Chautauqua will be out to claim the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) in a race the big grey sprinter has never managed to win. Join The Roar before the race start time of 3:50pm AEDT for late mail and tips.
If Chautauqua wins today he will join last year’s winner Brazen Beau along with a host of other talented sprinters including Lankan Rupee, Hay List and the legendary Black Caviar.
He comes into this race in good form after leaving it extremely late in the Lightning, pipping Terravista right on the post. He was terrific in the sprint to the post in a race he should never have been close to winning after getting well behind in the straight. He has never been out of the quinella in seven starts on the track and boasts five wins from 12 starts over the distance, only missing the trifecta once, $2.50 may be okay but there is a huge weight advantage to his main rival.
That rival is Japonisme who has perhaps been the surprise packet of this autumn with a terrific start in the Lightning often threatening to overtake Terravista but unable to get there on the line. The chestnut gelding has a better record second up and will be better for that first run which makes him such a danger in this race. He drops 3kg from that run in the Lightning where he was just behind Chautauqua and if he brings that form today he may be just on impossible to stop. The $3.90 quoted for him is an outstanding price.
Counterattack might be worth a place second up but the record isn’t flattering second up with just a minor placing in three starts, he does have a great record over the distance with two wins and two minor placings in six starts, he only has to carry 50kg and beat Catkins in a recent barrier trial.
Not going to be on Keen Array after the performance in the Oakleigh Plate, especially when Chautauqua and Japonisme are a step up in class from that field.
Outside of Delectation and Black Heart Bart it’s extremely hard to make a case for any of these runners. Delectation was only two lengths off them in the Lightning Stakes and could run a place after the weight drop from that race.
Black Heart Bart is that extremely impressive Western Australian runner who has swept all before him, he surprised last year when he finished second in the C.B Cox Stakes. His record at this distance is outstanding, but it is his first look at this track, he may be the surprise if there is one today.
In what looks to be a race between two I am happy to put Japonisme on top with that weight swing, just ahead of Chautauqua.
Brent Ford Selections
1. Japonisme
2. Chautauqua
3. Black Heart Bart
4. Delectation
Join The Roar before the race start time of 3:50pm AEDT for late mail and tips.
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