Appearance enormous as Boban and Shamus Award fail to fire

Saturday’s meetings at Caulfield and Randwick ushered in Group 1 autumn racing in style. There were top-class performances, surprises and plenty of talking points.

The performance of the day was from three-time Group 1 winning mare Appearance, who romped in the Group 2 Expressway Stakes (1200, weight-for-age) at Randwick after unwinding a huge sprint down the straight.

Only last October, Appearance’s career was in jeopardy. After a good second-up showing in Sydney her Myer Classic (1600m, Group 1, weight-for-age, mares) defence was cancelled and she was quickly spelled.

Trainer Guy Walter reported he “had not been happy with Appearance. She has had problems with tying up (muscle cramping) all her career and we’ve decided to pull the pin for now”.

At that stage, I believed her racing days were over. I thought she was going to be retired to stud duties. In fact, for whatever reason, by the end of the spring I actually thought she had been retired.

It’s a good thing she wasn’t retired because Appearance, a five-year-old mare, has returned in outstanding form.

Walter had been telling the media for a few weeks that she was flying and he was spot on because Appearance’s victory on Saturday was at a career-high level.

In fact, it was Appearance’s first victory against the boys in more than two years. And undoubtedly, it was the most dominant performance of her career. She raced in the second-half of the field before destroying her rivals in the final two furlongs with brute speed.

The fact Appearance’s three Group 1 victories have come over longer distances (1500m and 1600m) and also third and fourth-up means as her preparation continues, she gets fitter and the distances increase towards a mile, she is only going to get better.

In fact, Appearance has been victorious in three of her six first-up performances so far, but it is third-up where she really excels. She has won third-up the last three times and has claimed Group 1s on two of those occasions.

Interestingly, Appearance has an average second-up record. From five starts she has a second, three fourths and a seventh next to her name.

It is likely Appearance will stay in Sydney for a second-up assignment in the Apollo (1400m, Group 2, weight-for-age) before she steps up to Group 1 level in the Chipping Norton (1600m, Group 1, weight-for-age) third-up.

Right now, she looks hard to beat in that.

Behind Appearance on Saturday there were some average looking performances, but few more so than Boban.

Boban enters this autumn as one of the most exciting horses in Australia. But he’ll quickly lose his many admirers if he continues to toss up performances similar to Saturday’s.

Having successfully navigated a handicap path in the spring undefeated, Boban made his weight-for-age debut in the Expressway and was expected to figure prominently.

But we didn’t see the exceptional turn of foot or the great will to win – the very characteristics that make Boban a special racehorse – on Saturday. Instead he was flat and dour.

For the first part of the straight he was smothered but then when a gap appeared just after the 200m mark, and with an opportunity to chase down Appearance, Boban plodded.

Often when horses with the capacity for an enormous change of gear are held up, it only makes their finishing spurt stronger. They find room when their opponents begin to tire and charge home. But not Boban on Saturday.

He plodded to the finish to take fifth. He was incredibly one-paced and hugely disappointing. But trainer Chris Waller says we shouldn’t be nervous about the way Boban is tracking.

After all he has never fired at 1200m before and he is being set for the 2000m Queen Elizabeth (Group 1, weight-for-age) in mid-April, so he’s still got a lot of natural improvement to come.

I will say though, if getting Boban to 2000m means he loses his ability to produce ridiculously quick sectionals then he is being robbed of his greatest asset and I doubt if he will be able to successfully make the jump to weight-for-age this autumn.

I’m happy to give Boban the benefit of the doubt though. Rest assured, there will be plenty of interest in his second and third-up runs.

Aside from the two big guns in the Expressway, River Lad, filling the runner up position second-up, was quite good.

He found the front in the straight but was blown away by a seriously-talented mare. After winning an Open Handicap (1200m) first-up at Doomben he looks to be in for a good prep.

Sizzling in third was just middling. As he often does, he loomed to figure but was just okay home.

Rain Affair, on the other hand, is a shadow of his former self.

He is still able to find a very good top speed but his tank is emptying out far too quickly. It looks like he has lost the fight that took him to four Group 1 seconds and was the hallmark of his three Group 2 victories in the autumn of 2012.

The Orr Stakes (1400m, Group 1, weight-for-age) was a much more tactical affair than the Expressway and was perhaps a lot more predictable for many punters.

Moment Of Change, who enjoyed a fitness edge on all bar one of his rivals, notched up his first victory in more than a year after enjoying an uncontested lead.

He held off the fast-finishing Eurozone with the Cox Plate (2040m, Group 1, weight-for-age) winner Shamus Award just over a length away in third.

The way the race panned out with Moment Of Change and Luke Nolen controlling proceedings, Shamus Award tucked in behind in second and Eurozone a length back in third, the race was set up on a platter for Shamus Award to claim victory.

I say that because Moment Of Change kicked at the top of the straight but tired badly in the last 100m making himself vulnerable to a late challenge. The late challenge came from Eurozone.

But the horse best placed to make that late challenge was Shamus Award.

It was a race where the on-speed brigade dominated on a day where there was an inside and maybe even leader bias.

We have to look at the Orr in its right context. Moment Of Change was aimed at this race and got a well-deserved top-level victory but I can’t imagine him being a force in any of the rich Group 1s this autumn.

There’s two ways to view the Orr going forward, either Eurozone was outstanding to get as close to victory as he did or Shamus Award was incredibly disappointing.

I’m not exactly sure where I stand here, except to say Eurozone was at the very least very good and Shamus Award at the very least underwhelming.

Shamus Award presented to win the race at the top of the home straight but laid in badly under pressure.

Shamus Award’s reluctance to run straight has been a long-time problem and it was obvious the Cox Plate winner missed the guidance of the inside fence – something he had in his favour on Cox Plate Day.

He maybe even missed the quick hands of jockey Chad Schofield, whose masterful use of the whip in the Cox Plate was a key determining factor of the result of the championship.

That’s a fine compliment to pay to the apprentice because Craig Williams, who partnered Shamus Award on Saturday, has been described as one the world’s best jockeys when in red-hot form.

Sure Shamus Award has laid in before but there is also the possibility it happened on Saturday because he was a tired horse.

Maybe Moment Of Change, who set a relatively solid pace, ran Shamus Award off his feet. And that’s a little damning – after all, Moment Of Change has his limits and Shamus Award is a Cox Plate winner.

As a Shamus Award fan I’d prefer to learn the reason he laid in was because he lacked the necessary fitness for his first-up assignment.

Only time will tell but his bid for the Australian Guineas (1600m, Group 1, three-year-olds) did not begin on a great note.

Eurozone, on the other hand, is on track for the Guineas. I loved the way he attacked the line. I’ve watched Eurozone in the parade ring almost every single time he’s raced and last spring it wasn’t until he was fourth-up before he looked close to peak fitness.

For that reason, Eurozone always seemed vulnerable at the end of sprint races and he was overrun in the last furlong of the Golden Rose (1400m, Group 1, three-year-olds).

But when he finally got fit he was able to win over 1500m in the Stan Fox (Group 2, three-year-olds) at his sixth run from a break.

On Saturday, the news from the parade indicated Eurozone was fit for his first-up assignment and the result was an incredibly strong 1400m performance. He produced the fastest 400m-200m and last 200m splits. That meant, obviously, he produced the fastest last 400m as well.

I’m a bit surprised to be writing this but Eurozone should devour the mile of the Australian Guineas and I’m looking forward to his re-match with Bull Point.

I also loved the run of Foreteller in fourth. He took sufficient ground off Moment Of Change in the last 200m to indicate he has returned in great order.

He’s ready to win second-up, perhaps in his defence of the Peter Young (1800m, Group 2, weight-for-age) in a fortnight. It’s worth remembering Foreteller won the Makybe Diva (1600m, Group 1, weight-for-age) second-up in the spring.

Hawkspur, the Queensland Derby (2400m, Group 1, three-year-olds) winner, was out-paced in last place. It was a particularly disappointing return because Hawkspur had resumed in the spring with a fantastic first-up display in August.

Perhaps, as sometimes is the case, Hawkspur has not recovered from a Spring Carnival campaign that revealed in the Melbourne Cup (3200m, Group 1, handicap) that two miles is a distance too far. Perhaps he has not yet recovered.

In the restricted age races, Thunder Fantasy, the third place-getter in Polanski’s Victoria Derby (2500m, Group 1, three-year-olds) resumed with a powerful victory in the Autumn (1400m, Group 2, three-year-olds) over seven furlongs.

That’s a fantastic tick of approval for the Victoria Derby form. Disappointingly, the Derby runner-up Complacent, was ruled out of the autumn last week with a strained tendon.

On Saturday morning, the Derby winner Polanski was scratched from the Autumn Stakes with a skin rash. I’m sure Polanski is at least three lengths superior to Thunder Fantasy so Polanski’s race-track return, whenever it comes, will be even more anticipated now.

In the two-year-olds, Earthquake was breath-taking. She won the Blue Diamond Fillies Prelude (1100m, Group 3) comfortably after grinding her opposition into the turf.

This filly looks like a carbon copy of Guelph. The only difference is that Earthquake looks more advanced at the same age. That’s scary!

By comparison, when Guelph won the same race last year she went 0.17s (about a length) slower time but had the benefit of being second-up from a spell. Earthquake was first-up.

I love the way Earthquake sustained her finishing burst on Saturday. She didn’t kill her opposition with a blinding turn of speed, instead she just slowly moved through her gears before finding a level that could not be matched.

This filly will appearance more distance. Like Guelph, she appears the sort of filly that will produce her best at a mile.

I’m sure Earthquake has more scope than Rubick who was very good but slightly-less impressive when winning the colts’ division (1100m, Group 3, two-year-olds).

Rubick didn’t begin quickly and had to use plenty of petrol to hold the lead. In the straight he found a winning margin before holding off strong late challenges to win by just over a length in identical time to Earthquake.

While Earthquake was completely dominant and looks clearly the best filly, Rubick was chased home by a handful of good colts.

The runner-up Jabali was as strong late as he was on debut when he flew home against a dominant Risen From Doubt.

Risen From Doubt is the best Melbourne two-year-old in my opinion and we will see him in Sydney next month in preparation for the Golden Slipper (1200m, Group 1, two-year-olds).

It was interesting to hear Rubick’s trainer Gerald Ryan say on Saturday the Slipper may not be on the cards for Rubick. Instead, the paddock may await after his Blue Diamond run.

I wonder if Ryan has got Rubick to peak or close to peak already? It is concerning.

Away from Jabali, Chivalry charged from 15th on the turn to finish a close-up third. His Blue Diamond aspirations are well alive.

Nostradamus overcame a wide draw to finish just behind in fourth and his Diamond hopes also live on.

The big disappointment was the Preview (1000m, Listed, two-year-olds) winner Mohave who played up before the start, was used up early and was done at the 300m mark.

Perhaps it could pay to forgive his performance. He sweated up badly in the 40-degree heat and was not at his best.

Next weekend the focus is on Flemington for the running of the Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m, weight-for-age).