Stayin’ Alive

Bingo keeping watch on the front veranda

As years go, 2020 has turned into an annus horribilius. We’ve had drought, fires, floods and now pestilence- apocalypse now!

It’s hard to believe that we are now living through a Science Fiction dystopia, though I can’t recall that in any of the SF dystopic novels I’ve read, toilet paper (the lack thereof)  becoming such a big issue as it is in these crazy days.

Being retired there’s no problem maintaining a social distance as I’m not obliged to get up every morning and go to work and mingle with the general populace. I’ve hardly stirred from home for weeks, my only outings have been to the Victoria Market on Thursdays and going to the Super Market every so often for supplies.

Two concerts I was to attend in March have been postponed or cancelled, and forget heading off to the Museum and National Gallery for an art or cultural fix, they’re closed. That also goes for Saturday afternoons at the track.

I was disappointed that fans were banned from attending  the All Star Mile meeting at Caulfield last weekend, but would have felt apprehensive about attending anyway. Alligator Blood ended up unplaced and Western Australian gallopers Regal Power and Superstorm ran the quinella. Melody Belle ran third.

Being in the age group most vulnerable to infection by Covid19, I feel paranoid travelling on public transport, and have become hyper alert about keeping my distance from other commuters and avoiding contact with surfaces likely to be infected.

By chance I happened to be in Chemist Warehouse earlier this week when some hand sanitiser was put on the shelf. It didn't last long, but I managed to grab two containers, which eased my anxiety when travelling to the market yesterday as I could sanitise my hands on the go.

This time last year I travelled to Sydney to see Winx in her penultimate appearance at the track.  I returned with a nasty cold, so I had no desire to attend the Golden Slipper meeting at Rosehill this year. Even if I did I wouldn’t have got into the racecourse; the ATC has banned public attendance.

Who knows how long the racing industry will be able to keep the races going. Sydney’s big Autumn carnival is just starting, Golden Slipper Day kicking it off tomorrow in fine fashion with five Group 1 races on the program.

2019 Golden Slipper Trophy

The first of these is the Ranvet Stakes, run over 2000 metres. It was won by Avilius last year and he will be aiming to win it again this year. So far this season he has been disappointing, failing to run a place in three starts. Irish horse AddeyBB having his first start in Australia looks a very classy horse considering the quality of opposition he has raced against in the UK and may blitz the local mob.  Verry Elleegant ran a narrow second to Te Akau Shark in the Chipping Norton Stakes recently and is highly fancied to win.

Winx won the past four George Ryder Stakes, so another galloper has an opportunity to win it this year. Top chances are Te Akau Shark, The Bostonian, Alizee and Super Seth.

Shadow Hero, winner of the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes and more recently the Randwick Guineas, is understandably the favourite for the Rosehill Guineas. His main threats are New Zealander Sherwood Forest, Victorian Derby winner Warning, Prince Fawaz, Chenier and Castelvecchio who was disappointing last start.

The Golden Slipper is always a fascinating race. I was fortunate to witness the last two editions in person. Fillies Estijaab (2018) and Kiamichi (2019) won those. So who will win the richest two year old race this year?

Of the boys, the top picks are Tagaloa (Blue Diamond Stakes winner) Hanseatic (Blue Diamond Stakes runner up) Farnan (Todman Stakes winner) and Prague. Fancied fillies are Away Game, Dame Giselle, Hungry Heart and Minhaaj.

The final Group 1 of the afternoon is the Galaxy, a sprint over 1100 metres, won by Nature Strip last year.  Pierata narrow runner up to Nature Strip last year appears the top chance in this year’s edition. Others worthy of consideration are In Her Time with a great first up record, the in form Savatiano, and Kementari , who was a failure at stud and is back racing after a year’s absence, and gelded to boot.

Tonight at Moonee Valley the final Group 1 of Melbourne’s Autumn racing season, the William Reid Stakes, is scheduled to run at 8.30pm. Mystic Journey, whose Autumn season was stymied by a leg infection. makes her first appearance since the Cox Plate in this race. It’s a bit short for her, but it will be interesting to see how she runs in it.

Newmarket Handicap winner Bivouac is the favourite, but he faces a classy field that includes along with Mystic Journey, Loving Gaby, Gytrash, Exceedance and Pippie.

Even though I will be maintaining a social distance at home (pretty normal for me) there are still things to enjoy, such as the racing on TV.

There are  also books to read – I’m currently rereading Hilary Mantel’s first two Cromwell books, preparatory to reading the last book, The Mirror and the Light which I have acquired in a lovely signed hardcover first edition.

Also I have a backlog of purchased computer games I mean to get through over the next few months, waiting for Covid19 to pass. Above all I hope to still be alive at the end of it.

The First Group 1 of Autumn – Orr Stakes Review

Manuel – Orr Stakes winner returning to the stalls after the  presentation

In startling contrast to the last race meeting at Caulfield, last Saturday was cool and overcast as opposed to searingly hot and sunny, which was a welcome respite and made it much more pleasant to spend an afternoon at the races.

I arrived at Caulfield fairly early in the afternoon in time to watch the third race on the program. This was the Group 3 Bellmaine Stakes, a race for mares over 1200 metres. The favourite was Princess of Queens and she didn’t disappoint, winning by a narrow margin from Fuhryk and I Am A Star.

Bellmaine Stakes just past the post 

Princess of Queens strolls back to scale

In Race 4, the Group 2 Rubiton Stakes, there was great interest in seeing how Nature Strip would fare in the 1100 metre race. He was one of the former Darren Weir horses racing on Saturday. He is now with Chris Waller, whom I’m sure would have been pleased with the speedster’s performance in the Rubiton Stakes. Nature Strip blitzed the field, leading from start to finish and winning by 3½ lengths from Jungle Edge, with Thermal Current running third a further 2 lengths behind.

Nature Strip corners like a greyhound just past the post

Nature Strip returns to scale

Jungle Edge returns to scale

Thermal Current returns to scale

The colts and geldings Blue Diamond Prelude was the first  to run and was up next.  Blue Diamond Preview winner I Am Immortal started as favourite and prevailed, again leading from go to whoa to narrowly defeat Shotmaker and Hawker Hurricane.  He is the first colt to accomplish the Preview/Prelude double since Sepoy in 2011. Whether he can go on to emulate Sepoy and take out the Blue Diamond Stakes is yet to be seen.

I Am Immortal still ahead after the post

I Am Immortal returns to scale

I Am Immortal – head shot returning to the stalls after the presentation

In the fillies Blue Diamond Prelude, it was expected that previously impressive fillies Catch Me and Brooklyn Hustle would be prominent and fight out the finish, but neither featured and ended up out of the places.

Godolphin filly Lyre won the bickies at big odds from Vinicunca (also at big odds) and Athiri.

Just past the post in the fillies Blue Diamond Prelude – the first three home- Lyre (blue silks, white cap) Vinicunca (inside) & Athiri (blue silks, blue cap)

Lyre returns to the stalls after the presentation still in her winners rug

As far as the actual Blue Diamond Stakes goes the picture is somewhat unclear after the fillies Prelude. The great white hope for a filly to win is now Loving Gaby – a big strong girl who could well take the prize.

Regarding Brooklyn Hustle, the early favourite for the Blue Diamond, she could still be in the picture. She’s a lovely looking filly, quite the head turner, being a bright chestnut with blonde mane and tail, rather reminiscent of Miracles of Life, the 2013 Blue Diamond Stakes winner. I managed to get a lovely photo of her as she was being walked in the stalls area.

Brooklyn Hustle

There was only one more race to run before the feature Group 1 event, and that was the Group 2 Autumn Stakes, a race for three year olds over 1400 metres.  Hawkshot, a handsome son of 2013 Melbourne Cup winner, Fiorente, ran a similar race to former stablemate Nature Strip, leading from the start to win by 3½ lengths from Dealmaker with Ringerdingding running third,

Hawkshot in the pre-parade ring

Hawkshot returns to scale

Dealmaker on his way to the barriers

Ringerdingding on his way to the barriers

Another who ran and won setting the pace was the long odds surprise winner of the feature Group 1 Orr Stakes – Manuel trained by Tony McEvoy. Kementari was the hot favourite for the race, but as seems to always be the case, he was relegated to second place, dead heating with Land of Plenty.

Orr Stakes just past the post – Manuel still has a good lead.

Manuel on his way to the barriers

Kementari on his way to the barriers

Land of Plenty on his way to the barriers

Much as I would have liked to, I didn’t stay for the Group 3 Carlyon Stakes as it was getting late. It was won by Avilius, who is now favourite for the Australian Cup.

It remained overcast most of the afternoon,  challenging for properly exposed photos, but it only rained briefly shortly before the Orr Stakes. I had dressed for wet weather, and expected to be overly warm. A brisk breeze kept it cool, so I was never uncomfortable.

The absence of Darren Weir was noticeable, but his former horses performed very well for their new stables.

Next weekend the Melbourne racing moves to Flemington which features the Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning, wherein super filly Sunlight will hopefully shine. In Sydney at Randwick, the mighty Winx will be kicking off her final campaign in the Group 2  Apollo Stakes – a must watch race.  Go Winx!

Super Saturday–Caulfield Guineas Day

Mighty Boss wins the 2017 Caulfield Guineas

With fine and sunny weather forecast for Saturday, the Caulfield Guineas meeting promises to be a sterling afternoon of first class racing with four Group 1 races and a strong support card.

It’s going to be a very long day with the races run at 35 minute intervals early in the day, but longer intervals of up to 50 minutes from Race 7 to Race 9, to accommodate coverage of The Everest in Sydney.

I normally would take my time getting to Caulfield on Guineas Day but this year I’m keen to get a look at an unusual white filly running in the first race. Aptly named Utzon, she is a daughter of The Opera House,  a pure white mare who raced briefly without much success earlier this decade. I mentioned her in a blog post back then.

Exceptionally well bred, being a three quarter sister to Might and Power, The Opera House has produced three white foals and Utzon is the first hit the racetrack. Utzon trialled the other day and showed great promise, winning comfortably after leading throughout.

There is a plethora of quality racehorses performing at Caulfield on Saturday, several of whom I have not seen in the flesh, such as the Chris Waller contingent of D’Argento, Unforgotten and The Autumn Sun, all potential stars who have previously won at Group 1 level.

Then there are the Internationals having their first run on Australian soil, and personal favourites such as golden girl Sunlight who is one of a field of 13 in Race 3, the Group 3 Thoroughbred Club Stakes. Sunlight shares topweight with the talented Enbihaar who was the Blue Diamond Stakes runner up, so it looks a match race between these two fillies.  Others in the picture are Humma Humma and Meryl.

The first of the Group 1 races to run is the Thousand Guineas, the fillies equivalent of the Caulfield Guineas and a stellar field of talented girls will contest the 1600 metre event. Top picks are Smart Melody, Thrillster, Amphitrite, Fiesta and El Dorado Dreaming.

More class is on display in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap, run over 1600 metres as well. Hartnell, the surprise Epsom Handicap winner is top weight and faces stiff competition from the likes of Rupert Clark Stakes winner Jungle Cat, Dollar for Dollar, Land of Plenty and mares I Am A Star, Shillelagh and Noire.

Two high class International race horses, out here for the Cups and Cox Plate, have accepted for the Caulfield Stakes (now called Ladbroke Stakes), these being Benbatl, a Group 1 winner in the UK and Thecliffsofmoher trained by the canny Aiden O’Brian from Ireland.  It will be interesting to see how they fare against the locals – Humidor, Night’s Watch, D’Argento and Unforgotten – and acclimatised imports such as Tosen Basil and Homesman. 

The Caulfield Guineas is scheduled to run at 5.15pm as Race 9, but is well worth hanging around for, having attracted an excellent field.  Last year rank outsider Mighty Boss won at 100/1 denying highly fancied Sydney colt Kementari the prize, and this year the top contenders are Sydney colt The Autumn Sun and the locally trained Native Soldier and Leonardo Da Hinchi.  Also in with a chance are the Hawkes trained contender Outrageous, the Mick Price trained Tavisan and sole filly, the ever honest Oohood.

In Sydney, The Everest,  the richest sprint race in the world is run at 4.15pm on a heavy track. There are many chances the best being last year’s winner Redzel, latest sprint sensation Santa Ana Lane, Vega Magic who ran third last year in the race, and speedy mares Viddora and Shoals.

Makybe Diva Stakes Day & Go Winx

Humidor winning the 2017 Makybe Diva Stakes

Group 1 racing returns to Flemington this Saturday with the running of the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes, and at Randwick in Sydney, superstar Winx continues her progress towards the Cox Plate in the Group 1 George Main Stakes the day after her 7th birthday.

So there’s lots of action as the Spring racing carnival gathers pace.

Much as I’d like to be in Sydney to watch Winx race, I’ll be attending the Flemington meeting. It is very likely that Winx will contest the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington in early October, so I’ll be content to wait until then to see her in the flesh in what may be her last racing season.

It all depends on the train timetable at which time I will reach Flemington, but I hope to be there in plenty of time to watch Race 4, the Listed Antler Luggage Plate where the handsome Brutal will be aiming to keep his so far unbeaten run intact.  His main opponents are The August, Good ‘n’ Fast, Crockett and Declarationofheart.

Besides the Makybe Diva Stakes, there’s a solid support card with three Group 2 races, the first to run being the Bobby Lewis Quality, a sprint over 1200 metres. Hey Doc, who disappointed at Moonee Valley at his last start will probably start as favourite.  The rest of the field is not much chop, the best being Rich Charm, Grand Rosso and Crack Me Up.

The Let’s Elope Stakes has attracted a nice field of well performed mares that include I Am A Star, La Bella Diosa, Miss Gunpowder, Merriest, Bella Martini and Kenedna returning after a long break. 

As the Makybe Diva Stakes has not been consecutively won by the same horse since the 1950s, can last year’s winner Humidor achieve this rare double?  He surprised at big odds winning the Memsie Stakes at his second start for spring 2018.  Half of the 12 strong field that contested the Memsie Stakes have accepted for the Makybe Diva.  Added to the usual suspects – Happy Clapper, Humidor, Kementari et al  are the in form Comin’ Through, New Zealander Jon Snow and  Western Australian Pounamu.  Other than the aforementioned the romantically named Kings Wiil Dream looks top pick having won over the distance at Flemington previously.

Run after the Makybe Diva Stakes, the third of the Group 2 races is the Danehill Stakes for three year olds run over 1200 metres. Top chances are Native Soldier, Tavisan and Ef Troop. I probably won’t witness it first hand as I plan to leave Flemington after the feature race.

The must see race of the day is of course the George Main Stakes where Winx will be facing seven rivals, four of them her stablemates Who Shot Thebarman, Religify, Egg Tart and Unforgotten. Unforgotten won the Chelmsford Stakes at her last start, a race won by Winx the previous year. Though not likely to beat the invincible Winx, she is very likely to run second. 2017 Victorian Derby winner Ace High and three time Group 1 winner Le Romain are also not without place claims.

There are also some quality Group 2 races at Randwick, The Shorts for instance, a sprint over 1100 metres that pits three The Everest stakeholders against each other, namely Redzel, Brave Smash and Invincible Star. It looks a doozy of a race.

Though it is warm and sunny in Melbourne today, the weather is forecast to be cold and wet tomorrow. Hopefully it will not be as bad as predicted.  It seems that each weekend of this spring racing season the weather alternates between one extreme and the other – sunny and soggy.

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.