Thursday, May 06, 2010

Autumn Racing Season 2010 – The Carnival is Over

Jessicabeel winning the 2010 Sydney Cup
Well, the autumn racing carnival is over for this year and as usual it was as exciting and as interesting as former years with new stars of the turf emerging into the spotlight and older stars fading out into retirement or the breeding barn.

Unlike former years however, there were no standout performers other than Typhoon Tracy who managed to win three group one races in succession. No other horse managed that, though some smart three year olds carved out a name for themselves. For a change young stayers were to the fore, Shoot Out for example who will certainly be worth watching in the spring, along with Faint Perfume, Once Were Wild, Exceptionally, Linton and Rundle.

The autumn two year olds were an exceptional bunch, with the fillies doing very well against the boys. Whether they can carry over their form into their three year old season is another matter. I’ll be following the fortunes of Star Witness, Crystal Lily, Military Rose, Shaaheq, to name a few.

Jessicabeel kept the flag flying for the females, and Zabeel’s claim to fame as a sire of stayers, by taking out the Sydney Cup from Divine Rebel and Harris Tweed. Zavite and Precedence totally stuffed up their chances by over racing in the early stages of the race. Jessicabeel is certainly another serious contender for the Melbourne Cup judging by the way she won the Sydney Cup, coming from near last to overtake Divine Rebel close to the line with an impressive sprint.

So the spring season is looking like it might be one of the best and who knows who may emerge as the star performer. Typhoon Tracy will be campaigning again for the Cox Plate. Here’s hoping she will compete in the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes at Moonee Valley in September, so I can get to see her in the flesh, but if she follows the Liston, Craiglee path she probably won’t.

Meanwhile, the Queensland Winter Carnival will keep race fans interested until then. Graceful Anna will be running again this coming weekend in a Listed 1200 metre race for fillies and mares on the Gold Coast, and hopefully will have better luck than on her last run where she came third on a bog track. Also of interest is the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes over 1800 metres, which has classy field that includes Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Road To Rock and other good performers, Metal Bender, Rothera and Gold Water.

Update 8 May

Wow! How's that?
I managed to tip the first four in the Hollindale Stakes which resulted in Metal Bender holding off Road To Rock who beat Gold Water and Rothera ran into fourth place. A pity I did not follow my own tips and place a bet. It would have paid $460+

3 comments:

aliholli said...

Wooooo!!! I've just had a bet on the HOLLINDALE STAKES, well, I couldn't not really with a name like mine, haha. Rothera and Snapy Halo. xx

Anne S said...

Good Luck Ali, hope one of them comes in for you.

I think Road To Rock is the class horse, but then again it's a heavy track and anything could win.

aliholli said...

WOOOOOOOO well done! good predictions! Mine was a bit of a rushed bet and only a couple of pounds... Ive now read how good Metal Bender and Road to Rock are... I should have studied form a bit harder!(I got 4th though) xx