plus-penalties conditions at Morphettville, is for the greater prizemoney and has attracted a capacity field.
The Goodwood looks an even affair, as evidenced by a $6.50 favourite, and eight horses between that price and the $12 mark in the early betting.
Gai Waterhouse’s Driefontein heads up the markets, and is looking to complete the double that Platelet did last year, taking out the Group 1 Sangster for fillies and mares before the open class Goodwood.
Driefontein was an impressive all the way winner last time out, putting together consecutive Adelaide wins after not being up to the likes of Catkins and Red Tracer in Sydney. Vlad Duric will enjoy being able to take up a position in the first four from barrier three.
Platelet needs to find a length and a half after running second in both of Driefontein’s wins, and must do so giving her a further half kilo and jumping from barrier 17. It’s going to be a tough ask for the hardy Darren Weir mare.
Miracles of Life has taken on the older horses a couple of times this campaign, and hasn’t been disgraced, but faces her toughest open age test here, and does so backing up for the first time after winning the Euclase in fine style last week. She might be a bit under the odds at any single figure quote.
Gregers is another classy filly, but one that has had three Group 1 runs against older horses already this campaign, running extremely well in all of them. Her combined losing margin in those races is less than four lengths, which isn’t bad chasing the likes of Lankan Rupee and Spirit of Boom in races like the Oakleigh Plate and the William Reid, as well as Driefontein in the Sangster.
She is banging the door down for a win, and will be taking up a forward position for Dwayne Dunn from a good draw.
Unpretentious was part of the photo finish in the William Reid, finishing in-between Spirit of Boom and Gregers in third place. His best is good enough to be competitive.
Sistine Demon is the Melbourne horse that just keeps on winning, victorious in seven of his last eight starts, graduating all the way from a Donald benchmark 64 to the Group 3 Victoria Handicap at Caulfield three weeks ago. The latter was won by a widening six lengths!
All of his winning during that time has been done from between the 1350m-1600m range, so dropping back to 1200m presents its own set of challenges, but you can’t knock his sort of form, nor the impressive nature of it.
Essay Raider is a talented local coming off a three length stakes win to be a serious prospect. He couldn’t quite go with Driefontein two starts back, but he does get 2.5kgs weight relief from that race, and will be at his absolute peak three runs in from a spell.
Sessions is John O’Shea’s first chance for a Group 1 win for Darley, and he brings very solid Sydney form to the race, the stable carefully choosing this over the harder BTC Cup.
He wasn’t able to reel in the likes of Villa Verde and Tiger Tees over the Sydney carnival, and then didn’t love the heavy or the rise in class in the TJ Smith when Lankan Rupee put in the performance of the year. He’ll probably have to go well back from barrier sixteen, but is capable of being a player.
Bel Sprinter comes out of the same races, but has been struggling for impact.
The best roughie in the race is probably Pago Rock at around the $31 mark. He drops 5.5kgs from a Caulfield win three weeks ago, and is as honest as they come at his right level. He’s taken on the A-graders at various times in the last six months, and has always run well. This sort of race is within his reach for sure.
Selections: 1. Pago Rock 2. Gregers 3. Essay Raider 4. Driefontein
The BTC Cup brings together a field of eight, containing five Group 1 winners, four of them having won at the highest level this season, and the fifth coming off a Group 2 last-start victory where he beat two of the three favourites in this race.
Buffering has a stranglehold on the market, despite being none from two this campaign. He was brave running third in the TJ Smith last start, one of the best sprint fields we’ve seen assembled in this country, and there’s no Lankan Rupee to chase down this time. His class and toughness have been long evident, and now he has the chance to claim his first Group 1 in his home state.
Spirit of Boom broke his Group 1 duck in the William Reid two starts back, and there is a case to be made that he’s the second best sprinter in the country as of right now. We’ll find out for sure on Saturday, but anything worse than a dead track will all but end his chances.
His brother, Temple of Boom raced upside down in claiming the Victory Stakes at $41 last start, holding Spirit of Boom at bay and keeping him to second place. The opposite of his kin, any downgrade in track conditions will suit him more than most.
Snitzerland ran third as warm favourite in the same race, bouncing back from her failure in the TJ Smith. That flop on the heavy was the first time she hadn’t been in the finish since recapturing her best form late last year, and she is sure to be reckoned with in the closing stages.
Stablemate Hot Snitzel has been in great form in the lower grades, but meets his sternest test here. He’s used to carrying the weight he’ll have to in weight-for-age racing, but the class of opposition will surely test.
Tiger Tees has been racing in great heart all campaign, and has a Group 1 Galaxy win to his name, as well as a weight-for-age placing in the All-Aged behind Hana’s Goal. Trainer Joe Pride expects him to lead both Buffering and Snitzerland, which will be no mean feat, and he may well take a lot of getting past.
Famous Seamus is capable of producing a run that can defy the odds, but would need every conceivable thing to go his way, and the talented but enigmatic Peron rounds out the field.
Selections: 1. Buffering 2. Spirit of Boom 3. Snitzerland 4. Tiger Tees
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