Winx wasn’t there in the Chelmsford Stakes (1600m), but another galloper, Hartnell, took her place in taking our breath away with a complete spank job of his rivals.
Granted he beat a bunch of stayers and an overrated three year old, but he still had to do it and he did it emphatically.
All of the Waller runners got ticks, most notably Grand Marshal, who produced an outstanding run and a great pointer heading towards the Metropolitan and then the Cups in Melbourne. Preferment was good late, as was Who Shot Thebarman, while Storm The Stars got a pass mark for sure after copping pressure on speed.
Despite pulling his head off, I thought Prized Icon was a tad disappointing. Wouldn’t have troubled the winner, but he was very weak at the end of his race. Perhaps being a tad harsh on him, but the trials weren’t great leading in to the first up run, which was just fair. Jury is well and truly out.
McDonald made the right call with Astern last week and he did it again courtesy of Hauraki in the Tramway (1400m). He gave it an absolute peach to wear down Le Romain, who was brave near the inside. They finished ahead of Dibayani, who looked the winner most of the way down the straight but just found a couple better.
It was no surprise to see Happy Clapper nearly double his price from Wednesday. The Tramway wasn’t his Grand Final and you could tell from the trials there is plenty left for the Epsom and then perhaps the Cox Plate.
I also want to make mention of Swear and his first up win in the Ming Dynasty (1400m). He looked to be diving and dipping all over the shop, but once he got balanced, he really attacked the line and won like a horse who is better than Group 3 level. He can definitely progress to better things, while High Mist was the obvious unlucky runner.
Racing at Moonee Valley was highlighted by the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes (1600m), with the winner getting a free pass into the Cox Plate, and Awesome Rock achieved that in what was a messy race that needed replaying several times. Full credit to the winner, though the rider may cop a suspension I suspect for the interference. He was dominant and won with authority, so you can’t take anything away from him.
As for the beaten brigade, the three that stood out to me were Tosen Stardom, who was having his first run for Darren Weir. He was involved in a bumping duel with Craig Williams on Jameka and couldn’t really get balance until it was all over. But you can’t find a superlative for The United States. Back last on the turn, held up top of the straight, peels out and savages the line like a horse destined to win a big one this Spring.
The other eye catcher from the race was Tavago. He was the horse who copped the worst of the interference cause by Awesome Rock and lost all momentum, but his last 75m and through the line was very good for a horse heading towards the Cups.
Wild Rain took full advantage of some good fortune to kick off the first of a big double for Steve Baster in the McEwen Stakes (1000m). Most had her trailing Heatherly, but once again, she got up to her old tricks of playing up and bungled the start, which clearly cost her the win, but her misfortune turned to gold for Wild Rain, who controlled the tempo and gave a really good kick when required.
The blackbooker from the Valley, for mine, was clearly Sebring Dream in the Atlantic Jewel (1200m). She was last on the turn and in a hopeless pocket, really going nowhere, before eventually getting clear and savaging the line.
I am a huge fan of Yankee Rose and Omei Sword, but they’ll need to be at their best to hold out Sebring Dream in the Thousand Guineas.
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