Weekend Hussler passed the distance test with flying colours on Saturday, winning the Underwood Stakes with panache after travelling three wide into a strong wind for most of the race. He has certainly added something special to the spring racing carnival – like watching racing history happening before one’s eyes. It reminds me of the years when Sunline was racing and how thrilling it was seeing her win over and over again, year after year.
Light Fantastic was another story. He failed woefully and seems a completely different horse from the one who won four races straight in the autumn. His connections have now decided that he obviously is not a stayer as they can find nothing wrong with the horse to account for his poor performance in his last two races.
My other super stable runners fared better than Light Fantastic. Sugar Babe achieved an unlucky third in the fillies’ Guineas prelude, and Time Thief was narrowly beaten into second place in the colt’s Guineas prelude, after expending enormous effort early in the race to take up a position close to the leaders.
As expected, Dorabella failed to win a place, starting as she did from the extreme outside gate. She did well to come seventh. She will be limited from now on to mares’ races, where she might have a chance of winning at group level. I may however substitute her for Tuesday Joy, who is a much classier mare and will be contesting the major spring races. I can easily afford the substitute, with my current stable virtual earnings being over a million dollars. The competition allows for seven subs, so I will have five left to purchase potential Melbourne Cup winners later in the season, when I will have to decide which horses to keep in my current stable, and which to retire.
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