The All Star Mile

Mystic Journey – Flemington 2/3/19

This Saturday at Flemington sees the running of the inaugural All Star Mile, a new “pop up” race devised by Racing Victoria to emulate Sydney’s Everest sprint.

A field of 14 contestants will vie for the $5 million prize money and the fame and glory that goes with winning a new race for the first time.

Half the field are given no chance, these being the horses elected by the general public whose form leaves a lot to be desired. They all have big ownership groups, hence their popularity. Old Foundry has been scratched which allows one of the better quality emergencies to run, in this case Le Romain, a triple Group 1 winner.

Despite the dross, there are several classy gallopers in the field, these being Group 1 winners Happy Clapper, Alizee, Hartnell, Grunt, Amphitrite and Mystic Journey.

Alizee is the favourite with Mystic Journey being highly fancied as well. Happy Clapper has not won a race in Melbourne to date, but is likely to be in the finish if he has recovered from his last race against the mighty Winx.

I’ll be barracking for the Tasmanian filly. Go Mystic!

It will be tricky getting to Flemington tomorrow with buses replacing trains again, between Heidelberg and Parliament Stations this time.  I think I’ll travel by a different route as I’ll have to get to Southern Cross Station to catch the train to Flemington – the 250 Bus perhaps which terminates in Queen Street in the city and takes about 45 minutes.

Winx in Melbourne Again

Winx at Flemington – October 2017

It goes without saying that I am keenly anticipating Winx’s return to the big dance floor – AKA Flemington – on Saturday, where she will be attempting, and probably succeeding, to win the Turnbull Stakes for the second year in succession. In doing so she will also notch up her 28th consecutive win and 21st at Group 1 level.

Last year she thrashed six rivals and the only one of those six to face her again this year is runner up Ventura Storm.  Eight others have accepted and include the handsome Mick Price boys Grunt and Mighty Boss, Winx’s stablemate Youngstar, Caulfield Cup favourite Kings Will Dream and New Zealander Jon Snow who ran third in the Makybe Diva Stakes.

Having watched Winx easily win six races since her last appearance at Flemington, it’s hard to see any of the aforementioned beating her. Go Winx!

The rest of the racing card is moderately interesting with several Group 2 & 3 races, most particularly the Group 3 The Bart Cummings, which awards the winner ballot free entry into the Melbourne Cup. Avilius is the current favourite having won his last three starts, but I’ll be barracking for Vengeur Masque who rewarded me handsomely when he won the Geelong Cup at big odds last year.  He has narrowly missed out on gaining entry to the Melbourne Cup the past two years, but if he does gain a place he would be a good chance being sired by Monsun whose sons Fiorente, Protectionist and Almandin were all successful in the race recently.

I plan to get to Flemington fairly early, around 1.00 pm. No doubt the crowd will be larger than last year, Winx fame increasing attendances where ever she races.

The weather is predicted to be warm and sunny, pleasant for an afternoon at the races, hopefully celebrating another win by the great mare.

The O’Reilly Boys & Winx 27

Grunt wins the Makybe Diva Stakes

It’s probably fortunate that over this first winter in Ivanhoe I have learned to endure the cold.  Being of a stoical nature, this stood me in good stead on Saturday at the Flemington races, where truly awful weather was the bane of the afternoon. It was cold. It was windy. It rained.

As racing  continues as scheduled, mostly regardless of the weather, you basically have to endure the capricious Spring conditions if you want to witness first class racing.

The O’Reilly boys of the title of this post are Grunt and Brutal, both sired by the New Zealand stallion  O’Reilly by different dams and trained by Mick Price (Grunt) and  the Hawkes (Brutal). Curiously enough both won their respective races on Saturday, and it’s interesting that both have really macho names. They are both very striking young fellows also.

I reached Flemington at around 1.40 pm, in time to witness the running of Race 3, the Listed The Sofitel (registered as the Tontonan Stakes) a race over 1400 metres.

The Sofitel finish – Violate wins from Dollar For Dollar & Eclair Calling

Brutal’s race, the Antler Luggage Plate was next to jump, but before that I cruised through the Stalls area, snapping a photo of the Makybe Diva statue on my way there.

Makybe Diva – the first stalls area is to the left of the statue

Living Legends Paris Lane and Brew were the special guests for the meeting.

Paris Lane with Living Legends CEO Dr Andrew Clarke

2000 Melbourne Cup winner Brew

Returning to the public lawn I caught the Antler Luggage Plate field parading in the mounting yard

Brutal

Leonardo Da Hinchi

Declarationofheart

The race itself was exciting with Brutal leading from the start to the finish with Leonardo Da Hinchi challenging him most of the way. The lead changed several times as the two colts fought out the finish with Brutal toughening it out to win by a nose. Good N Fast ran third a length behind the leading pair.

Brutal (inside) & Leonardo Da Hinchi cross the line together

Brutal returns to scale

Needless to say, taking photos was challenging with the wind and the rain. Early in the afternoon the sun occasionally popped out from the clouds, but as the afternoon advanced the light worsened.

Race 5 was the Group 2 Bobbie Lewis Quality, a sprint over 1200 metres. Thankfully the field didn’t split, but raced down the centre of the straight. The Sydney based Dothraki, now 8 years old, was the eventual winner, with First Among Equals, missing out by nose, running second with former Japanese sprinter Kemono filling third place. The photo below of the finish is deceptive due the angle of shot (diagonal pov).

Dothraki (red silks) & Kemono (inside) followed by First Among Equals (yellow cap)

Dothraki returns to scale

As Winx’s race in Sydney was scheduled to start at 3.10pm I found a place to sit down across from the big screen to watch it.

 
Winx heading to barriers for the George Main Stakes (screen view)

Naturally Winx won easily, as usual giving the field a head start by racing at the tail  before rounding them up and drawing level with the game Le Romain who had taken the lead shortly after the turn into the straight. Winx passed him in a flash and she went on to win by five lengths. That was her 27th consecutive win, 20th Group 1 win and third consecutive George Main Stakes victory.  She is simply amazing!

It started to rain as the mares were parading in the mounting yard preparatory to running in the Group 2 Let’s Elope Stakes, hence the less than perfect photos hereafter.

I Am A Star

Bella Martini

Sheezdashing

Once again it was a closely fought finish up the straight, this time between I am A Star and Bella Martini where I Am A Star won by the narrowest of margins. Sheezdashing finished third. The rain was was pelting down as the race was run, the mares, like all the previous runners, facing a stiff breeze in the straight.

Bella Martini & I Am A Star cross the finish line together

Typical of Flemington racing, very few favourites won on the day, most of the winners paying double figure odds.

And such was the case with the feature Makybe Diva Stakes. I must admit I had lost faith in Grunt after his previous two disappointing runs this season at Caulfield. He obviously likes Flemington as he absolutely flew in the closing stages of the Makybe Diva Stakes, emerging from mid field to overtake the leaders and win by two lengths from Kings Will Dream and Jon Snow.

 
Grunt in the mounting yard

Kings Will Dream on his way to the barriers

Jon Snow in the mounting yard

I did not stay for the Danehill Stakes even though it had a super field of aspirant Guineas contenders. The blue blood Encryption (Lonhro / Guelph) won it at big odds from Thorondor and Tavisan.

Next weekend the Group 1 action is at Caulfield for the Sir Rupert Clark Stakes, and in Sydney at Rosehill, the Group 1 Golden Rose is the feature race.

Winx’s next appearance to all intents and purposes will be at Flemington in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes on 6 October. Can’t wait!

Awful weather, hot racing – Memsie Stakes Day

Humidor wins the Memsie Stakes

It was supposed to be the first day of Spring, but you wouldn’t know it from the weather.

Yes, it was another wet and miserable afternoon at Caulfield for the first Group 1 meeting of the Melbourne Spring racing season.

Needless to say I’m thoroughly sick of winter and can’t wait for the weather to warm up, which hopefully it will do soon.

It took me rather more time to arrive at Caulfield racecourse than usual, with buses replacing trains to Caulfield Station. I was unaware of the service change when I arrived at Flinders Street, but soon ascertained that I would have to take the express replacement bus. This meant tramping up to the Arts Centre to catch it. Once in transit it didn’t take that much longer than the train, so I reached Caulfield just after Race 3, at around 1.15pm.

You might think that taking photos on rainy afternoons would be tricky lighting wise, but surprisingly the light was not a problem at all. With overcast skies there are no shadows, so the available light is neutral, which is good for photography. The only problem was the rain and keeping the camera dry and the lens unspeckled with raindrops.

Race 4 was the Jockey Celebration Day Handicap, run over 1400 metres. Night’s Watch started as favourite and didn’t let his supporters down with an eye catching win, defeating Lite’n In My Veins by 2¼ lengths with Muraaqeb running third. Apparently , Night’s Watch will be tackling the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes next Saturday.

Just past the post in the Jockey Celebration Handicap – Night’s Watch is the dark brown horse with a star on his forehead

I only stayed for four races and Race 5 was the Heatherlie Stakes, run over 1700 metres. Again the favourite, in this case Call Me Handsome won convincingly from Mr Garcia and Sin To Win.

Just past the post Call Me Handsome still leads

Call Me Handsome on his way to the barriers

Having attracted  a really classy field of three year old Guineas hopefuls, the Group 3 HDF McNeil Stakes was a must watch race. Vain Stakes winner Tony Nicconi was the starting favourite, but he finished out of the placings. Instead, Native Soldier took command from the start, and leading throughout, won by 2¾ lengths to hold out The August storming from the back of the field  with Seabrook taking third place a further length away.

Native Soldier returns to scale

The rain was drizzling down when the contenders for the feature Group 1 Memsie Stakes were parading in the pre-parade ring, but cleared for the race itself.

Here are some of them in the ring or heading for the barriers…

Black Heart Bart – who won the Memsie in 2016

Happy Clapper

Vega Magic – last year’s Memsie winner

The handsome Grunt

Humidor

Kementari

Kings Will Dream

Showtime

Humidor’s win in the Memsie Stakes took everyone by surprise, though it shouldn’t have as his CV is first class, and he did come close to beating the mighty Winx in the Cox Plate last year. He payed close to $25.00 for the win – very good odds for a horse of his class.

It was a blanket finish with the first five horses all finishing under a length from Humidor who broke through the wall of those horses at the last minute to win. Kementari ,who had a torrid run racing wide throughout, finished second and Kings Will Dream was third. Hot favourite Vega Magic looked the winner at the 400 metre mark, but faded to finish fourth, the wet weather not to his taste.

I didn’t stay for the final two races, even though they looked really interesting. The afternoon had grown chillier as I headed back to the station to catch the replacement bus back to the city.

Next Saturday the racing returns to Moonee Valley for the Group 2 Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes (AKA Cox Plate Qualifier) for which a super field has been nominated that includes last year’s winner, New Zealand mare Bonneval. Also on the cards is the Group 2 McEwen Stakes, always a good race that attracts a quality field.

Sunlight on a Wintry Day

Showtime wins the PB Lawrence Stakes from Hartnell

As expected the weather was awful for an afternoon at the races being cold and occasionally wet. Otherwise it was a stimulating race meeting, the three feature races making attendance at the track worthwhile.

In Sydney Winx was the star attraction and delighted her many fans with a stunning win in the Winx Stakes, demonstrating that she was back just as good as ever, surpassing her own and Black Caviar’s record winning streak and knotching up 19 Group 1 wins into the bargain. She made front page news on The Age on Sunday, and Australia Post has issued a stamp to honour the occasion.  The stamps are available online now on the Australia Post website, and will be on sale from 23 August in Post Offices.  There are a variety of celebratory stamp packs to choose from and I’ve already purchased a few to complement my collection of Black Caviar stamps.

I arrived at Caulfield Racecourse around 1.45 pm, so had time to stroll around the stalls before Race 4 was run. It was great to see so many of the good horses back at the track, particularly Hartnell, Sunlight, Grunt, Mighty Boss and Black Heart Bart, among others.

Race 4 was the Nitto Denko Handicap run over 1400 metres. It was won by the favourite Streets of Avalon, from Wayanka and Arkham Knight.

Streets of Avalon returns to scale

New kid on the block Tony Nicconi was the favourite for the Vain Stakes, after he had won his first start by four lengths, and proved at this, his second start, that it wasn’t a fluke, winning the Vain Stakes narrowly from Long Leaf with Native Soldier running third not far behind.

Tony Nicconi still leads just past the post.

Tony Nicconi returns to scale

Long Leaf returns to scale

Native Soldier returns to scale

Back in the stalls area after the Vain Stakes we had the good fortune to run into Sunlight’s trainer, Tony McAvoy, and got him to sign our racebooks against her name. He was pretty positive that his star filly would win the Quezette after we mentioned that we didn’t want to jinx her after getting his signature.

But before the Quezette Stakes was run we took time out to watch the Winx Stakes on a screen nearby. Fortunately this area was sheltered as it had started to rain heavily as Winx romped home in the race named in her honour, winning by over two lengths from outsider Invictus Prince and stablemate D’Argento.  The mooted challenge from Kementari was short lived as Winx sailed past him in a trice, as they turned the corner into the straight, and he was lucky to finish fourth.

Sunlight was the starting favourite for the Quezette Stakes and prevailed, fighting out a challenge by Humma Humma to win by a nose.  Thrillster finished third. It was pleasing to see Sunlight back in the money after her game second to Nature Strip recently in Adelaide.

Quezette Stakes just past the post – Sunlight still leads Humma Humma

Sunlight returns to scale

Humma Humma returns to scale

Thrillster returns to scale

It was pretty dark and overcast while the Quezette Stakes was run, hence the darkish photos above, but amazingly it fined up for the feature P B Lawrence Stakes which was up next.

Here are some parade ring photos of some of the contenders…

Black Heart Bart

Grunt

Jungle Edge

Kings Will Dream

Mighty Boss

Boom Time

Three year old colt Grunt started as favourite, but finished 5th, though less than a length from the winner Showtime, who was second favourite after being highly spruiked by the Hawkes, his trainers. In a way I was relieved that my favourites didn’t win considering the P B Lawrence Stakes hoodoo on winners. It will be interesting to see how Showtime fares for the rest of the spring racing season.

Hartnell finished second, beaten half a length on the line and outsider Widgee Turf was third.

Showtime on his way to barriers

Hartnell returns to scale

I headed home after the Lawrence Stakes, heartily glad to climb into the comparative warmth of a train after being quite cold for most of the afternoon, despite dressing appropriately.

Next Saturday the racing is at Moonee Valley which has a few interesting races on the program. The weather is predicted to be fine and sunny for a change, so I’ll probably attend. I haven’t been to Moonee Valley since Cox Plate day last year.