There was some fantastic racing at both Rosehill and Caulfield on Saturday, with the focus being on Caulfield for Memsie Stakes Day.
It reminds me of the AFL NAB Challenge where we see a couple of stars strutting their stuff for the first time for the new season. Saturday was no exception.
The feature race was of course the Memsie Stakes (1400m), won in brilliant fashion by Black Heart Bart. Brad Rawiller gave him a sweet ride, settling him off a solid tempo set by Charmed Harmony where he ran them along in front, giving nothing from the back a look in. Once they approached the turn, Rawiller just eased him to the outside and from that point onwards, it was painless.
Rising Romance was good, Mahuta had the charmed run and battled away OK. I think the obvious eye catcher was Tarzino, who like most at the back, was just run off his legs but he warmed up beautifully late. I was expecting a bit more from Prince Of Penzance. He ran well fresh last time in, but he didn’t finish off as well as I would have liked, even though 1400m and being aimed towards a Melbourne Cup were the negatives.
The other impressive winner for the afternoon was clearly He’s Our Rokkii. I thought he only had three legs based on the market fluctuations, but thanks to a cool ride from Dwayne Dunn, the quality animal peeled out and chased down Prince Of Brooklyn to get the job done, knowing there is upside and bigger fish to fry. He looks an ideal Toorak/Emirates galloper, but talk of a Cox Plate attempt seems a bridge too far.
James McDonald gave punters the lead when he elected to ride Astern in the Run To The Rose (1200m) of all the Godolphin runners and he got it spot on with the colt wearing down the heavily backed Star Turn to get the job done narrowly but impressively. Astern looked to have a bit of a belly on him in the yard, so he’ll only improve off that. On that basis, I can’t see Star Turn turning the tables on him in the Golden Rose.
As for the beaten brigade, I really liked the run of Impending. He had no luck at all in the straight and couldn’t get a chance to build up any kind of decent momentum. Extra 200m and hopefully a more genuine tempo should see him take some beating in the Golden Rose.
I wasn’t keen on him pre race, and I am not sure what he beat, but gee the Waterhouse/Bott trained Evacuation produced one of the wins of the day. Sat near the speed most of the way but when McEvoy pressed the button, he just dashed clear and won with authority. First up at 1400m on a heavy track, he’s destined for better things.
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