What a day of racing we have in store with the Golden Rose at Rosehill, and an adequate support cast of races including The Theo Marks and Kingston Town Stakes.
At Flemington The Makybe Diva and Danehill Stakes headline the meeting, but there is massive depth in all the races – not unlike a Derby Day.
The following are horses to keep an eye on in the spring, and have been mentioned in the reviews I have done thus far. I’ll start this preview at Flemington.
The Queenslanders
Tony Gollan has targeted this meeting with five of his stable and apparently all have had “faultless” preparations.
He has the two veteran performers Temple Of Boom and Alma’s Fury going around in the Bobbie Lewis. Both have chances and maybe wise not to discard the latter given the positive comments from the trainer in recent times.
I’m most interested in his younger horses (see my article Queenslanders to tackle Spring riches). Pienkna and Traveston Girl, who are both very smart youngsters, should perform well here, and I have a slight leaning to Pienkna who has a little edge fitness wise.
What a tough race this is though. Many, many chances not the least of which are Sabatini and More Radiant.
Looks Like The Cat is capable of making his presence felt in the Danehill (race 6). This horse is yet to run a bad race and it won’t be hard for racegoers to spot just how he got his name.
Spring Is The Season Handicap – Race 3
The United States gets to a better distance of 1700m here in what looks a winnable race. Maybe another 100 or so metres would be the ideal scenario but St Jean made his form look very good last start at a lesser distance than this. This horse was the better of the two in that Moonee Valley race and has some good form lines out of Ireland.
Living Legends Stakes – Race 4
Zululand and Chivalry go around here. The former was a little disappointing second-up after an unlucky first-up run, but this distance suits better and he has drawn perfectly. Maybe he would be better meeting these at level weights given he isn’t that big, but he has had two runs back and that should even things up from a fitness and weights point of view.
My preference would be for Chivalry who was stellar first up and might have a better turn of foot than most at this distance.
Let’s Elope Stakes – Race 5
Commanding Jewel looks suited second up against her own age in a set weights and penalties race. She should strip fitter for her first start for nearly a year last time and if this were a handicap she would be conceding two or three kilograms more weight than she is today.
Distance is perfect for her at this stage of her preparation.
Danehill Stakes – Race 6
Get the Nod and Rich Enuff were very impressive winners first up and go down the Flemington straight for the first time.
Get the Nod has drawn inside and Rich Enuff close to the outside. My preference would have been for Get the Nod, but the barrier evens things up in that regard.
This is a race of massive depth though and given they are three-year-olds, the capacity for improvement is immense. It might be a good race to sit and watch but I do have a soft spot for the South Aussie Get the Nod after selecting him first up.
A big watch on Galaxy Pegasus here who won by seven lengths on debut and ran 1.5 seconds faster than a BM64 race, at the same distance on the same day.
Makybe Diva Stakes – Race 7
Boban and Dissident opposed each other last start with Dissident way too good. I prefer him because the win was so authoritative and he was going away from the rest of the field on the line.
His first three runs of a campaign have been his best so far so I’m not anticipating a second up failure. Boban has the edge in fitness and had no luck last start when caught wide and it was second up. He has won here while Dissident hasn’t been to the track.
The Sofitel – Race 9
Under the Louvre gets his favoured three weeks between runs in this race, having never won with less than a 15 day break. He has failed twice going to this distance in the past. Both those failures were off a less than a two week break though and today he drops to the lowest weight he has ever carried, and he has drawn a middle barrier which should be perfect.
Rosehill
Theo Marks – Race 4
Cluster goes like a bomb (pardon the pun) and if you go by what his jockey said after his last run he should be winning this. Easier said than done though, given he isn’g get much weight relief off a lot of horses with more experience than him. He was six weeks between runs last start so he should have derived a lot of benefit for the run.
Ideally you would like to see the track condition no worse than Slow for him, but he did get through Heavy conditions quite well last time.
Kingston Town Stakes – Race 5
Lucky Chappy gets to his favourite distance today and all he needs is a drier surface than last start to be competitive. He got too far back in the race off a slow pace last start which didn’t suit at all, and being a smallish horse the weight relief he gets here should be beneficial.
Celtic Prince could be a surprise packet if he can get a decent run in transit from a wide barrier. He might be a better chance of winning at 2400m or further, but isn’t totally out of this third up on a wet track.
Golden Rose – Race 7
Hallowed Crown, Nostradamus and Bring Me the Maid find themselves opposing each other in a race that is as open as the Sydney heads. It will just be a pleasure to watch this race unfold and see what transpires.
I am also a big fan of Scissor kick (unbeaten), and Better Land (blinkers on first time) wintered in Queensland (as did Dissident and Bring Me The Maid), and was unlucky behind that horse last start.
If I had to state a preference it would be for the filly Bring Me The Maid, given the two-year-old’s dominance from the autumn could still be pertinent. She ran faster time than Terravista last start at the same distance, with 2 kilograms more weight. He is an older horse than she so that is always an encouraging sign.
The horse that gets the most luck could win, but she is drawn to make her own.
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