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Mitch Cohen’s Blackbook: Five to follow from The Hunter day

Racenet’s Mitch Cohen has analysed all the action from last Saturday’s $1 million The Hunter card at Newcastle.

Mitch Cohen
4 min read
November 17, 2024 - 12:07PM
Townsend (red) was a terrific all the way winner at Newcastle. Picture: Jeremy Ng-Getty Images
Townsend (red) was a terrific all the way winner at Newcastle. Picture: Jeremy Ng-Getty Images

Briasa enhanced his status as one of Sydney’s most exciting young sprinters while Kris Lees snared his first Max Lees Classic with Gobi Desert.

Last Saturday’s annual stand-alone The Hunter meeting had a better of everything and Racenet’s Mitch Cohen has run the rule over all the action.

FIVE TO FOLLOW

BUFFALO (Race 1)

Slowly away and then caught in traffic in the early part of the straight, this David Atkins-trained galloper hit the line well on debut. This race has been contested by the likes of Cylinder and Erno’s Cube in recent years so he looks to have a bright future.

TOWNSEND (Race 6)

He came into this preparation having not raced for a year but has come back in top order. The son of Dundeel produced a dazzling frontrunning display second up and is worth following this preparation.

FRENCH RULER (Race 7)

The winner Snitzanova deserves plenty of credit after racing three-deep and battling on but there John Sargent’s gelding certainly has upside. He was jumping from 1200m to the mile and only just missed.

NAVAL COLLEGE (Race 9)

With more luck in the straight he probably wins The Beauford. He’s going well and given that was only his second up run, you’d expect to see him feature in the summer Cups in coming weeks.

SPANGLER (Race 10)

Got back to last in a leader dominated race before making up good ground closest to the fence to finish just off four lengths off Uzziah. It was his first run for quite some time and he’s always shown good improvement second up.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

STEWARDS SAY

Hopeful (Race 6): Tired badly from the 600m after racing wide. Was found to be displaying cardiac arrhythmia for the first time post-race.

The Three Hundred (Race 7): Found to be 2/5 lame behind after quickly in the Spring Stakes. Will require veterinary clearance before racing or trialling again.

Iceman (Race 7): Fractious in the barrier and rear before losing six lengths. He will now be spelled but has to trial to the satisfaction of stewards before racing again.

Private Eye (Race 8): Jockey Jay Ford said he did not show any speed was required to race back in the field. Ford added he took time to respond to riding, giving the impression he was looking for further.

Far Too Easy (Race 8): Came under heavy pressure straightening and did not responded to riding from that point. No abnormalities were found post-race but stewards will follow up on his post-race recovery.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

CRUNCH TIME

Melody Again (Race 5): Settled in the last pair before getting to the middle of the track and motoring home with a last 600m of 33.27, nearly a second faster than the winner Watch My Girl (34.19).

French Ruler (Race 7): Only had two runners behind him at the 600m mark before finishing off in 34.79 seconds from there. He only just missed behind Snitzanova.

Briasa (Race 8): Forced to do things the hard way when caught three-deep in the Hunter, he finished his last 600m in 33.99 seconds to win the feature. Only Private Eye (33.88) was faster.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

TRACK TALK

“He’s a really nice horse, he should be unbeaten, and he’s got a bright future.” John Hawkes on Briasa.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he is a Group 1 horse, he has ample talent.” Tyler Schiller on Briasa.

“I’ve tried a few times to win this race, we’ve had the odd placing, so it’s great to finally win it.” Kris Lees after winning the Max Lees Classic.

“He is very strong. I don’t think we would have many stronger jockeys here today.” Johann Gerard-Dubord on Dylan Browne McMonagle after Snitzanova’s win.

“It’s incredible, when you bring horses down from Queensland there is always the digs but I knew this horse was more than capable of winning a race like this,” Corey Geran after winning the Beauford with Nikau Spur.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

YOU CAN BET ON IT

Spring Stakes

Snitzanova was third best backed despite being on the fifth line of betting with TAB. A bet of $3000 @ $6.50 landed on the filly.

The Hunter

Briasa and Private Eye held more than half of TAB investments with the winner taking 30 per cent.

Bigs bets on Briasa included $5500 @ $3.20, $4500 @ $2.80, $4000 @ $2.80, $3100 @ $3, $3000 @ $3.10 and multiple, $2000 bets between $2.90 and $3.20.

The Beauford

Nikau Spur opened at $15 but the price was immediately snapped up by punters. He jumped as a $6.50 hope with around 10 per cent of the TAB hold. Race favourite Wyclif had around a third of the hold but failed to fire.

Best bets on Nikau Spur were several $1000 outlays between $6.50, $7 and $7.50.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

THE SCHEDULE

Monday: Armidale, Goulburn

Tuesday: Ballina, Scone

Wednesday: Canterbury Park

Thursday: Hawkesbury, Albury

Friday: Grafton, Orange, Bong Bong

Saturday: Kembla Grange, Wyong, Inverell, Hay, Bowraville, Adaminaby

Sunday: Narromine, Canberra

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

RON DUFFICY’S NEWCASTLE SNAPSHOT

RUN OF THE DAY

Briasa certainly lived up to the big boom and market expectation winning the $1 million Hunter.

He didn’t get things his own way doing a bit of work early with no cover but he was great and is a very exciting prospect for next autumn.

FORGET THEY RAN 

Everything was looking good for Naval College before the run he was taking between runners closed stopping him in his tracks.

He would have win if he got through.

THE BLACKBOOK

Tricky to identify horses to follow moving as it was flattering being on the fence most of the day.

Give a big tick to those horses that covered ground and stuck on well.

RIDE OF THE DAY

Most winners travelled on pace from inside draws so from an outer draw Jason Collett rated Watch My Girl perfectly to get across without much effort.

Originally published as Mitch Cohen’s Blackbook: Five to follow from The Hunter day

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