We're lucky to have Atlantic Jewel

I hadn’t taken five strides after Saturday’s Memsie Stakes before five different people had asked me who would win out of Black Caviar and Atlantic Jewel?

Atlantic Jewel

I hadn’t taken five strides after Saturday’s Memsie Stakes before five different people had asked me who would win out of Black Caviar and Atlantic Jewel?

What a contest, presumably over 1400 metres, between the winner of 25 out of 25 and the absolutely dominant Atlantic Jewel who had just returned after 16 months off and spreadeagled a class Group One field to take her record to eight out of eight.

Sitting on the fence is not my usual position, but how do you make a call? Without overstating the obvious, how lucky are we, particularly the racegoers of Melbourne, to have two such outstanding mares racing at almost the same time.

I just don’t back horses who are coming back to racing after a long lay off, particularly after a tendon problem, and the praise for her trainer Mark Kavanagh cannot be overstated.

It was the equal of Tommy Smith bringing back Tulloch after a two year break to beat Lord by a nose over 2000m at weight-for-age at Flemington in 1960. Old men with long memories are quick to recall the Tulloch win. Our sons and grandsons will remember Atlantic Jewel.

I backed Fiorente to beat Atlantic Jewel in the Memsie. As it turned out he could not have beaten the mare with a head start, but, despite missing the jump, I think he would have still run second if he had not been squeezed out of a run between Ferlax and Happy Trails in the home straight.

Gai Waterhouse would have been excited by Fiorente’s effort and so too team Williams be more than happy of the eye-catching run of the Melbourne Cup winner Green Moon. Ferlax, Super Cool and It’s A Dundeel also turned in runs to keep their fires burning for the rest of the Spring.

What a fabulous race was pioneered about a dozen years ago when Evan Sperling, the former STC Director, came up with the idea of the Golden Rose, a race for the STC to Challenge the AJC races in the Spring for notoriety just as the Golden Slipper had challenged the premier club in the Autumn.

Of course with just one club these days competition is a distant memory and, with hindsight, I am now positive the forced amalgamation of the STC and the AJC to form the ATC was one of the worst decisions in Australian racing history.

Is the Sydney lead-up form to this year’s Golden Rose any good or are we just faced with an even bunch of handy gallopers? That question should be answered on September 14 if the two Melbourne topliners, Fast’N’Rocking and Prince Harada, come to Rosehill.

Although Randwick seems to be the ATC’s priority it is not all downhill at Rosehill.

The Winning Post Restaurant at Rosehill, even with the millions spent at Randwick, is the best designed eating place on a Sydney racetrack and I congratulate the ATC catering staff on the introduction of a new “Steak House” at Rosehill which is open to both the members and the public.

The prices are reasonable, the food first rate and there is a beeper system which allows you to go and watch the races or go to the bar and be paged when your food is ready.

Who came up with the idea at Racing NSW of holding race meetings at Rosehill and Hawkesbury on the same Saturday? The two tracks are only a half hour apart and surely it would have been smarter to hold a Hawkesbury meeting when Randwick is on.

It was good to see Miss Finland’s Hussonet colt Woodbine win at Hawkesbury, but it would have been disturbing for the club to see all runners having to treat the rails as a no go zone on a track listed as a Good 3. 

When Serg Lisnyy won on Winning Glory over 1800m at Rosehill two weeks ago he opened up a big lead and ran his first 1200m in 1m12.21s. Why then on Saturday the change in tactics to hold him back to the field and run the first 1200m over two seconds slower?

RIDE OF THE DAY

Nathan Berry on Va Pensiero. It is not just T.Berry who can ride in this family.

RUN OF THE DAY

Prince Cheri. A future topliner who was aided by a great J.Ford ride.

FORGET IT RAN

Altius. You cannot cover as much ground as he did on a normal track, let alone one with a bias in favour of the rails.