Back to Caulfield Again–Underwood Stakes Day

2014 Underwood Stakes finish – Foreteller hits the front

Saturday is expected to be warm and sunny, perfect in fact for another fine afternoon of racing as the Spring Racing Carnival, literally and figuratively, heats up.

There are two Group 1 races on the program – Underwood Stakes and Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes – plus two Group 2 Guineas Preludes, one for the boys, the other for the fillies.

The fillies Thousand Guineas Prelude is scheduled as Race 5. It is run over 1400 metres and has a fabulous field of classy fillies. The main contenders are Pasadena Girl, Stay With Me, Jameka, Miss Gunpowder and Alaskan Rose. The first three above ran the trifecta at Moonee Valley in early September  in the Atlantic Jewel Stakes, with Stay With Me being the victor on that occasion,though Pasadena Girl’s run was the most eye catching.  Miss Gunpowder ran third to Petits Filous in the Quezette Stakes, then won her next race at Morphettville in her home state. Alaskan Rose is unbeaten in two starts and is highly regarded. It looks to be a doozy of a race.

Race 6 is the colts and geldings Guineas Prelude run over the same distance. It’s time for pretty boy Ready For Victory to live up to his name, after running second and third in his first two starts this season behind Gold Symphony on the first occasion and Kinglike in the second. Neither of these colts are entered for the Caulfield Guineas Prelude, so Ready For Victory has a very good chance of winning this time. However he’ll have to beat the Chris Waller trained Metallic Crown  who has two wins under his hat so far this season, and the Ciaran Maher trained Bon Aurum, also a last start winner . New Zealand colt Dal Cielo, trained by the wily Murray Baker, Snoopy who was unlucky in his start and Tulsa, could also feature in the finish.

The first of the Group 1 races on the program is the Underwood Stakes run over 1800 metres. Last year it was won by Foreteller from Happy Trails and the year before was the memorable duel between Atlantic Jewel and It’s A Dundeel with the latter being the victor.

It’s always a great race and a fab field has been assembled this year.  Fawkner is the top pick, if he can defy the Makybe Diva Stakes hoodoo and beat The Cleaner, who has drawn Barrier 1 which will enable him to take the lead without expending any energy. Who knows, the Longford Lion could leave them all in his wake, and at least assure an honestly run race. 

Contributer failed to impress at his last start running fifth behind The Cleaner in the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes. Perhaps he didn’t enjoy the tight Moonee Valley track, but could show his true colours at Caulfield. Whatever, dismiss him at your peril. The same goes for Dibayani who has run third behind The Cleaner in his last two starts.

Four year olds have a good record in this race and both Mongolian Khan and Volkstok’n’barrell are in that age bracket and have as good a chance as any in the field, though the Khan would prefer it longer. I’m interested to see how they go.

The Group 1  Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes is now incorporated in the program of Underwood Stakes day, previously being run on the Sunday after the AFL Grand Final. It makes more sense to run it with the Underwood Stakes and adds to the quality of the meeting.

It is run over 1400 metres and has a super field of middle distance runners.  As we’re now in the sign of Libra (ruled by Venus), you would think that Charmed Harmony is the perfect name for the Astrological season.  He has won his last four races leading boldly from start to finish, but faces much tougher opposition in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes with classy gallopers like Disposition, Cosmic Endeavour, Rich Enuff, Amicus, Strawberry Boy and Under The Louvre all being in the picture. The Venus influence could spread to Amicus and Amorino  with their names reflecting the Latin for love (amor).

In Sydney, everyone’s favourite race mare, Catkins, is having her second start for the season in the Golden Pendant in which she ran second to Arabian Gold last year. That mare is also in the field, as is Amanpour who relegated Catkins to second place twice in the autumn.  Cross fingers for Catkins to beat them this time round.

The Equinox on September 23, as well as heralding the warmer weather, also marks a royal birth. Black Caviar delivered her second foal on the night of the Equinox, a colt by Sebring.

There are some lovely photos of the new foal here.

Spring Racing - Moonee Valley

Contributer – Emirates Stakes Day - 2014

Tempus fugit! It seems hardly any time since last year’s Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes Stakes race meeting, yet the racing hiatus over winter seemed to drag on and on.

The vagaries of time notwithstanding, I’m looking forward to returning to Moonee Valley next Saturday for an afternoon of quality racing action.

The feature race is the aforementioned Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes Stakes a Group 2 event over 1600 metres. It has a much classier field than was presented at last year’s event and includes such quality gallopers as Contributer who won the Group 2 Apollo Stakes, the Group 1 Chipping Norton and Ranvet Stakes in successive starts in the autumn, and was raging favourite for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, before being a late scratching. He is the hot favourite for the Dato Tan and will be hard to beat.

The Cleaner won the Dato Tan last year, beating Mourinho and Foreteller, and these three are again in the field. Also worthy of consideration is Dibayani who looked good finishing third behind Mourinho and The Cleaner in the P B Lawrence Stakes recently, and Bagman who won at Moonee Valley at his last start.

A number of notable racehorses are resuming this week and the most keenly anticipated is that of Chautauqua in the McEwen Stakes, a Group 2 sprint over 1000 metres. Also in the field is Black Caviar’s three quarter sister Sistonic who started off her racing career in a promising fashion winning her first two starts, before failing in her consequent two.  She appears to have been thrown in at the deep end for her first start after a long break, but it will be interesting to see how she fares on Saturday.

Last year, the McEwen Stakes was won by Angelic Light from Lankan Rupee, who was the firm favourite. The Hawkes team reckon Chautauqua is vulnerable over 1000 metres and has also drawn a wide barrier.  He is the class horse in the field, but others with claims are the three year old Furnaces, Goodwood Stakes winner Flamberge and the Group 1 placed Kuro.

I intend arriving at Moonee Valley in plenty of time to watch race 5, the Listed  Atlantic Jewel Stakes for three year old fillies over 1200 metres. Some of the classy fillies resuming in this race are Group 1 winner Pasadena Girl, Jameka, Don’t Doubt Marley and Stay With Me, a daughter of former star filly Miss Finland. 

The weather tomorrow is expected to be dry and overcast, but hopefully the sun will peep through every so often. Some rain fell on Melbourne earlier in the week, but there’s been none since, so the track should be good for racing.

There are several interesting Group 2 races at Randwick tomorrow which I’ll try to watch at Moonee Valley, but I’m can’t be bothered analysing them here.

Back in September 2014 a royally bred colt, Divan, had his first few starts then disappeared from the scene after failing in his third through some sort of injury. I had been wondering when he would  return to racing and was pleased to notice that he has been entered in a lowly race in Ballarat on Sunday. He is a lovely looking horse, the son of champion New Zealand mare Seachange by Zabeel.

Divan at Flemington – Makybe Diva Stakes Day 2014

Anyway I’m keen to see how he performs first up after a year’s absence.

Gun (Jockeys) and Roses–Flemington Super Saturday Review

Brazen Beau returns to scale after winning the Newmarket Handicap

Saturday in Melbourne was set aside for the qualifying laps of the Melbourne Grand Prix, not something I am interested in.

So eschewing the rev of hotted up motors echoing through the metropolis, I headed out to Flemington for the thunder of hooves, and to smell roses rather than fuel.

I got to the track early on a surprisingly crowded train, arriving  around 12.40pm and stayed until the Australian Cup, which was run at 4.30pm. So it was a long day, but the time passed quickly as there was plenty of exciting racing action and pretty horses to view over the afternoon.

The title of this post refers to the winning doubles of jockeys Michael Walker and Joao Moreira who each rode one winner of the Group 1 races plus one other on the program.

And of course the roses were resplendent as you’d expect.

My arrival at the track was in plenty of time to watch race 2, the
MSS Security Stakes, wherein Brazilian born, Hong Kong hoop Joao Moreira booted home the first winner of his double. This happened to be  12/1 shot Pittsburgh Flyer, who I thought had no chance. My interests were centred on Earthquake and Sistonic. Earthquake ran a close second, but Sistonic finished second last and didn’t feature at all.

Earthquake in the mounting yard

Sistonic on her way to the track

Pittsburgh Flyer returns to scale after winning the MSS Security Stakes

After watching the race I sauntered up to the stalls area to see if the Living Legends had arrived.

Both Zipping and Better Loosen Up were present, and lovingly attended to by the Living Legends staff.

Zipping in his stall – all dressed up and ready to parade

Better Loosen Up with a rose tucked into his bridle

Better Loosen Up will turn 30 on 29th August this year and was a champion of the turf in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is the only Australian bred horse to have won the prestigious Japan Cup which he did in 1990.  He also won the 1990 Cox Plate, MacKinnon Stakes, and the 1991 Australian Cup as well as several other Group races. He was named Australian Horse of the Year for the 1990-1991 season.

The Living Legends were taken off for a walk in the mounting yard, so I cruised through the stable area to see which of the present stars of the turf had arrived.

Lankan Rupee was being hosed down by his strapper, and I got a lovely photo of him in the watering section of the stalls.

Lankan Rupee in the stalls area after being hosed down

Alas, much as I hoped to see Lankan Rupee win the Newmarket Handicap, it wasn’t to be. Everyone was puzzled by his failure to run a place, but on Monday it was revealed that he had  torn a muscle in his chest and was also displaying signs of inflammation in his stifles.  This obviously happened during the race as he was over-racing in the early stages and pulling hard, then failed to produce his devastating sprint in the finish.

Returning track side, Race 3 was about to get underway. This was the Group 2 Sires Produce Stakes for two year olds run over 1400 metres.

Jameka was the favourite and she delivered a comfortable win for her backers, winning by a length from Lazumba with Sampeah,running third, three and a half lengths behind.

Jameka returns to scale after winning the Sires Produce Stakes

Lazumba on her way to the track

Sampeah on his way to the track

Back in the stalls more horses had arrived, among them Red Cadeaux.

Red Cadeaux in his stall – he has such a kind face.

Terravista was waiting patiently in his stall as well.

Terravista

Brazen Beau, the eventual winner of the Newmarket Handicap was being walked in the parade ring. I got this great head shot of him.

Brazen Beau – a head turner

Meanwhile, in the mounting yard, the Living Legends were grazing on the turf, whilst the CEO of Living Legends, Andrew Clarke, was interviewed on TVN about the organisation and the profiles of the equine special guests.

Race 4, the Group 2 Blamey Stakes run over 1600 metres was next on the agenda. Suavito, who spectacularly won the Group 1 Futurity Stakes two weeks ago was the hot favourite and she didn’t disappoint.  After missing the start, she quickly moved up to take the lead and was never headed, winning by a length from Sertorius, with Kourkam running third.

Suavito returns to scale after winning the Blamey Stakes

Only one more race remained before the big two feature races were to run, this being the Group 2 Kewney Stakes, for three year old fillies over 1400 metres. As I had not had a bet all afternoon I was toying with the idea of putting a few dollars on Wawail, but thought better of it after noticing Michael Walker was riding her. He’d recently put in a few poor rides so didn’t inspire confidence.

How wrong I was.  Wawail upstaged hot favourite Sabatini who was aiming for her third win in succession. Sabatini raced at the tail of the field and though she flew home, she was unable to reel in Wawail.

Wawail returns to scale after winning the Kewney Stakes

Sabatini leaves the mounting yard for the track

Though my heart was with Lankan Rupee in the Newmarket, my head or some strong intuition told me to put money on Brazen Beau, which I did. So I was delighted that he won, and like everyone else bemused by the performance of Lankan Rupee. He looked fine in the mounting yard as did all the others.

Chautauqua finished second and Terravista ran third, but they were blitzed by Brazen Beau who won by almost three lengths.

My photos of the Newmarket parade are really dark for some reason I can’t fathom, so I won’t be showing them in this post

Brazen Beau in the winners rug

The Australian Cup ended in a boilover with the unfancied Spillway winning the bikkies by a nose from the also unfancied Extra Zero, with the ever honest Happy Trails running third. Michael Walker proved me wrong again with his winning ride.

Spillway returns to scale after winning the Australian Cup

As expected The Cleaner led the field at a good pace and he managed to hang for fourth. Protectionist was never in it, but Red Cadeaux ran well and finished fifth.

The light was better for the Australian Cup parade, so here are photos of the main contenders.

Red Cadeaux

Happy Trails

Extra Zero

Protectionist

The Cleaner

Foreteller

The Australian Cup meeting is basically the last of the Group 1 racing for Melbourne in autumn, though the finale is the William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley on the 27th March.

The focus of racing  now shifts to Sydney for the so called Championships. Next weekend Rosehill will feature five Group 1 races including the Golden Slipper Stakes.

Speaking of the Sydney races, the Coolmore Classic resulted in an upset win by long shot Plucky Belle, who pipped favourite First Seal at the post. Diamond Drille ran third.

I’ll miss my Saturday afternoon outings to the races as I’m really only interested in attending the Group meetings. So I will be watching the action from Sydney at home from now on.

Super Saturday Comes Around Again

Red Cadeaux – returning to scale after the 2014 Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne autumn racing carnival has been a tad underwhelming thus far, but all that will change this coming Saturday when Flemington hosts a stellar meeting, featuring the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap and the Australian Cup.

Red Cadeaux is a great favourite of the Australian racing public after running second in the 2011, 2013 and 2014 Melbourne Cups, so it will be a rare and wonderful treat to see him back at Flemington in the 2015 Australian Cup.  He’s now 9 years old and has raced in Europe, Asia and Australia over his long career.  Whether he can win the Australian Cup is another matter, as he’s not won over the distance.

His rivals in the Australian Cup include 2014 Melbourne Cup winner, Protectionist who was disappointing in his first run this season over a shorter distance, but may appreciate the rise to 2000 metres . Also in the field is the popular Tasmanian frontrunner The Cleaner, who will no doubt perform that function again on Saturday and be hard to catch.  Happy Trails, Foreteller and Mourinho are the top chances, based on form at the track.

The Newmarket Handicap looks to be a race made in heaven with the world’s top sprinters Lankan Rupee, Terravista, Chautuaqua and Brazen Beau set to clash.  The first three have faced each other previously in the Darley Classic on Emirates Stakes day last spring, where Terravista was the winner from Chautauqua and Lankan Rupee with less than a length separating them in the finish. Lankan Rupee is top weight, carrying 58.5kg, giving his main rivals a few kilos advantage. Brazen Beau, being only three years old is lightly weighted on 52kg and could well upstage his older rivals as a consequence,  especially with champion jockey Joao Moreira on board.  Can the new strategy of running Lankan Rupee off the speed work again?  I certainly hope so.

I intend to arrive early at Flemington on Saturday, specifically to witness Race  2, the Listed MSS Security Stakes, a race for three year olds  run over 1100 metres. Two of my favourite fillies – Earthquake and Sistonic – are part of the large field of 15 runners.  It will be a mad dash down the Flemington straight and I do hope one of the above fillies wins. Also in the picture are Royal Snitzel, Cornrow and Nostradamus as next best dressed.

The rest of the race card at Flemington is fairly interesting – enough to entertain me as I await the running of the Group 1 races. There are three Group 2 races on the program which will be worth watching.

The Living Legends representatives will be Better Loosen Up, who won the Australian Cup in 1991 (one of eight Group 1 wins) and Zipping who won it in 2010.

The weather is expected to be fine and sunny again in Melbourne on Saturday.

Not so Sydney, which has copped a big storm over the past few days which no doubt will affect the track at Rosehill.  The feature race there is the Group 1 Coolmore Classic, a race over 1500 metres for fillies and mares. Hot favourite is First Seal who won the Group 1 Flight Stakes back in spring. She has been penalised with a weight impost, but is obviously the one to beat on form, having won her last start by 2.8 lengths. Her main opposition comes from Tinto, Adrift, Plucky Belle, Arabian Gold and good old Dear Demi.

In The Mood For Romance…

Chautauqua begins his autumn campaign this weekend

The romance of the turf, I mean, seeing as the autumn racing season kicks off on Saturday, St Valentine’s Day.  I’m too old for the other sort of romance (perish the thought) so the romance of racing is it for me.

Caulfield reopens its gates for the first time since the Caulfield Cup, to host the first Group 1 race of the season and the meeting also includes several choice Group 2 and 3 events as well to be run on the newly resurfaced track.

To digress, it has been a technologically trying week with my new computer developing a serious hard drive problem over the weekend, where, after a series of BSOD (blue screen of death) incidents the operating system refused to load. Fortunately, the hard drive in question, a SSD (solid state drive), was the one on which all programs were loaded, and had hardly any data saved on it. I store my data files on a second internal hard drive.

I did have an inkling that all was not well after the BSODs, so hastened to save essential stuff on my C: drive, such as email addresses, messages etc. to the secondary E: drive, so I didn’t lose anything important.

Back to the computer shop we went early on Monday and they had a new SSD installed with a fresh install of Windows 7 ready by Tuesday afternoon. It only took me a day to set it all up this time, after the tedium of the initial set up back in April last year which had me trying to install the printer driver for a week. Now the computer is back in business and performing better than before.

So it will be a pleasant break from computer woes attending the races tomorrow.

As was the case last summer, Caulfield is calling its program of summer racing “Relaxed Racing”, and in their wisdom have scheduled the feature race for 5.50pm, so it will a long day trackside as I want to get to the course by the second race.

Race 2 is the Group 3 Kevin Hayes Stakes for three year old fillies run over 1200 metres. Most of the fillies engaged in the race are resuming from a spell, and there are several familiar names among the contenders – Fontein Ruby, Afleet Esprit, Sabatini and Royal Snitzel. The winner will most probably be one of the above.

The third and fourth races on the program are of great interest in terms of assessing the current two year old crop for the upcoming Blue Diamond Stakes.  The Group 2 Blue Diamond Prelude  (1100 metres) for fillies is run first and the raging favourite is Fontiton who has won her only two starts, the last being the fillies Blue Diamond Preview on Australia Day. Her main rivals are Flamboyant Lass, Heatherly and Secret Agenda who all won their last races.

The colts and geldings Prelude is harder to assess, but I fancy Of The Brave who I witnessed winning his first race back in October at Caulfield. He is a half brother to the speedy Eloping and looks to share  her talent.  Others with a chance are Darley colts Bantam and Sampeah.

The Carlyon Cup is a Group 3 race run over 1600 metres, and the field has a mix of stayers and middle distance runners. The most interesting of them is Sydney horse Red Excitement who has a remarkable CV with a picket fence of wins against his name.  He’ll have to beat the very fit and in form  Jacquinot Bay who has won his last three starts. 

Top sprinter Chautauqua, resuming after spell, is the hot favourite to take out the Group 2 Rubiton Stakes (1100 metres). Top challengers are three year old fillies Eloping and Oakleigh Girl and four year old mares Atmospherical and Missy Longstocking.

Race 7, the Group 2 Autumn Stakes for three year olds looks like a match race between Hong Kong Captain and Profit Share, both having recent wins under their belts.

The feature race is the Group 1 CF Orr Stakes run over 1400 metres.  Past winners of this race include Black Caviar, Typhoon Tracy (twice), All Too Hard, Lonhro and Saintly among many illustrious champions of the turf. Last year it was won by Moment of Change.

This year’s edition looks rather uninspiring with the class horses in the field being Happy Trails resuming and  Dissident, whobegan his autumn campaign at Moonee Valley in January to run third in the Australia Stakes behind Mourinho who is also in the field and has to be respected. There are two three year olds in the field – Petrology and Java – who with the weight advantage could steal the show. Java has the distinction of beating Hong Kong Captain two starts back and Petrology at his last start. And Chris Waller also has two runners who wouldn’t surprise with a win considering Waller’s reputation, these being Bagman and Beaten Up.

The omen bet for St Valentines Day is WA mare Real Love who has great form over longer distances, but has won over 1400 metres in the past.  West Australian horses either thrive in the eastern states – Northerly and Marasco are two that come mind – or disappoint like recent visitors Luckygray and Mr Moet. Will Real Love emulate the former or the latter West Australian champs in her sojourn in the east?

There are more Valentine’s Day omen bets running in Sydney, most notably Lucia Valentina and He’s Your Man in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes, which has a much classier field than the Orr Stakes with  Boban, Foreteller, Hawkspur, Weary, Diamond Drille and Silent Achiever being contenders as well.

In fact the race card at Randwick on Saturday is much more interesting than Caulfield’s with classy gallopers like Golden Slipper winner Mossfun resuming from an injury induced spell in the Group 2 Light Fingers Stakes along with Flight Stakes winner First Seal and Thousand Guineas winner Amicus who are also in the race.

After a two year absence due to a tendon injury, it’s good to welcome back the lately lamented Super Cool’s great rival Fiveandahalfstar in the Group 3  Southern Cross Stakes. It being a 1200 metre race he is not expected to win it, but it sure will be interesting watching him in action again.

So the racing scene will be hot this weekend and no doubt the weather will be too. It is forecast to be a humid and warm day tomorrow with the threat of a thunderstorm in the afternoon. Let’s hope that the storm that overtook Flemington on Australia Cup day in 2010 will not be repeated at Caulfield tomorrow.

It’s raining in Melbourne as I write this so who knows how the newly laid  track at Caulfield Racecourse will play.

The Roses Will Be Blooming - Derby Day 2014

Flemington Roses

The 2014 Spring Racing Carnival has only a little over a week to run, and then it will be all over for another year.

But to take it out in grand fashion, Flemington hosts four days of spectacular racing excitement, the first of these being Derby Day on Saturday.

Last year I attended Derby Day for the first time, and despite the crowds found it quite enjoyable, so I intend to brave it for a second time and get some value from my Flemington season’s ticket.

How can I resist, when such a fantastic racing card is programmed, with many of my black book horses scheduled to run. There are  four Group 1 races – Coolmore Stud Stakes, Mackinnon Stakes, Victoria Derby & Myer Classic – and all the other races are at either Group 2 or Group 3 level.

The first race is at 11.30am, but as it’s going to be a long day I don’t intend to arrive at the track until slightly later, in time for the first of the Group 1 races, the Coolmore Stud Stakes, scheduled at 1.30pm.

And what a great field it has! A race for three year olds over 1200 metres it has the cream of this year’s 3yo crop in the field, such as Rich Enuff, Scissor Kick, Rubick, Earthquake, Eloping, Brazen Beau and Kuro as the main contenders. Who to choose?  Rich Enuff will no doubt start as favourite, but I’d like to see Rubick or Earthquake take the prize. At least they’ll probably be at good odds for a change. Whatever, it looks a doozy of a race.

The Coolmore Stud Stakes is followed by the Group 3 Lexus Stakes  (2500 metres) and is for stayers hoping to gain entrance into the Melbourne Cup.  Top contenders are Geelong Cup winner Caravan Rolls On, Big Memory who won the Herbert Power Stakes,  Lord Van Percy and Marksmanship, aspiring Internationals, and well connected mares La Amistad (Makybe Diva’s half sister) and Let’s Make Adeal (Let’s Elope’s granddaughter).

Next up is the second of the Group 1 races, the Mackinnon Stakes, run over 2000 metres. It has a super field as well, with a number of the usual suspects aiming for more Group 1 glory – Happy Trails, Foreteller, Moriarty, Hawkspur, Brambles and Criterion – all seen recently running in either the Caulfield Cup or the Cox Plate. Also in the picture is Rising Romance who ran second to Admire Rakti in the Caulfield Cup and Sydney stayer, He’s Your Man, who won the Epsom Stakes at his last start.  Last year the race was won by International visitor Side Glance who is scratched due to lameness this year. However there are two mystery British horses – Farraaj and Amralah – who could steal it this year. I’ll be barracking for Rising Romance who deserves a win after running a close second at her last two starts.

The Victoria Derby has always been a real puzzle of a race, with any of the field likely to take out the prize. Gai Waterhouse has great confidence in her entry Hampton Court who is the favourite after he won the Spring Champion Stakes in emphatic fashion at his last start. However, favourites have a bad record in the Derby and it has mostly been won by an outsider or secondary favourites. So who else has a chance? For a start there’s Moonovermanhattan who won The Vase at Moonee Valley last Saturday, and Atmosphere who ran second  (whom I fancy a lot), Royal Standing who I just noticed is a half brother to Super Cool, and the other “cool” customer Magicool, who beat Atmosphere earlier in the season at Flemington in an 1800 metre race.

The final Group 1 race is the Myer Classic for fillies and mares, run over 1600 metres. Red Tracer beat her stable mate Catkins last year in this. Red Tracer is no longer on the scene having been retired to stud, but Catkins is still around and is part of the excellent field. Top pick is Sweet Idea who won the Group 2 Tristarc Stakes at her last start with Girl Guide running second and Catkins third. The favourite however is May’s Dream who is yet to win a race this spring, but is due for a win. Also in with a good chance is Star Fashion who has won her last two races and Forever Loved who has winning form at Flemington.

A sprint over 1200 metres, the Group 2  tab.com.au Stakes is the last race on program and is worth sticking around for, due to the presence of boom Sydney horse Deep Field in the field. He is unbeaten in four starts and broke a course record at one of his latest outings at Canterbury. Trying to ruin his party will be the rejuvenated Bel Sprinter who dead heated with Miracles of Life in the Caulfield Sprint earlier this month and Adamantium who loves the Flemington straight.

The weather is expected to be somewhat damp tomorrow in Melbourne. Even though today is a hot 30°C, a change is forecast to pass through overnight. If it is wet, at least it might deter the party goers from spreading their blankets all over the public lawn, and maybe even discourage them from attending at all.  I live in hope.

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling–Cox Plate Review

Adelaide on his way to the barriers prior to winning the Cox Plate

Though technically only three (his birth date is 19/2/11) Irish colt Adelaide blitzed the Cox Plate field with an astounding run from last position. Starting his move at the 800 metre mark, he raced down the extreme outside to overtake the leaders in the straight and win by a short margin from Fawkner and Silent Achiever, part of a wall of horses hitting the line together.

Just after the corner into the straight – The Cleaner is slightly ahead of Fawkner – Adelaide is on the extreme outside just about to pass Silent Achiever & Side Glance (on her inside).

Another wall of horses finish featured in the other Group 1 race over the weekend.

Lankan Rupee finally quashed his Moonee Valley hoodoo and returned to the winner’s circle with a bold front running win in the Manikato Stakes.  It was another exciting photo finish with little separating the first eight runners who crossed the line, strung out across the track.  Angelic Light grabbed second and outsider Famous Seamus was awarded third place.

I’ve been rather jumping the gun, describing the Cox Plate finish…

When I arrived at the track at about 2.30 pm it was just after Race 3 the Group 2 Drummond Golf Fillies Classic. It was won by Lumosty who outclassed the rest of the field winning by 2 lengths from Tahni Dancer and Berimbau.

As there was plenty of time before Race 4, and as is my usual habit, I wandered out to the stalls area to see who had already arrived. I came across The Cleaner in his stall, with a small crowd of people gathered around.

A nice head shot of The Cleaner in his stall

Also nearby were the International contingent, including eventual Cox Plate winner Adelaide. He’s a beautiful looking animal.

Adelaide in his stall

Next door to him was Au Revoir…

…and Guest of Honour

It was great to see the 2008 Cox Plate winner Maldivian in attendance, primarily to lead out the Cox Plate field. I managed to get a lovely head shot of him in the stalls area.

Maldivian

The field for Race 4 , the Group 3 Telstra Phonewords Stakes was filing out to the track as I left the stalls area, so I headed to the public lawn at the top end of the straight and easily found a position on the fence to watch the race. 

Race 4 – the corner into the straight, Legends in the background with patrons crowded onto the balconies.

The race was won by the favourite Galaxy Pegasus with Law and Nicoscene filling the minor places. I didn’t have any money on the outcome, feeling disinclined to bet on the race.

Race 5 was the Moonee Valley Gold Cup, a Group 2 race for stayers over 2500 metres. Precedence was my selection as he’d won the race last year and also in 2010. It was a rough race where a big kerfuffle occurred on the corner as they turned into the straight for the second time. A gasp arose from those near where I was standing, as Chad Schofield was thrown from Albonetti after she had clipped heels with another horse. Winning jockey Michelle Payne was suspended for 20 meetings as a result of the incident.  Prince of Penzance was the winner, with Le Roi running second and Au Revoir third. Precedence was galloped on, which stymied his chances. Chad Schofield was well enough to ride his two other commitments of the meeting, and Albonetti was unhurt and galloped riderless to the post.

Prince of Penzance on his way to the barriers.

Down the straight in the Moonee Valley Cup – Au Revoir leads at this point with Le Roi in second place and Prince of Penzance about to overtake them.

It was relatively uncrowded at the top end of the public lawn and the surrounding people were a cheery friendly bunch.

A young spiv exclaimed that he’d never seen a horse close up. We made room for him on the fence and tipped him when the horses were about to thunder past. He was wearing an extraordinary watch; a steam punk monster which he said he bought in America. I took a photograph of it ...

My first and only winner of the day was Hooked in the Crystal Mile. As we are now in the sign of Scorpio his name struck me as quite appropriate for the Astrological season, but he did have good form on his side as well.

Hooked on his way to the gates.

He won by 1¾ lengths from Bull Point and Desert Jeuney.

Up the straight in the Crystal Mile, Hooked leads by several lengths

There was still 1½ hours to go before the main event, and I will admit time was starting to drag, so I decided to grab a beer and sit for a while and study the form for the 7th race, the Dilmah Exceptional Teas Vase (it used to be called the Aimee Vase). It’s a Group 2 for three year olds run over the same distance as the Cox Plate (2040 metres).

My selection was Atmosphere so I backed him for a win only. He ran second to Moonovermanhattan who I admit I didn’t fancy as I’ve seen him race several times before where he was unsuccessful.

Moonovermanhattan

The top of the straight in the Vase – Moonovermanhattan leads with Zululand behind him on the inside, Atmosphere (in pink silks & red cap) is running third.

There are those who say the Cox Plate should be run at Flemington, but to my my mind it wouldn’t be the same race. What makes it so special is that it is run on the tight circuit of Moonee Valley, where the atmosphere is electric with anticipation as in an ancient Roman theatre. You have to be there to experience the palpable excitement of the crowd as the race start draws near.

There was plenty of time in hand after the Vase so I returned to the stalls area and came across The Cleaner again, being kitted out for the race. His trainer Mick Burles obligingly posed with his mate “Bill” before leading him out of his stall, so I could get this photo.

The Cleaner aka Bill with trainer Mick Burles

After that I lingered near the parade ring to see the Cox Plate contestants walk around before going to the mounting yard.

Adelaide

Almalad

Criterion

Foreteller

Happy Trails

Royal Descent

Side Glance

The Cleaner

Not all the horses had emerged during the time I was near the parade ring, but I didn’t wait for them, as the time for the Cox Plate was drawing near, so I made my way back to the fence at the top of the public lawn, and photographed some of the others as they made their way to the starting gates.

Fawkner

Sacred Falls

Sweynesse

I’ve described how the Cox Plate finished earlier in this post, but I have not mentioned the start.

Cox Plate start

The Cleaner had the outside barrier (14) and had to work hard to get to the lead which he eventually did,  just after passing the winning post for the first time. This may have been his downfall, but that’s his style of racing. The fairy tale ending was not to be, but The Cleaner led the field at a good clip until half way up straight, where he was overtaken first by Fawkner, then half of the rest the field, but he didn’t give up even then, striving hard to finish 9th, three and half lengths from the winner. With a better barrier, he would undoubtedly have finished closer. Anyway he made the race an honest competition of pace and stamina and set it up for Adelaide.

Adelaide is certainly something special, to come from Ireland after  racing in America in August, to win the Cox Plate in such a remarkable fashion. I suppose one should feel privileged to have witnessed the event. Fawkner and Silent Achiever did the locals proud, narrow runners up to an exceptional talent.

A young woman standing close to me was over the moon with his win, as she’d backed him; no doubt because of his name and the associations it had for her.  As good a way to pick a winner as any.

I had a win bet on Fawkner, so no collect for me, so I headed for the bus stop and home, after another great day at the races in splendid sunshine, a cool breeze keeping it pleasant and balmy.

Next weekend is super Saturday at Flemington with four Group 1 races on the program, the feature being the Victoria Derby. It’s going to be a busy week following that, with the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday, the Rolling Stones on Wednesday night, the Crown Oaks on Thursday and the Emirates Stakes meeting on Saturday. I’m undecided if I’ll go to all the races; it depends on how I feel after the Stones concert. I may give the Oaks a miss, but will definitely attend the Emirates, where the Darley Classic Sprint looks like an must see  race with Lankan Rupee up against new emerging sprint sensation Chautauqua.