Flemington Champions Day 2022: Group 1 previews and tips

Welcome to Champions Day at Flemington, a new concept designed by the Victoria Racing Club as we continue to see the evolution of racing in Australia since the inception of the Everest.

Not so long ago we had the Mackinnon Stakes (2000m at weight for age) run on Derby Day, the Emirates Stakes (1600m handicap) run as the feature on Stakes Day, which recently got moved to Derby Day, and the main sprint in Cup week has been on the final Saturday for a number of years now.

This year the main three races are all at WFA and all worth $3,000,000. The VRC wanted to create a grand final for the best sprinters, milers and middle-distance horses in the land, and based on the inaugural edition, they’ve achieved their goal.

Champions Sprint

Despite being toppled as an odds-on pop in the Everest, Nature Strip still holds his title as the best sprinter in the country and probably the world.

Yes, he went under in the big one, but Nature Strip was sensational in defeat. In fact he probably ran as well as he ever has. Trapped wide from the outset and caught in no-man’s-land due an unusually indecisive James McDonald, he still had the audacity to put lengths on the field when turning for home, and he looked the winner for most of the straight until he was just collared late.

A quirk of Nature Strip is that he has lost his last five second-up starts for Chris Waller, but he has won his last three when third-up, which is what he strikes this race. He’s still the one to beat, and his wide draw is perfect too.

Giga Kick, the still unbeaten three-year-old, was the horse that got Nature Strip thanks to an inch-perfect Craig Williams ride. What a stunning story he has been since a February debut in a Sale maiden. Giga Kick has won twice up the straight, so that key aspect of this race is in his wheelhouse.

Let’s see how he fares against the champ a second time.

Masked Crusader also ran in the Everest and is backing up from yet another flop last week. It’s time to stop talking about him as a serious racehorse.

Bella Nipotina bolted away with the Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley in probably the single most dazzling performance of any horse this spring. She’s always run very well without winning down the straight and was third in this race last year, 4.5 lengths behind Nature Strip. She’s a much better mare now though.

(Image by Peter W via Pixabay)

September Run was fourth in the Manikato, beaten almost seven lengths, but was a straight track specialist once upon a time. She’s got a good barrier to help her figure in trifectas and first fours at big odds.

Roch N Horse has been racing well and is suited back to WFA after giving weight to some smart males in recent times. Her second to Private Eye last start is looking even better given what that horse has done since. Baller is somewhere in the conversation too given there has been nothing between them this spring.

Paulele will hopefully bounce back, but at this stage he hasn’t lived up to the level we wanted to see as a now four-year-old. Rothfire will be in the game somewhere but hasn’t seen Flemington before. Front Page shouldn’t be slept on either after his win in the Kosciuszko – he’s got plenty of talent and is incredibly genuine when fit.

Selections: 1. Nature Strip, 2. Bella Nipotina, 3. Roch ‘N’ Horse, 4. September Run

Champions Mile

Boy, have we got a race here in this new-concept WFA race over 1600m.

We start with the Cox Plate because it’s always the best form, and here we see Alligator Blood and Mr Brightside coming from it, where they were both beaten just over two lengths. Both horses are Group 1 winners at a mile and are better suited at this trip than they were at the toughest 2040m in the land.

Alligator Blood has been up for a while now considering he raced in Queensland over winter, but he’s as tough as teak, just how Gai Waterhouse has always trained them to be. He’ll set the pace and once again give his backers a huge sight.

Mr Brightside has been beaten around two and a half lengths at his last three Group 1 WFA assignments against the best horses in the country. They were all at between 1800m and 2040m, but 1600m will be much more to his liking. The fact he’s fifth favourite is simply remarkable, which also says what depth there is in this race.

Cascadian tackled the likes of Alligator Blood and I’m Thunderstruck earlier in the campaign at this track and distance, where he was well held by both. He’s since gone up for a couple of soft kills against the B-graders in Sydney but will struggle again now.

Private Eye is the favourite, and well he might be. If the Cox Plate is the premier WFA form for a range of distances between a mile and 3200m – as proven by Gold Trip in the Melbourne Cup – then the Everest is exactly that for the sprinter/milers. And Private Eye allows us to test both sets against each other.

The most underrated thing in racing is how many horses improve between the age of four and five, and he is another example of it. Despite winning the Epsom and running second in the Stradbroke last season, he’s progressed further this prep, with two dominant wins on either side of his Everest second.

My Oberon brings the X factor and is hard in the market. He has his first start in the country at Moonee Valley and took out the Crystal Mile in a few strides. The official margin was 1.5 lengths, but it felt like five it was so effortless and impressive. However, a heavy Moonee Valley track against C-graders is a different scenario from a good Flemington against the best Australia has to offer.

(Photo by Violeta Pencheva via Unsplash)

Tuvalu won the Toorak Handicap last time out after being third in the Rupert Clarke. He has never finished out of the placings and only once out of the quinella, yet you’ll probably get $15 about him.

Selections: 1. Private Eye, 2. Mr Brightside, 3. Alligator Blood, 4. Tuvalu

Champions Stakes

Here we go again. Another clash between Anamoe, I’m Thunderstruck and Zaaki over a mile and a quarter, their third such meeting in the last month, with barely a length between them each time. This is how it should be.

Anamoe has reigned supreme in the first two. He wobbled around Caulfield in the Caulfield Stakes yet picked them up as he needed to by the line, and in the Cox Plate he wasn’t ridden pretty but was ridden to win – a mission he accomplished. He’s drawn perfectly again, just as he was in those two races.

Winners win, and that’s what Anamoe is. The margins haven’t been Winx-like this campaign, but he’s won with authority each time. Can the others beat him? Yes. But that’s exactly what they’ll have to do, because he won’t beat himself or give it away.

I’m Thunderstruck was in front of Anamoe in the Caulfield Stakes until the shadows of the post, and in the Cox Plate he came from several lengths behind him to almost get there. It will be fascinating to see what he can do positioned in the midfield rather than handy or out the back. From barrier eight, Mark Zahra should get that chance if he can see straight after his Melbourne Cup celebrations.

Zaaki will of course be up the front, doing it the tough way, knowing the others have the drop on him. It’s not an easy task anywhere with the calibre of horse chasing him, but it’s harder still at Flemington.

Zaaki probably needs close to a perfect ride to win and a track that isn’t against him. He didn’t get the first at Caulfield, where Jamie Kah probably didn’t go hard enough, and he certainly didn’t get the second at Moonee Valley, where the inside was off by the Cox Plate and barrier one was more of a disadvantage. He’s got the inside again here.

Can anything else win?

Mo’unga needs a firm deck to compete against the best. He’s seen only three in the last 12 months for second placings in the Underwood and Futurity, plus a third to Zaaki in this race last year.

Hinged is a very good mare who ran superbly in the Golden Eagle, but frankly it would have been better to see her stablemate Fangirl in this race instead. Promote Hinged if it’s wet.

How good to see a couple of three-year-olds fronting up here too. Look for Mr Maestro to go forward and sit off Zaaki after he had to go back from wide in the Derby. Elliptical should do the same after he raced handy in the Spring Champion, and Craig Williams will know it. They’ll use their light weight and try to take advantage of the 51 kilograms on their back.

Selections: 1. Anamoe, 2. I’m Thunderstruck, 3. Zaaki, 4. Mo’unga