Ahoy Roarers! I am lost for words to describe the racing action from Randwick on Saturday.
That was as good a race day as I can remember, helped by a couple of winners, so let’s go through the drama that was the first day of the Championships.
The first Group l was the Inglis Sires and Yankee Rose just spanked her rivals and won with real class and authority. She was put into the dream spot by Zac Purton, sitting three wide with cover before peeling clear 500m out and he gave the filly the entire straight to build up momentum, something that probably cost her in the Slipper.
She careered away to beat Telperion by 2.5 lengths, with a further two lengths away to Faraway Town in third. The top two clearly stood out, and as I said in my preview, Faraway Town was the improver and she ran accordingly.
As for the winner, I see some betting agencies are offering $51 for her for the Cox Plate. If you have $20, put $10 each way on her. Outside Winx, we are very thin in terms of WFA racing, and Yankee Rose will carry the fillies weight, and she will just eat up the 2040m.
Before the Australian Derby (2400m), all the rage was Tarzino, but he could only manage fourth as the Kiwis rose to the occasion again when Tavago strode clear under a brilliant Tommy Berry ride to win at huge odds.
Jameka was tough as always and she battled on very gamely for second ahead of Tally, who was enormous himself after covering ground. Tarzino was the disappointing runner in the race, but you have to factor in he pulled his head off in the run and was on his Melbourne leg for the last 800m. He has enough credits in the bank to be forgiven.
For the future, I want to be on Tarzino and Tally. We know what happened with Tarzino, while Tally was the only horse to make ground on the front runners. Not sure how he’ll stack up in the Spring, but he will be very competitive.
Well well well…what can I say about Chautauqua? That win in the T J Smith (1200m) just instantly reminded me of Black Caviar and her 2011 win. Just like the great mare, he just didn’t look the winner at all before the straight.
He was last and had to come the extreme widest, but once clicked up by Tommy Berry, the grey just unwinded with a world class finishing burst to not only win, but draw away from his rivals. He is the best in the world, and he’ll confirm that in Hong Kong and fingers cross, England.
Fell Swoop ran another mighty race to run second, just ahead of star filly English and what about the run of Chautauquas stablemate and the ‘Rockhampton Rocket’, Our Boy Malachi? 200m out he looked the winner but he just died on the run for fourth.
The talking point is clearly the disappointing run of Exosphere. It just left me head scratching as to why people were doubting Chautauqua and declaring Exosphere.
I am happy to admit that Exosphere had trialled like a star, but he hasn’t translated that to raceday against the big boys whereas Chautauqua has well and truly, and if you saw Chautauqua in the mounting yard, he was the only horse you wanted to be on.
It’s hard for grey horses to stand out looks wise, but he just looked the part and ran accordingly, so full credit to Team Hawkes.
The horse that Sydney, Australia and indeed the world wanted to see win on Saturday was Winx in the Doncaster Mile (1600m) and despite some very nervous moments in the straight, Bowman eventually got her clear. She burst away to win her ninth straight race and she can rightfully now be called a champion of the turf.
She beat home my tip, Happy Clapper, who was off the 700m out yet kept finding under hard riding to run second ahead of Azkadellia, who will win the Queen of the Turf next Saturday if connections decide to back up. She was unbelievable from near last and has a mortgage on that race.
Those three spanked the rest, and when doing the form, they really stood out from the rest when you factored in form, upside and the weight scale. But you just have to admire Winx and what she is doing for a sport that generally creates more bad headlines than good.
Three talking points from Randwick
1. Can Libran beat Grand Marshal and Who Shot Thebarman in the Sydney Cup?
2. Yankee Rose- how good is she?
3. Where does Winx sit right now in terms of the mares we have seen in Australia?
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