Ahoy Roarers! I am lost for words to describe the racing action from Randwick on Saturday.
That was as good a race day as I can remember, helped by a couple of winners, so let’s go through the drama that was the first day of the Championships.
The first Group l was the Inglis Sires and Yankee Rose just spanked her rivals and won with real class and authority. She was put into the dream spot by Zac Purton, sitting three wide with cover before peeling clear 500m out and he gave the filly the entire straight to build up momentum, something that probably cost her in the Slipper.
She careered away to beat Telperion by 2.5 lengths, with a further two lengths away to Faraway Town in third. The top two clearly stood out, and as I said in my preview, Faraway Town was the improver and she ran accordingly.
As for the winner, I see some betting agencies are offering $51 for her for the Cox Plate. If you have $20, put $10 each way on her. Outside Winx, we are very thin in terms of WFA racing, and Yankee Rose will carry the fillies weight, and she will just eat up the 2040m.
Before the Australian Derby (2400m), all the rage was Tarzino, but he could only manage fourth as the Kiwis rose to the occasion again when Tavago strode clear under a brilliant Tommy Berry ride to win at huge odds.
Jameka was tough as always and she battled on very gamely for second ahead of Tally, who was enormous himself after covering ground. Tarzino was the disappointing runner in the race, but you have to factor in he pulled his head off in the run and was on his Melbourne leg for the last 800m. He has enough credits in the bank to be forgiven.
For the future, I want to be on Tarzino and Tally. We know what happened with Tarzino, while Tally was the only horse to make ground on the front runners. Not sure how he’ll stack up in the Spring, but he will be very competitive.
Well well well…what can I say about Chautauqua? That win in the T J Smith (1200m) just instantly reminded me of Black Caviar and her 2011 win. Just like the great mare, he just didn’t look the winner at all before the straight.
He was last and had to come the extreme widest, but once clicked up by Tommy Berry, the grey just unwinded with a world class finishing burst to not only win, but draw away from his rivals. He is the best in the world, and he’ll confirm that in Hong Kong and fingers cross, England.
Fell Swoop ran another mighty race to run second, just ahead of star filly English and what about the run of Chautauquas stablemate and the ‘Rockhampton Rocket’, Our Boy Malachi? 200m out he looked the winner but he just died on the run for fourth.
The talking point is clearly the disappointing run of Exosphere. It just left me head scratching as to why people were doubting Chautauqua and declaring Exosphere.
I am happy to admit that Exosphere had trialled like a star, but he hasn’t translated that to raceday against the big boys whereas Chautauqua has well and truly, and if you saw Chautauqua in the mounting yard, he was the only horse you wanted to be on.
It’s hard for grey horses to stand out looks wise, but he just looked the part and ran accordingly, so full credit to Team Hawkes.
The horse that Sydney, Australia and indeed the world wanted to see win on Saturday was Winx in the Doncaster Mile (1600m) and despite some very nervous moments in the straight, Bowman eventually got her clear. She burst away to win her ninth straight race and she can rightfully now be called a champion of the turf.
She beat home my tip, Happy Clapper, who was off the 700m out yet kept finding under hard riding to run second ahead of Azkadellia, who will win the Queen of the Turf next Saturday if connections decide to back up. She was unbelievable from near last and has a mortgage on that race.
Those three spanked the rest, and when doing the form, they really stood out from the rest when you factored in form, upside and the weight scale. But you just have to admire Winx and what she is doing for a sport that generally creates more bad headlines than good.
Three talking points from Randwick
1. Can Libran beat Grand Marshal and Who Shot Thebarman in the Sydney Cup?
2. Yankee Rose- how good is she?
3. Where does Winx sit right now in terms of the mares we have seen in Australia?
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Agree 100%
wal
Guest
My top 4 mares would be in the order BC, Sunline , Makybe then Winx. The Diva is rated too high in my books as was gifted only 58kg to win a third Melbourne Cup and one race cannot mean so much. If Phar Lap had be weighted in same fashion and had not died he would have easily won 3 Melbourne Cups considering he got around 68kg for attempting a 2nd win. Same goes for many other Melb Cup winners who were weighted out of the race when attempting multiple wins. Sunline is still way in front of Winx winning 2 Cox Plates, up there in two others plus 2 Doncasters and a great win in the Hong Kong Mile. Winx still has a lot to do.
Adam Page
Roar Guru
Black Caviar, in terms of brilliance and arrogance, stands alone and will in our lifetime. But with her and what she did, people quickly forgot just how good Makybe Diva. Three Melbourne Cups and a Cox Plate, a narrow Caulfield Cup runner up, along with a stack of other majors...three Melbourne Cups is something the human race will never ever see again. I think it's underestimated what an achievement that is, winning Australia's hardest race in the manner she did. Winx sits fourth for mine behind BC, Makybe and Sunline. She will overtake Sunline if she wins either the Queen Elizabeth or Cox Plate again.
Darren Clayton
Roar Rookie
Top 5 mares by prizemony Starts-wins-2nd-3rd $14,527,110.00 Makybe Diva 36: 15-4-3 Seven Group 1 $11,351,607.00 Sunline 48: 32-9-3 Thirteen Group 1 $ 7,953,936 .00 Black Caviar 25: 25-0-0 Fifteen Group 1 $6,678,425.00 Winx 19: 13-3-0 Six Group 1 $4,762,135.00 Ethereal 21: 8-1-3 Four Group 1 Thats on figures, where does she rate on opinion? At the minute I would say 3rd, possibly borderline 2nd. Sunline is clearly on top, she won from 1100 up to 2040. Interestingly Winx has won from 1100 up to 2200. Makybe Diva won from 1400 up to 3200, Black Caviar from 1000 up to 1400 and Ethereal from 1300 up to 3200 who amazingly won $4,612,430 in just 4 starts- her 4 G1s which were recorded from June 2001 starting with the Qld Oaks, through to March 2002 when winning The BMW. Thats of the prizemoney earning mares. There are quite a few who don't appear on that list like Lets Elope or even a a Horlicks who was a 6 time G1 winner or More Joyous, an 8 time G1 winner. I think Makybe Diva is just holding 2nd and Winx is about to overtake. At this stage the only reason I have her 3rd, is I want to see here next season. Everything she has achieved has basically been this season. Champions come back the next season and do it again. Let's hope she does because she could become the greatest.
kv joef
Roar Guru
Aransan. i thibk it's great that they are finally going. Team Hawkes have been 'thinking' about the 'Grand Tour' for quite a while. 'Thinking' to them means 'planning' to us plebs ... As many know my three maxims are ... Know your horse. Know your trainer. Know your jockey. I've been an unabashed fan of J.Hawkes for most of my racing life ... One of the first good horses he had was Toltrice ... that era's version of Winx. What a filly/mare. Mind you, if she had managed to get past Tontonan in the Doncaster ... oh, what might have been (for me - cash wise). Toltrice was a little stiff in that race but she was v.special and had given me, and 10,000's of punters, heaps ... so no whinge, just would have been nice for the mare and Hawkes. Maybe the racing gods were trying to teach me a lesson ... not sure how that worked out :) . Just visited Team Hawkes website for the first time ... a bit of nostalgia there ... Galena Boy, VRC Derby - absolute special off his SA Derby 2nd and that beautiful little dark filly Pride of Ingenue were some greats long before he moved to Melb then joined Crown Lodge in Syd. THEN ... in the bio, It says this about John ... "Hawkes is now acknowledged as one of the all-time great racehorse trainers with a record remarkable for its longevity and sheer consistency. He has won 10 national trainers' premierships, nine Sydney premierships, a six-time leading Group One trainer and nine-time leading stakes-winning trainer ... led in more than 5000 race winners, including 98 Group One ... inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2004." ... ... his bio eventually ends with "Meticulous by nature, Hawkes sets high standards for himself and his stable staff. He seems to live by the maxim 'the harder you work, the luckier you get'." Wonder which one of the the sprogs was responsible for the word "seems" in that last paragraph :) . Cheeky buggers ... PS Aransan ... if they go ... no sweat ... :) ... I think they should throw in the July Cup as well ...
Aransan
Guest
Chautauqua will have to be very tough to win in Hong Kong and Royal Ascot at the end of a long preparation. I believe Black Caviar almost got found out at Ascot with the amount of racing she had done, Chautauqua will have to do even more.
Razzar
Guest
Track seemed to have a little more moisture than I thought it would have. Great days racing all the same . Tavago got the right surface to show his best, but still very hard to find. But the nearly month letup can be a plus for a 3yo. Maybe Tavacis ultra screwed down price just made so many quite over thier true price. Winx: Champion! I think Libran just had a gut buster. Many smoked thier pipes in stalls yesterday, such as Almooquith the Barmen, amongst others that I'd think would be better value for the Syney Cup...just next week. Good Standing: had a tough run, and only wilted late. Bring on the mile race in two weeks. I'm a forgiving type....at odds Though.
kv joef
Roar Guru
I was a little hard the the big lump, Exosphere. watched the reply a few times and it was a great race. Just read the post-race stewards report this morning. he pulled up lame in the off-fore ... "in the view of the Club's Veterinary Officer that the colt was significantly lame ..." Really feel for the Godolphin team. I know how the disappointment of such a performance hurts ... but we can see why he pulled up over the last 400. It was a perfect ride from JMac, an absolute 20/10 ... did every thing right ... What can the Exo-supporters say other than 'bugger'. Chau was outstanding again and completed 2 legs of the Autumn Sprint Triple Crown — reaffirming his Australian champion title and pretty sure there is more to come :) …
kv joef
Roar Guru
just heard a rumour that Team Hawkes might have used a secret weapon against Exo. I can't believe it is true ... but apparently the rumour has it that the old fox J.Hawkes instructed Tommy Berry to loudly wolf whistle at the 600m and scream at the top of voice 'hey Exo ... common on boy, get the ball, get the ball', and from that point Exo lost interest in the race and started looking around for a ball. That team Hawkes, you know you are in contest when you matchup against them :) . Chau was outstanding again and completed 2 legs of the Autumn Sprint Triple Crown --- reaffirming his Australian champion title and pretty sure there is more to come :) ...