It’s not overly common that the Sunshine state has such an abundance of talent among it’s younger brigade of horses, and quite rare that so many venture to Melbourne to take on the elite of southern talent at this time of year.
But two three-year-old fillies from the Tony Gollan stable kick off the Queensland assault at Flemington this Saturday in the same race, namely Traveston Girl and Pienka.
Both have created a big impression at their past two starts, leading and winning, while running exceptionally good times in comparison to their older counterparts at the same distance, on the same day.
Pienka has the added advantage of having won on a very wet track, which is very handy if weather conditions take a nasty turn.
Tony Gollan is also aiming high with his Group 1 gelding Looks Like the Cat, who is yet to miss a place in his four starts (with one win). He is actually the best credentialed Queensland three-year-old heading south and had Eloping nearly three lengths astern of him three runs ago in the Champagne Classic at Doomben.
That looks good form now given that filly ran a great third at WFA behind Angelic Light and Lankan Rupee. He could be flying under the radar right now and was open to a lot of improvement after his exciting performances over the Winter
Lucky Tom (see horses to follow) is also on a Caulfield Guineas path for trainer Harold Norman and can handle wet or dry tracks. He is another horse that has twice won races – as a two-year-old – and bettered the time of older horses on the day.
He resumed on a heavy track behind Pienka recently and was then unlucky on Saturday when caught wide throughout behind Aimee, carrying the same 59 kilograms as that filly, who was fortunate to gain a rails run on straightening. She is Thousand Guineas bound for trainer Noel Doyle who knows a thing or two about travelling horses interstate, having done so successfully in the past with decent gallopers Kinjite and Palidamah.
She has won five of her eight races and while none of them have been over further than 1300m she does have three silbings that have won at 1800m or beyond. She had a nice easy run on Saturday (despite winning) so shouldn’t take any harm from carrying that big weight.
Last but not least is the Bruce Hill trained four-year-old Teronado. I really should have mentioned him in my horses to follow this week, although he was expected to win his race at very short odds last Saturday.
He wasn’t suited by the tempo of the race and has been found out on a couple of occasions in similar circumstances because of his rearward racing pattern. Not this time though as he took off midrace, rounding the field up on the turn and careering away to win by three lengths. His last 600 metres of 32.99 was very impressive, even though the first 1000 metres of the race was pedestrian.
He was less than two lengths behind Shamus Award (Cox Plate winner) and Dissident (Recent Memsie winner) in the Australian Guineas and Randwick Guineas last Autumn before a well beaten third in the Rosehill Guineas and a failure in the Derby. It is doubtful he handled the wet track on both those occasions at 2000m and 2400m, given his Nassipour breeding on this Dams’ side.
His sire Testa Rossa isn’t renowned as a producer of great wet trackers either. He is entered for the Caulfield Cup this Spring and could be a real live chance, if he can stay that trip. He could also measure up in a WFA race like the Turnbull at Flemington where he has already proved himself with that Australian Guineas performance. The win on Saturday was a sign of maturity and he could be a real dark horse this Spring.
No doubt it is a tough ask for all these horses to rise to the challenge, racing in the opposite direction and on differing tracks, and also having to adapt to the straight track at Flemington in some cases. But all are in good hands and are open to massive improvement in the coming weeks. This just might be a very good Spring to be a Queenslander.
Have you ever tried your skills in a Racing daily fantasy competition? Put your best picks to the test for one day and see if you can scoop the pot with Draftstars. Looking for great odds on racing and sport? PlayUp is your best bet. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Without a Fight completed the rare Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double on Tuesday as star jockey Mark Zahra went back-to-back in the big one after…
The race that stops the nation is upon us again. Every horse in the Melbourne Cup has reasons they can win, and reasons they…
Those who want to have a really big collect on Australia’s greatest race, without risking too much, have to look at the exotic bets.
While most of the attention is on Ciaron Maher and David Eustace's Gold Trip, there's no reason why stablemate Future History cannot upstage him.
Champion jockey Damien Oliver is quietly confident his Melbourne Cup mount Alenquer will be passed fit to give him a farewell ride in the…
Melbourne Cup day is here again, and it’s never anything less than exciting. The Cup itself will of course be full of drama and…
