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The Spring Carnival is at its annual awkward juncture, the end of the footy season, where an overlapping of Group racing in Sydney and Melbourne divides the attention of racing fans between the two cities before the focus completely shifts to Victoria after the last grand final is played.
On Saturday, in Melbourne, we probably saw this year’s Cox Plate (2040m, Group 1, weight-for-age) winner and maybe even the Melbourne Cup (3200m, Group 1, handicap) winner but the Golden Rose (1400m, Group 1, three-year-olds) in Sydney will be remembered as a remarkable race for many years.
The performances of the three placegetters in the Golden Rose were all spectacular in their own way.
As far as timeless Australian three-year-old contests go, we probably won’t look back on the 2013 Golden Rose in same way we do the epic Guineas contests in recent history.
No, Saturday’s Golden Rose was more like the Golden Slipper freakishness of Belle Du Jour in 2000 than the titanic struggle of Redoute’s Choice and Testa Rossa in the 1999 Guineas.
The winner Zoustar, who started from the outside barrier, tasted Group 1 success for the first time and his outstanding turn of foot delivered jockey Jim Cassidy his 99th Group 1 victory in the saddle.
Zoustar, a son of the recently deceased Northern Meteor, has the acceleration to be a lasting force at Group 1 level.
I suspect trainer Chris Waller is leaning towards aiming the colt for the Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m, Group 1, three-year-olds) on Derby Day at Flemington in preference to the Caulfield Guineas (1600m, Group 1, three-year-olds).
Zoustar would be hard to beat in either but his explosiveness makes the Flemington option particularly enticing.
Both Dissident (second) and Bull Point (third) produced runs that are both as contrasting and outstanding as great horses Schillaci (grey) and Octagonal (black).
They are two of the better performances in Group 1 defeat I have ever seen, let alone can remember.
Thinking logically, Dissident and Bull Point’s performances both can’t happen. On one hand, there’s Dissident who rides a frantic tempo out three and four wide for the whole race. It’s horse racing suicide.
But at the top of the straight he dashes clear before being headed by Zoustar about a furlong out. At this point, he could have easily have been forgiven for spitting out the dummy and compounding into a midfield finish.
Instead he battles on and finds the strength to take ground off Zoustar in the closing stages. It was a performance so good, Dissident was deserving of victory even though he had been fairly beaten.
Trainer Peter Moody brought Dissident to Sydney for a Golden Rose preparation without much fanfare but he now floats him down to Melbourne with a reputation as big as any colt’s in the land.
The run of Bull Point in third has to be seen to be believed. He began slowly and settled last. Watching the race from the Rosehill grandstand I was convinced the horse had broken down when at the 1000m mark, I noticed he was ten lengths off the second-last horse.
I got a shock when he passed the crowd, and winning post, in third position. I actually had backed Bull Point each-way a few months ago and when I noticed jockey Glyn Schofield’s yellow silks thunder into third, I didn’t want to get too excited (until I checked his saddlecloth number was actually 11) because it seemed impossible that he could figure in the finish.
Initially, after the race, I thought Schofield may’ve employed one of my favourite tactics in the video game ‘G1 Jockey’– that is, let the back-maker you’re riding find their feet in a long-last position before storming past the tiring pack in the last 200m of the race.
It’s a risky tactic but in races with big fields it can work if the pressure at the front is too intense. The trouble is, while it’s a well-established tactic on the PlayStation, I’ve never seen a jockey deliberately use it in a real race.
And, in actual fact, neither had Schofield. In essence, Bull Point couldn’t keep up. He was hard ridden, almost to the point where use of the whip was being contemplated, in a failed attempt to keep him in close contact with the pack.
Quite clearly, Bull Point’s obscure run proves the pressure in the race was bruising. His performance will long live in the memory but it only serves to make that of Dissident, the runner-up who sat close to the lead, wide and without cover, even better.
Both Dissident and Bull Point should be prepared for the Caulfield Guineas, with the latter not to be seen at the races again until Guineas Day, and I think both will be winning chances there.
Away from the place-getters there were some nice runs. Prince Harada, the former Guineas favourite, was strong late in fifth. He will appreciate more ground, even to the extent that he may be best suited in the Cox Plate (if he is given the chance) or Derby (2500m, Group 1, three-year-olds).
The favourite Fast ‘N’ Rocking (tenth) was denied clear galloping room so I wouldn’t be giving up on his dreams just yet. But I think if he’s going to win that elusive Group 1, noting there are not many 1400m options left for him, it will probably be over 1200m instead of the mile.
And, therefore, I think it would be wise to aim at the Coolmore Stud Stakes in favour of the Caulfield Guineas.
The run of one of my favourites, Drago (ninth), was very disappointing. He had the circumstances (namely a good pace) to run into the finish but was blown away by Zoustar and Bull Point in the straight.
I could argue that it was the worst performance of his career and perhaps one of the first indications that the Sires Produce (1400m, Group 1, two-year-olds) and Champagne (1600m, Group 1, two-year-olds) form, in which Drago finished fourth (in both), may not be as good as I first thought.
And, if that’s the case, I may be in for a big let-down when Guelph, who won both those races and is my Cox Plate smoky, disappoints at some stage during the next two months.
Drago will be kept in Sydney for the time being with his next Group 1 appointment to be in the Spring Champion Stakes (Group 1, three-year-olds) over 2000m next month.
In Melbourne, Atlantic Jewel took her undefeated record to nine with a soft victory against a bunch of mares who are well below her grade in the Stocks (1600m, Group 2, weight-for-age).
It’s the first time Atlantic Jewel has scared opposition away.
And for those who don’t believe Atlantic Jewel belongs in the class of Black Caviar just yet, I will point out that it took Black Caviar six Group 1s and 13 wins before she scared a field away like Atlantic Jewel (previously eight wins and three Group 1s) did on Saturday.
It’s not a big call to say AJ is on track to be on at least par with Black Caviar by the end of her career.
The champ will aim for a perfect ten next weekend in the Underwood Stakes (1800m, Group 1, weight-for-age) against the likes of Puissance De Lune and It’s A Dundeel.
And with the Melbourne Racing Club throwing the gates open, a near-record Underwood crowd should be in attendance.
It will prove to be a stiffer test for Atlantic Jewel but as the best horse in the world victory, even on the seven-day break, should be a mere formality.
The Dato Tan Chin Nam (1600m, Group 2, weight-for-age) was more competitive and perhaps more deceptive than the Stocks.
Fiorente, who swept to victory from the tail, was outstanding. He hasn’t run below par once in Australia and is well on track to figure in the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup.
Super Cool, brilliant when first-up in the Memsie (1400m, Group 1, weight-for-age), was incredibly dour on Saturday and raced without room at crucial stages. His fourth-place finish is completely excusable and explainable. When he gets to 2000m, he will make amends.
This was a pack finish with all the horses at the top end – handicappers and weight-for-age winners alike – only separated by a length or two at the winning post. And here, we are posed with the quandary of the Chin Nam.
How reliable is the form out this race?
In the bunched finish, we have four-year-old Bass Strait running into fifth and looking unlucky not to finish closer.
He’s a horse I know very well, having followed him closely through the autumn, and I’m surprised he made the step up to weight-for-age so easily.
But as a member of last season’s vintage three-year-old group, he may just be the latest four-year-old to stand up and be counted for Group 1 races this season.
The run of Hornets’ Nest (eighth) was interesting. He is famous for a narrow (albeit fortuitous) victory over Puissance De Lune last spring in benchmark 89 grade but he didn’t handle Moonee Valley one bit on Saturday.
If Hornets’ Nest ran in a straight line in the run-home he too may have swept into contention from the back with Fiorente.
And while Hornets’ Nest was good enough to beat Puissance De Lune, his best victory in terms of grade still remains an Open handicap (1800m) in the bush at Coleraine.
Maybe the strange race can be explained by the tight track. Spacecraft, the Open handicapper who was only nabbed late, had a big lead down the side of the track and it took the rest of the field the entire 1600m journey to catch him.
Perhaps, in a similarly run race at spacious Flemington, Spacecraft would’ve finished nearer to midfield than first. I’m not entirely sure but it will be interesting to see how the Chin Nam runners go in the future.
I will say with confidence though that Seville, who was again last, was much better this time as he actually got warm late, and it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see him repeat last year’s Turnbull (2000m, Group 1, set weights and penalties) placing if given the chance.
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