TWO GOOD! Zahra wins back-to-back Melbourne Cups on Without a Fight as three horses pull up lame
Without a Fight completed the rare Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double on Tuesday as star jockey Mark Zahra went back-to-back in the big one after…
It was a blast out for punters at Flemington on Saturday, with a couple of rank outsiders winning. The Parks track played well also, and there were some dominant efforts. Here are the Blackbookers.
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Indian Thunder – Pulled up with a slow recovery and a degree of mucus. Too bad to be true on face value and there were reasons why.
Mulinello – Pulled up badly lame so that’s why she dropped out as badly as she did. Back to midweek grade and she can fire.
Chateau Griffo – She will be the best horse to come out of this race. Just left completely flat footed when Madeenaty was let down but I loved her final 100 metres. Robbie Griffiths has a good one here.
Red Alto – You could have easily made a case for him and the win didn’t surprise me. He’s a talented horse when right and he can measure up for sure.
Nikitas – Put the pen through the run. He is a horse who is at his best when getting cover, and he had none of it here. Total forgive.
Rebellious Lord – A fabulous effort in defeat. Did a mountain of work to drag the field up to the leaders, hit the front and was ambushed late by a horse with the more economical sit. He’s a beauty. Dollar For Dollar was also very good.
Revolving Door – Irregular heart rhythm post race. There is your excuse if you backed him.
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Killarney Kid – No excuses for mine, other than maybe B Rawiller wasn’t steering. Outside that, it was pretty plain from the well-backed commodity.
Bondi Beach – You can put the pen through him as a Cups horse. That was awful for a highly talented horse with world class form.
Mihany – Pestered a bit by Show A Star, but still a flop for mine. Gave him a good push here but he was disappointing. One look is enough.
Amralah – If he wants to be a Cups horse, he’d want to improve big time on this. It was an awful fresh run.
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Wallace Street – Not sure he beat much, but this was a smart debut win. Did everything right on speed, kicked hard and dashed when asked for the big effort. Interesting to see where he goes.
Gold Denari – Forgive a horse for one bad run, and this mare fits the bill. No luck in running, wide throughout and was the first horse beat. Don’t drop off.
Sudden Wealth – This mare is low flying at the moment. Had no right to finish as close as she did, given the tempo. Another win is near for her.
Arkham Knight – This four-year-old has really turned the corner this prep and is comfortably a blacktype horse over there. Had this race won a long way out, aided by a peach from Gatt. Spring Stakes in a fortnight looks perfect. Counter Spin was very good also.
Brown Ben – He’s back. Big time. This was an explosive win off a very sharp trial effort and looks to be back to the form that saw him competitive at Flemington a couple of preps back.
Enzo The Barber – A total forgive run. No luck at all in the straight but once balanced up, he was good to the line and through it. Give him another look.
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Artie Fred – He’s a hard horse to catch and you need fat pockets to continually follow him. May have found a strong race, but still a flop.
Moss ‘N’ Dale – Most declared him a moral, but as I said in the preview, I was worried the run start prior on a firm track may have taken the stuffing out of him and so it proved. Might be looking for the paddock.
Husson Eagle – Had Patrick Payne had his time over again, he would have scratched this horse. He just doesn’t go on wet tracks so I was surprised that he was crunched in betting.