Monday Rewind: a state-by-state analysis on who to circle, who to bin
CAULFIELD Guineas Day is always one of great emotion where dreams are smashed and expectations rocket sky high depending on how the cards fall.
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CAULFIELD Guineas Day never fails to deliver and Saturday was no exception.
Godolphin’s appalling strike-rate in Melbourne didn’t go unnoticed, while Team Hayes rolled another promising two-year-old off its Lindsay Park production line.
For Darren Weir it was all about going the distance as the respected trainer picked up a Group 1 double with his runners finally getting out to their preferred distance range.
And, of course, there was the Boss man and for once we’re not talking G. Boss as Mick Price’s colt Mighty Boss caused a minor sensation when he stole the Caulfield Guineas at crazy odds.
They’re all part of our latest edition of Monday Rewind as we look back at an amazing weekend that saw the introduction of the exciting Everest sprint concept to our racing calendar.
GUIDE: TICKETS TO MELBOURNE CUP CARNIVAL
Chris Vernuccio (Herald Sun)
CAULFIELD
BLITZED
Mighty Boss: Christmas came early for connections after Mick Price’s colt stole the Caulfield Guineas. The race was Kementari’s to win but the Godolphin colt laid in at a crucial stage and that was enough for Mighty Boss and jockey Michael Walker to capitalise.
Invincible Star: She flew from barrier 17, peeling off a 10.32sec 200m split from the 1000m followed by a 11.17sec split between the 800-600m and there was no stopping the three-year-old filly, who led all the way to bolt in by four lengths. Outstanding judgment by jockey Stephen Baster and the win was perfectly summed up by trainer Gai Waterhouse: “Everyone gets the heebie jeebies when they get an outside gate but they’re the best of the lot, particularly if you have good gate speed like she has”.
BLUNDERED
Alizee: The filly continued Godolphin’s horrible strike-rate in Melbourne. She should have won the Thousand Guineas easily on her on Flight Stakes win but the $2.15 hotpot couldn’t reproduce her blistering finish. Stewards reported a throat condition but how many excuses can a stable have? Hartnell was poor again — his brutal second-up run may have flattened him — while Jorda had consecutive flops.
Legless Veuve: Punters couldn’t get enough of her early in the day but the mare worryingly eased in betting prior to her sixth-placed finish in the race 3. She underwent a pre-race vet examination, raced flat and was later discovered to be lame.
HOT
Team Hayes 2YOs: Produced another juvenile winner with Qafila. The win was more impressive than the narrow margin after the Not A Single Doubt filly was tardy out of the barrier and Damien Oliver was forced to make up ground early but still ran the fastest last 600, 400 and 200.
Darren Weir: Group 1 double for the state’s No. 1 trainer with Gailo Chop well-supported to win the Caulfield Stakes and Tosen Stardom showing his class in the Toorak Handicap.
Aloisia: Surprise winner of the Thousand Guineas, and she continues to firm for the Oaks.
NOT
Bonneval: Get-back tactics weren’t unexpected with the big prize this Saturday. Damien Lane began weaving her through the field under a hold but she hit the wall at the 200m. Was found to be lame in the near-side foreleg and also had a wound to her offside hind, which leaves some concern over her soundness for the Caulfield Cup.
Dwayne Dunn: He said all the right things last week how he wanted to ride Royal Symphony in the Caulfield Guineas but didn’t follow his own script. Royal Symphony jumped cleanly but Dunn showed little urgency and gave the colt an insurmountable task back of the field. This wasn’t a vintage Guineas field either, so it was no surprise he got held up behind a wall of horses going backwards.
Team Williams: Easier to solve a rubrics cube than to work out when to back their runners.
Sheidel: Flat following a tough run in the Moir Stakes.
HORSES TO FOLLOW
Aloisia, Religify, Vega Magic, In Her Time
SACK
Egg Tart, Legless Veuve, Attention, Hartnell
Michael Manley (Herald Sun)
CAULFIELD
BLITZED
Tosen Stardom, 1st Toorak Handicap, carried 57.5kg, covered more ground than any of his rivals yet flew home running his last 400m of 23.52sec with a big weight of 57kg after sitting wide throughout.
THE EYE CATCHER
Johannes Vermeer, 2nd Caulfield Stakes, his last 400m was in 23.39sec which .66sec faster than the next best closing sectional.
He peeled off 11.14sec for the 200m between the 400m and the 200m which was the fastest turn of closing speed in any race over 1200m for the meeting.
HOT
Invincible Star, 1st Thoroughbred Club Stakes, she carved out a 200m sectional of 10.32sec between the 1000m and the 800m, which was the fastest sectional for the meeting. Amazingly she kept on going and in fact kicked away.
NOT
Oregon’s Day, 5th Weekend Hussker Stakes, trapped on a limb throughout yet still was only beaten a length and a half. She ran 13 metres further than the winner Fast ‘n’ Rocking.
Something to help with the Monday blues, The @tabcomau Everest! REDZEL @SnowdenRacing1 @jmeharron @TripleCrownSynd https://t.co/trsquZUV9H
— Australian Turf Club (@atc_races) October 15, 2017
Shayne O’Cass (The Daily Telegraph)
ROYAL RANDWICK
BLITZED
Kerrin McEvoy. He rode his second Melbourne Cup winner this time last year then on Saturday he gave the inaugural The Everest winner, Redzel, an absolutely faultless ride. Humble to a fault, McEvoy disproves the adage that nice guys finish last.
BLUNDERED
It gives us no pleasure to single out Blake Shinn, he’s a personal favourite, but oh dear — Happy Clapper. It’s easy from the grandstand but why wasn't he running 4th, 5th close fence where the best going was?
HOT
Big Duke. Why can’t he win the Melbourne Cup? He’s such a clean-winded horse, he stays, he races handy, he fights, he’s trained by the Weir and the Gun would probably ride. Interesting that 11 St Leger winners have gone on to the win the Cup. Maybe the Duke is number 12.
NOT
Mackintosh, McCreery. They have done really well down here and won their connections a lot of money but they have cost their followers a bit too in that time.
HORSES TO FOLLOW
Stunts, Acquire, Yulong Xingsheng, Big Duke, Impending, Accepted
Lincoln Moore (The Advertiser)
MORPHETTVILLE
BLITZED
Savaheat’s trainer Darren Weir would have been happen to cop the $200 fine for the late gear alteration with the blinkers going on the four start maiden before he smashed rivals in the Hill Smith Stakes. Looks an emerging stayer.
BLUNDERED
All Come True was a big drifter in the Hill Smith Stakes and ran accordingly beaten almost 14 lengths.
HOT
Lope De Capio is flying and booked a Melbourne trip with his second successive feature win in the Durbridge Stakes.
NOT
Nodoubtaboutit jumped slowly form the inside and gave rivals a big start while jockey Chris Caserta was given a three meetings suspension for his ride aboard the mare for causing interference.
HORSES TO FOLLOW
My Unicorn hit the line well
Tropical Lightning will win again shortly back in class
War Thunder ran well first-up for John Cornell
Weather Channel was doing his best work late
Senor Gaudi will be winning shortly
Danish Gold Digger stewards questioned the ride for good reason could have finished a lot closer in the last.
Nathan Exelby (The Courier Mail)
DOOMBEN
BLITZED
Corey Brown, In Her Time, Randwick, Race 7: Potentially sticky alley, but found a perfect trailing position and ensured a trouble free run from there.
BACK
Impending, Randwick, Race 7: Super return by the Stradbroke winner, who should be hard to beat in the Manikato and/or Darley now.
Tulip, Randwick, Race 8: $101 into $51 and finished off strongly. Back to 3yo grade, she will take tossing next time.
Emphasis, Doomben, Race 7: Might have come up just one run short, but relished getting to the mile second up and gave a big sight.
SACK
Attention, Caulfield, Race 5: Not doing himself (or others) any favours with how fierce he is racing. Might not want to be a racehorse at the moment.
Sheidel, Caulfield, Race 10: Looked to have the right run in front but was found wanting. The Moir form looks suspect when you consider the Everest run of She Will Reign.
Libran, Randwick, Race 6: Big win two starts back but has lacked the same dash in two since.
MARKETS
CAULFIELD CUP
SATURDAY
$5 Bonneval
$6.50 Amelie’s Star
$7 Humidor
$8 Johannes Vermeer, Admire Deus
$10 Harlem, Ventura Storm
$12 Inference
$14 Jon Snow
$21 Wall Of Fire, Abbey Marie, Single Gaze
$26+ Others
VICTORIA DERBY
NOVEMBER 4
$6 Main Stage
$7.50 Ace High
$9 Tangled
$9.50 Tavistock Abbey
$11 Johnny Vinko, Sully
$12 Villermont, Royal Symphony, Cliff’s Edge
$13 Sanctioned, Salsamor
$15 Holy Snow
$16+ Others
Odds: UBET
THIS WEEK
Tuesday: Grafton, Kyneton
Wednesday: Ipswich, Canterbury, Caulfield, Port Lincoln, Northam, Launceston
Thursday: Mackay, Kembla Grange, Moe
Friday: Beaudesert, Taree, Pakenham (night), Warrnambool, Murray Bridge, Canberra
Saturday: Doomben, Randwick, Caulfield, Morphettville (Parks), Ascot, Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Rockhampton, Newcastle, Bendigo, Hobart, Darwin
Sunday: Sunshine Coast, Wyong, Nowra, Mornington, Seymour, Bordertown, Bunbury
THE QUOTE
“I reckon the Moir run might have taken the edge off her.”
— Corey Brown on the Everest run of the well-backed She Will Reign.
THE TALKING POINT
The Everest. A roaring success that showed racing still has the capacity to draw a wider audience with new and innovative ideas.
Well-backed Spione gets the cash with a barnstorming win
Co-trainer Michael Hawkes has always liked Spione and feels the lightly-raced four-year-old can go onto better things after he scored his third wins from five starts at Randwick.
Gunnedah preview, tips: Fred backing-up in search of Cup success
Trainer Scott Singleton enjoyed a couple of milestone moments last weekend including his 400th training win with Fiorsum Fred who is a leading chance in the Gunndedah Cup.