The Magic Millions this week received an unexpected boost in coverage after the presenter made a mess of proceedings during the Magic Millions Classic barrier draw.
It was a simple enough mistake ahead of the big time two-year old race, but it was a bad one.
MC Hamish McLachlan was passed a number drawn by Royal family member Zara Phillips. McLachlan then mistakenly called the wrong owners up. The unknowing owners of Imaginalthepeople then selected a barrier, instead of the owners of Zukaz, who should have had the rightful selection.
With stewards not stopping proceedings, the representative for Imaginalthepeople picked up barrier three.
The problem then meant that inside gate was then unavailable to the remaining runners.
The option for stewards to ensure fairness to all should have been a complete re-do, even though several horses had already been allocated draws.
In any case, that call was not made and the barrier draw continued.
The horses in the mix-up are numbers 19 and 20 respectively and serve as emergencies only, which lessens the blow. But that’s irrelevant, given the other horses were affected.
In any case, favourites for the race saw at least one rough result. The unbeaten Houtzen drew gate 21, which saw her drift in markets to $3.70.
The Chris Waller-trained From Within firmed to outright favouritism at $3.60, having drawn in seven. Chris Munce’s Ours To Keep drew in gate four and was third in betting at $7.
In the Magic Millions Guineas for three-year olds, the hot favourite, Winning Rupert, drew gate six. The main threat, Global Glamour, drew out in the carpark in gate 20. Winning Rupert was as short as $1.55 in fixed markets.
It mustn’t be forgotten that the Magic Millions day is more or less a giant marketing push for the Magic Millions yearling sale, with some 1000 juvenile horses on the block from 97 stallions.
Most fans of racing probably glaze over at this point, preferring the action on the track.
But as Racenet pointed out, among the crop is one particular yearling of interest, and that’s lot 642.
The filly is the only horse on offer to be sired by great Japanese stallion Lord Kanaloa, out of Asterisk.
Lord Kanaloa, who won 13 from 19 and didn’t miss a place in the other six, also won back-to-back Hong Kong International Sprints, and was named Horse of the Year in Japan in 2013. He covered a very healthy 276 mares in 2015.
An Arrowfield project, the stud worked with Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm to get the breeding on the Southern Hemisphere cycle. Expect her to be closely watched!
John Singleton said he was “bloody excited” after the Gai Waterhouse-trained Woman performed well in her first barrier trial at Randwick.
Singo had plenty of reasons to be happy. Woman is a filly by Frankel, out of the great mare More Joyous. Waterhouse said the filly may be “one of the five best-bred horses in the world”, and she, for once, probably wasn’t overstating things.
Her unusual name was questioned by reporters, and the well-known larrikin didn’t disappoint.
“Woman God created,” Singleton explained to Fairfax Media.
“I was just sitting on the fence one day thinking why did God create horses and I thought to create this one.”
Singo as a God is one for others to contemplate.
To the trial, Woman’s performance over the 741m was highly impressive. She was slow away but worked home strongly. Anyone watching could see that she’ll be doing better over further.
The @GaiWaterhouse1-trained Woman (Frankel x More Joyous) worked home strongly to finish fourth in her trial @royalrandwick. pic.twitter.com/3EegJXJlEC
— Sky Racing (@SkyRacingAU) January 8, 2017
Providing all goes well, she should step out for a race in autumn in the Singleton colours of dark blue and white crossed sashes.
The Queen of the Turf is back, with Hugh Bowman jumping on Winx at Rosehill trackwork on Tuesday, for the first time this year, as her autumn campaign approaches.
Bowman said the five-year-old mare “continued to develop physically and is more mature than last preparation, although that development isn’t as noticeable as it has been after her last two breaks.”
“[I] was pleased with every aspect of her workout this morning,” said Bowman.
While things may change, Winx will begin with the Group 2 Apollo Stakes (1400m) on February 11. She’ll go on to the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m), Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m), and lucrative Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).
Last year, Winx missed The Queen Elizabeth after a late decision to enter the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m). She won, and Waller considered the supreme effort took enough out of her to finish the campaign early.
Ante-post bettors be warned – Winx is already odds-on in The Queen Elizabeth.
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