Our Australian hopes – and we’ll include Able Friend in the mix – were disappointing at Royal Ascot over the past two days.
While Shamal Wind didn’t carry the weight of a nation quite like Able Friend, both were a bit plain.
Shamal Wind slipped out of the barriers and had it all to do, but she didn’t run home like she has shown here – but that’s racing.
Criterion was given a pass mark by his trainer, David Hayes, and my take is that he might not have stretched out on the firm track.
But all show the perils of such a trip.
Taking your horse overseas is fraught. Do you have enough time for a lead-up run? Have they settled in and adapted to the conditions? Red Cadeaux, as we know, was one that loved to travel but those types are few and far between.
Able Friend wasn’t himself on that strong mile. He sweated-up up and looked stirred up and on face value, was disappointing. But can you blame him, with the trek over there, settling in, and adjusting – it’s a very gruelling exercise. He wasn’t himself.
Take nothing away from the winner Solow though. He was super impressive; a typical European stayer, and a deserved winner on the day.
Looking ahead with Brazen Beau and Wandjina, certainly Brazen Beau must be a good chance. He’s the main one for us – if he’s settled in. He’s a good colt and even a placing will enhance his value, while a win would send it skyrocketing.
The Munce Racing team
It’s been a great week for the Munce Racing team with Wicked Intent braining them at Ipswich, and Savannah Dream won well on Wednesday too.
It’s worth noting Wicked Intent ran a time of 1min 3.18secs, which is a new class and race record, and the previous record was held by a little horse known as Buffering!
That places me just outside the top 10 for metro winners here in Queensland – we only started notching winners in January.
Wicked Intent is off to spell now as we look ahead to spring, and we have some horses coming into work. Twisted Mountain returns next week all being well to tackle some provincials and we have a couple of horses in work.
A little note to finish with – we’re a dedicated professional team here and if anyone is thinking about ownership or being involved, we’d love to have a chat and talk about the run of success we’ve had thus far. Thanks!
Sammy
Guest
I just reckon the undulations( which can only be appreciated on the ground, TV doesent do it justice) and the massive width of Royal Ascot track can occasionally bamboozle visitng horses. I can't image horses form HK, USA and Aus would ever have experienced under race pressure undulations like that in a straight when you have to quicken? Maybe the slight rise at Randwick just after the home bend but that's very modest compared ascot which is up and down over a few furlongs
Allanthus
Guest
Chris, well done on how your team is performing, look forward to seeing how Wicked Intent handles Melbourne in a few months. -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Aransan
Guest
Good luck to Brazen Beau in the Diamond Jubilee but I am at a loss to understand why he should have such a great value as a stallion. He is by I am Invincible which is a Green Desert line stallion but he was a $70k yearling. I do believe though that Green Desert is under-represented in our breeding stocks. Brazen Beau's longest winning distance is 1200m but he was narrowly beaten in a 1600m G1. The Diamond Jubilee is a particularly testing 6 furlongs (1207m).