A Timely win in the Black Caviar Lightning & Winx Big 30

Approaching the finishing post in the Black Caviar Lightning

When I got on the bus to go to Clifton Hill railway station, a couple of fractious passengers were bristling with aggro over nothing much and looked as if they could get into fisticuffs. The driver threatened to throw them off the bus, so they settled down, thank goodness, and the rest of the journey passed without incident.

At Flemington all was peace, love, happiness and Woodstock Nation, a festive atmosphere typical of race meetings, where even children are catered for with various fun activities.

I arrived at the track at around 1.30pm and managed to get my step past the gates, as there was no security check point at the Railway entrance, though my friend George had to resort to subterfuge to get his ladder through security at the car park entrance.

The contestants for Race 3 were parading in the mounting yard, but after hiding my step behind the rose bushes near my favourite spot just past the finishing post, I headed to the stalls area to see who had arrived and gave that race a miss.

Living Legends Apache Cat and Silent Witness were the special equine guests for the meeting and were being pampered in their stalls.

Apache Cat

Silent Witness

I was particularly interested in seeing More Sundays, a son of the wonderful mare More Joyous sired by Fastnet Rock.

More Sundays

More Sundays has only had three starts for one win, and so far has hardly lived up to his illustrious breeding.

Sunlight arrived whilst I was in the stalls area, so I grabbed a photo of her in her stall.

Sunlight

As the next race was yet another Blue Diamond build up race, the Talindert Stakes, named for the property where famous steeplechaser Crisp was born, and owned by Sir Chester Manifold, I headed back to my spot on the access gate to photograph the race and pretty well stayed there for the rest of the afternoon.

Microphone, last seen running second to I Am Immortal in the Blue Diamond Preview, was the starting favourite for the Talindert, and he delivered in spades, winning by over two lengths from Talented and Charleise.

Microphone then daylight winning the Talindert Stakes

Microphone returns to scale

As you can see the light was perfect for taking photos. It was a warm sunny day but not exceptionally hot.

Race 5 was the Group 3 Vanity Stakes,  a race for three year old fillies over 1400 metres.

Fundamentalist was the favourite, but she was relegated to third by the former Darren Weir trained stablemates Amphitrite and Verry Elleegant. Amphitrite is now with the David Hayes stable and Verry Elleegant with Chris Waller.

The result struck me as a natural trifecta, not that I had any money on the race.

Vanity finish – Amphitrite is outside Fundamentalist with Verry Elleegant behind

Amphitrite on her way to the barriers

Verry Elleegant returns to scale

Fundamentalist on her way to the barriers

The handy thing about the step is that you can sit on it in between races, and this I did, mildly amused by the Sumo wrestling activity near the access gate. Yes, I was in the Kids Zone and the theme was Chinese New Year.

The sumo wrestling involved kids donning cumbersome sumo suits and facing off against each other. The kid who managed to topple its opponent and hold them down for the count of five, was the victor.

Sumo wrestling – droll amusement

Race 6 was the not terribly interesting Hong Kong Jockey’s Club Trophy, an open race over 1600 metres.

Heptagon was the pre race favourite, but he ended out of a place in fourth. The race was won by 10/1 shot Thunder Cloud from Antah and Mr Money Bags.

Thunder Cloud & Antah cross the line together with Mr Money Bags behind them

Thunder Cloud on his way to the barriers

Antah on his way to the barriers

Mr Money Bags returns to scale

By the time race 6 was run and won, there was a quarter of an hour until Winx’s first race of the season was set to run, so stowing my step behind the rose bushes, I headed closer to the big screen to watch the Apollo Stakes.

Randwick appeared to be packed with Winx fans, and a familar cheer greeted her as she moved onto the track. The race was like many that we have seen before with Winx running mid field, one off the inside rail. Of course she cruised to the front shortly after the field turned into the straight and went on to win her 30th consecutive race effortlessly and in doing so broke the course record. Happy Clapper ran second and Winx’s stablemate Egg Tart filled third place.

Watching the race on the Flemington public lawn with several other interested observers we cheered her to the post as if we were at Randwick in person.

Back in Spring I witnessed Tasmanian filly Mystic Journey win two races in impressive fashion and the C S Hayes Stakes resulted in a win by a fellow Tasmanian, The Inevitable, at big odds.

What do they put in the water?

Only a little fellow like his sire Dundeel, The Inevitable fought out the finish with New Zealand bred Age of Chivalry with O’tauto running third two lengths in arrears.

The Inevitable and Age of Chivalry cross the finish line together

The Inevitable returns to scale

Age of Chivalry on his way to the barriers

O’tauto on his way to the barriers

The Inevitable’s next race is the Group 1 Australian Guineas on 2 March, where he will be up against the classy Mystic Journey, who has had two starts for two wins in her own State so far this autumn.

The feature Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning was up next and fortunately the runners raced in a bunch down the centre of the track. Sunlight briefly hit the front at 300 mark but was overtaken by In Her Time and Osborne Bulls. She hung on to run third, less than a length from the first two home.

In Her Time returns to scale

Osborne Bulls returns to scale

Sunlight returns to scale with Written By

I headed for the station after the Black Caviar Lightning and made it home, one and a half hours later.

This coming Saturday features three Group 1 races at Caulfield including the Blue Diamond Stakes. Always a good day’s racing I’m looking forward to attending.

Cats Rule! Group 1 Racing at Caulfield

Jungle Cat  on his way to the barriers prior to winning the Rupert Clarke Stakes

Was it an omen that the first horse I saw when walking into Caulfield Racecourse last Saturday was Apache Cat, in light of the feature event, later in the afternoon being won by another cat, in this case the Irish sprinter Jungle Cat?

Apache Cat was there as the special guest from Living Legends and corralled in the kids zone, where I paused to take a photo.

Apache Cat

It was by chance that I passed by the popular Living Legend as my time of arrival coincided with the start of Race 3,  where Blue Diamond Stakes winner Written By kicked off his spring campaign with a win.

Written By returns to scale after winning the Skyline Education Foundation Plate

Written By hasn’t started since running fourth in the Golden Slipper Stakes back in March, so it’s pleasing that the handsome colt is back on the scene in good form.

The feature race on Saturday at Caulfield was the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes, a sprint over 1400 metres. It was scheduled as Race 8, so there were four other races to watch before it was run.

Race 4 was the Living Legends Handicap, a race for mares over 1400 metres.

Again it was a pleasing result where class mare Tulip was victorious, beating Shoko by a narrow margin, with Mamzelle Tess running third.

Just past the post in the Living Legends Handicap

Tulip returns to scale

Shoko on her way to the barriers

Mamzelle Tess on her way to the barriers

As it was an alternate weekend, the afternoon was mild and sunny, quite a contrast to the ghastly weather at Flemington last week, and the light was excellent for photos.

A not particularly interesting race, the Grassroots Sports Club for Mirabel Handicap resulted in a win for Sydney based sprinter Spending To Win.  The highly regarded and previously unbeaten Eduardo was not disgraced running a close second and Bryan ran third.

Spending to Win on his way to the mounting yard

Eduardo on his way to the mounting yard

Bryan on his way to the mounting yard

Race 6 was the Aquis Jim Moloney Stakes for Pinchapoo, for three year old fillies over 1400 metres.  Tasmanian filly Mystic Journey upstaged the local girls, winning at big odds. Spanish Whisper and Tahitian Dancer filled the minor placings.

Just past the post in race 6 

Mystic Journey returns to scale

Next up was the Naturalism Stakes, considerably of more interest than the preceding races. It gives the winner ballot free entry into the Caulfield Cup, so a good field of stayers accepted for the 2000 metre event. The field included English stayer Folkswood, last seen in Australia in the 2017 where he won the Cranbourne Cup, then finished third to Winx in the Cox Plate.

Race favourite however was Night’s Watch who delivered in spades in quite spectacular fashion, running wide from the tail of the field to snatch victory from Rising Red and Odeon.

Naturalism Stakes just past the post

Night’s Watch returning to stalls after presentation

Rising Red on his way to the barriers

Odeon returns to scale

Folkswood after running on the pace for most of the race finished last, leaving his connections puzzled.

Folkswood on his way to the barriers

Finally it was time for the feature Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes. My photos of the finish were not worth saving, but I did get decent shots of the field as they headed to the barriers, though not all of them.

Jungle Cat, as previously mentioned, won the bickies. This was his first start in Australia, his previous start being in Dubai where he won the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint in March.

Home of the Brave was the starting favourite, but he finished out of a place in fourth.  Runner up was long shot Dollar for Dollar and the well fancied Land of Plenty finished third.

Jungle Cat returns to scale

Mid afternoon I took time out to watch the other feature race of the day, which was the Golden Rose at Rosehill.  The Chris Waller trained The Autumn Sun was the outstanding winner, swooping from the back of the field to overtake his stablemate Zousain with race favourite Graff finishing third. 

I’m looking forward to seeing The Autumn Sun racing in Melbourne in the Caulfield Guineas next month. He arrived in Melbourne yesterday with stablemates Winx, Youngstar, Invincibella and Another Dollar.

I didn’t tarry after the Rupert Clarke and headed home despite the next race being quite interesting with a super field of mares competing. It was won by Winter Bride from Ellicazoom.

Next weekend the races in Melbourne are at Caulfield again, but run on Sunday so as not to clash with the AFL Grand Final. The Group 1 Underwood Stakes is the feature with a good support card that includes two Guineas Preludes.

In fact it is a super weekend of races with Moonee Valley kicking off their Friday night meetings with the Group 1 Moir Stakes, and Sydney featuring three Group 1 races on the Saturday.

A final photo before I close this post of ravens in flight, captured at Caulfield during a lull in proceedings. I’ve been trying to get such a photo for ages, so I’m glad the opportunity presented itself when I had a camera in hand.

Ravens in flight – ragged silhouettes in the blue sky

Aurie’s Star Voodoo

Voodoo Lad overtakes Home Of The Brave to win the Aurie’s Star Handicap

Last Saturday dawned cold and rainy, and certainly didn’t look at all promising for attending the race meeting at Flemington. I almost didn’t go, but as the weather cleared late morning I decided I needed an outing, so headed off in time to catch the final train to Flemington at Southern Cross Station.

Reaching the course just after Race 3, I headed  for the stalls area to see if I could get a photo of Home Of The Brave, having his first start in Australia in the feature race, where he was the starting favourite.

The first equine stars I came across were the Living Legends representatives for the day, Apache Cat and Rogan Josh.

 
Apache Cat

Rogan Josh

Moving on I came across I Am A Star, who was  kicking off her Spring campaign in the Aurie’s Star…

I Am A Star

….and eventually found Home Of The Brave.

Home Of The Brave

The weather at Flemington during the afternoon was alternately sunny and overcast, and fortunately didn’t rain other than a light passing shower, but it wasn’t all that cold.

Returning trackside I paused to snap a photo of the new Members Stand, which during the Autumn racing season was a building site. It’s now almost finished.

New Members Stand

The wide open spaces of Flemington were sparsely populated so I had no trouble taking photos from my favourite spot just past the finishing post. Other than the changing light conditions the other challenge was getting rail free photos with the inside rail being out by 7 metres.

I stayed for four races, the first of these being Race 4, the Rhonda Sexton Handicap, a race over 1400 metres for mares. The oddly named Spanner Head was the winner, with Violent Snow and Chiavari running second and third.

Race 5 was a sprint over 1200 metres and Choisborder turned out to be the first of four consecutive Darren Weir trained winners of the afternoon.

Choisborder hits the front in Race 5

Race favourite Gold Mag ran second and longshot (60/1) The Card Players was third.

Choisborder returns to scale

The Darren Allsop Handicap, a race over 2000 metres was up next.  It was of interest owing to the presence of various imported stayers, notably Sir Edwin Landseer having his first start in Australia.

Sir Edwin Landseer on his way to the barriers

The race was won by The Statesman from Fontein Lad and I Boogi.

A dark photo of the finish shows The Statesman taking the lead from I Boogi (pink silks)

The Statesman returns to scale

As the feature race next to jump I decided to get some mounting yard photos of the contenders. The Aurie’s Star Handicap is a Group 3 race run over 1200 metres. A pretty good field made it interesting.

Home Of The Brave – second

Voodoo Lad – the winner

Brave Song – third

I Am A Star – fourth

Home Of The Brave led the field for most of the race, but he was overtaken close to the finish line by Voodoo Lad who swooped from the back the field to win by ¾ length, with Brave Song finishing third 2¼ lengths behind.

I called it quits after the Aurie’s Star and headed for the station. A thunder storm was threatening as I left, but I managed to get home without getting wet.

Last Saturday’s race meeting was quite enjoyable and it was pleasant to be back at Flemington, but next week offers a much more interesting race card at Caulfield where a number of horsey stars will be resuming in the feature P B Lawence Stakes.

And in Sydney at Randwick, the mighty Winx will be the star attraction, kicking off her Spring in the race named in her honour – the first Group 1 race of the season.