I said prior to the spring that John O’Shea and Godolphin need to stand up.
It’s only taken ten days for the stable to do just that, for now, courtesy of an arguable impressive win of Astern in the Group 1 Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill.
I say arguable because he had things fall perfectly into place for him. One danger was a surprise leader, which I’ll talk about more down below, whereas Omei Sword and Divine Prophet were both out of their comfort zones and just couldn’t get a clear chance to build up momentum.
Full credit to the winner. He was impressive to the eye, but the quote that he is six lengths better than Exosphere.
Don’t forget that Exosphere was beaten eight lengths at his last start in the TJ Smith.
Yankee Rose – I just don’t know what happened. Firstly, she has never led in her life, so that option left me head scratching. She was then stuck nearer the inside, and as we know, that clearly wasn’t the place to be for the afternoon. I thought her run in defeat was solid enough.
The real eye catcher was clearly Divine Prophet. Like first up, he was back near last on the turn and very wide. He savaged the line to finish just under three lengths from the winner. He will take a stack of beating in the Caulfield Guineas and perhaps could be a Cox Plate contender.
The other race from Rosehill I want to mention is the Kingston Town Stakes (2000m), won in brilliant fashion by McCreery. Moreira had a horror recent record in Sydney prior to this ride, where he gave it a 12/10 and reminded us why he is the best in the world.
The horse was dominant and for mine could be an Epsom contender. Waller used the same recipe with He’s Your Man a couple of years back.
The feature race at Flemington was the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m), and as expected, Darren Weir won the race. But it wasn’t Black Heart Bart. He had to settle for second as proven Group 1 Flemington miler Palentino, aided by a brilliant steer from Mark Zahra, got the job done to nail the stablemate close to home. They gapped the rest, with nearly five lengths to third, He Or She.
Now for the ticks and crosses. I was happy with Our Ivanhowe. He was three wide with cover for the trip and though outsprinted, he found the line well, as did the Melbourne Cup winner Prince Of Penzance, who was much better than his resumption.
The eye catcher from a Caulfield Cup perspective was Sofia Rosa. She was last throughout but warmed up nicely late and record a fast final 200m split. She is right on track.
The two disappointments were Tarzino and Alpine Eagle. I can perhaps forgive Tarzino given he did pull a fraction in the run and was nearer the inside.
I can’t forgive Alpine Eagle. He had a lovely three wide sit throughout and presented to be a threat, but he didn’t finish off. He isn’t a genuine Group l WFA horse. Back to a handicap and a drop in depth maybe, but he can win without me.
There was a pretty even field outside the Group 1 at Flemington in terms of a standout. But I think the one was Saracino in the Danehill Stakes (1200m). He was given a beaut steer from Oliver and got the job done despite clearly not handling the straight track.
He was very impressive and can measure up in the major 3YO races for sure.
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