Awesome Vindication–Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes Review

Awesome Rock wins the 2016 Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes

Back in March at Flemington on Australian Cup Day, Awesome Rock technically won the feature event, but  lost out to Preferment on protest.

On Saturday at Moonee Valley he was vindicated, thrashing a classy field to take out the Group 2 Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes, which also gives him automatic entry into the Cox Plate.

More on that later…

It was a long afternoon at The Valley as I arrived at the course shortly after the running of the second race on the program at around 1.00pm.

However, the four hours I spent at the track flashed by remarkably quickly.

In Race 3, the Moonee Valley Handicap, a race for three year olds over 1514 metres,  I was interested in a young fellow called Rocketeer and even contemplated putting money on him.

As I was watching the runners parading in the parade ring, Hey Doc caught my eye as a stunning looking animal, and on looks, the pick of the yard.

Hey Doc in the parade ring

So, as I was heading for the front lawn, I was torn on who to back in the race. I ended up taking a few dollars each way on both Hey Doc and Rocketeer.

Superior in looks and superior in ability Hey Doc, racing wide for most of the trip and with a weight impost,  won convincingly by over a length from Rocketeer. Race leader, the Gai Waterhouse trained Lord Macau held on for third.

That was my only bet for the day as I felt no such certainty on any of the other runners in the next five races.

Hey Doc sweeps to the front in the straight, Rocketeer in hot pursuit.

Hey Doc returns to scale

Rocketeer on his way to the barriers

Lord Macau on his way to the barriers

Despite Moonee Valley Racing Club offering footy fans free entry to the course, as there was no football (Aussie Rules) played on Saturday, not many took up the offer.  There was only a small crowd present, so it was easy to get good spots to take photos.

For race 3 I was on the fence on the Public Lawn, but felt uneasy about the Nikon’s ability to handle different light conditions, so photographed the rest of the action from around the front of the stalls area.

Actually, I finally solved the lighting problem by adjusting the exposure compensation as the afternoon  progressed and the shadow of the Grandstand lengthened over the course.

The next race on the program was the boringly named United Refrigeration Handicap, also run over 1514 metres for all comers.

It resulted in a narrow win for Vostok over Mr Individual with Moss ‘N’ Dale running third.

Vostok (checked silks) fights out the finish with Mr Individual

Vostok on his way to the barriers

Mr Individual on his way to the barriers

Moss ‘N’ Dale on his way to the barriers

In between the races I cruised through the stalls area to get snaps of the major contenders in their stalls.

Also, old Fields of Omagh was on track as a special guest. I managed to give him a pat.

Fields of Omagh posing for photos

The Darren Weir contingent took up twenty stalls and included several Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes entries.

Tosen Stardom (look at his long neck – handy at the end of a close race I imagine)

Signoff

Mahuta yawning

Also in her stall was Piccadillies, the half sister to Fastnet Rock, who sired Awesome Rock.

The pretty Piccadillies in her stall

The action started to get interesting with Race 5, the McEwen Stakes, a Group 2 sprint over 1000 metres.

Heatherly was the short priced favourite, but she bombed the start and did well to run a close third to Wild Rain who led throughout to beat Furnaces and Heatherly.

Heatherly in the parade ring

Furnaces in the parade ring

Wild Rain in the parade ring

Wild Rain has a good lead up the straight with Furnaces (blue silks) and Heatherly chasing.

The Atlantic Jewel Stakes featured a field of Guineas bound fillies.

There was a lot of interest in the Western Australian filly Whispering Brook who had won all five of her previous starts in her home State. She had drawn a wide gate, so was at a disadvantage from the start. She narrowly lost to Denman filly Merriest so was hardly disgraced in her run. Sweet Sherry ran third.

Merriest (cerise silks) and Whispering Brook head to head down the straight

Merriest returns to scale

Whispering Brook returns to scale

Sweet Sherry on her way to the barriers

Piccadillies (7th place) returns to scale

There was only one more race before the feature to be run. This was the SAJ Fruit Supply Stakes, a sprint over 1200 metres.

Voodoo Lad was the warm favourite and didn’t let his fans down with a gritty win, coming wide from the tail of the field to win by a length from  Keen Array and Sebring Sun.

Voodoo Lad (red & yellow silks) hits the front in the SAJ Fruit Supply Stakes

Voodoo Lad returns to scale

Keen Array on his way to the barriers

Sebring Sun returns to scale

The United States started as favourite for the Group 2 Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes, but ended up unplaced.

I failed to mention any of the placegetters (Awesome Rock, Real Love and Set Square) in my preview of the race in my last post. They all came in at big odds, the trifecta paying a fortune (over $33, 000).

I caught the field parading in the ring before the race…

Tosen Stardom

The United States

The Cleaner

Jacquinot Bay

Mahuta

Real Love

Tavago

Set Square

And also got photos of the field on their way to the barriers…

Awesome Rock

Jameka

Suavito

Miss Rose De Lago

It was a messily run race, with The Cleaner, the natural leader drawing wide, taking some time to get the leading position.  The rest of the field jostled for position and the winner Awesome Rock caused interference to several runners in his dash to the front. 

Staying mares Real Love and Set Square took out the minor places. Tosen Stardom ran fourth and The Cleaner hung on for fifth.

Down the straight in the Dato Tan – Awesome Rock is passing The Cleaner with Real Love (pink silks) & Set Square (green silks) following close behind.

I didn’t stay for the last race,  heading for the bus stop after the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes, a tad tired after a long afternoon on my feet at The Valley, where I hardly sat down at all. Good exercise anyway.

In Sydney, the Chelmsford Stakes was won by Hartnell by 7 lengths from stayers Grand Marshall and Storm The Stars. You can tell Winx was scratched from the race, as the result may have been quite different had she been there. She beat Hartnell by three lengths in the Warwick Stakes recently.

Next Saturday there are two Group 1 races, the Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington and the Golden Rose at Rosehill.

The racing action is heating up as is the spring weather in Melbourne.

Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes Day–Then & Now

Down the straight in the 2006 Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes

There is no Group 1 action this week on the racetrack, but racing fans are more than compensated by the Group 2 program at Moonee Valley, which features the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes, a race over 1600 metres.

I’ve been attending this race meeting for over 10 years, so thought to illustrate this post with an historical photo, snapped in September 2006.

It shows Apache Cat leading a field of seven runners down the straight. Two time Cox Plate winner, Fields of Omagh, can be seen in the blue and gold silks running second last and the eventual winner of this particular version of the Dato Tan, Lad of the Manor is seen in third place in the blue and green silks.  He had the distinction the previous year of beating the great Makybe Diva in the same race. Apache Cat ran second.

Both Fields of Omagh and Apache Cat are now popular residents at Living Legends. Fields of Omagh will be a special guest at Moonee Valley next Saturday.

Back in 2006, the feature race of the meeting was the Manikato Stakes, the first Group 1 race of the spring racing season.  It was won by super sprinting mare Miss Andretti.

Miss Andretti after winning the 2006 Manikato Stakes

She won 19 races in a career of 30 runs, five of them at Group 1 level that included the Newmarket Handicap, Lightning Stakes and the Darley Classic. She also won the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2007.

The Manikato Stakes is now run on the eve of the Cox Plate.

This year’s Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes has attracted a cracker field that includes several Group 1 winners. The Cleaner is not one of them, but has won this race the past two years. The last horse to win three years running was Shorengo (1968-1970) so it will be a big upset if The Cleaner wins, particularly as his recent form is well below his best and he has drawn an outside barrier.

The current favourite is Japanese horse Tosen Stardom who is now with Darren Weir.

I’m  keen to see Tavago, the New Zealand trained winner of the ATC Derby. He was scratched from the Memsie Stakes after pulling out a tooth, so it will be first time he has raced in Melbourne.

It’s a difficult race to find a winner with any number of chances. Mahuta who ran third in the Memsie Stakes last week has to be considered, as does Jameka who has returned in fine form, her fourth in the Lawrence Stakes being full of merit where she finished a little over a length from the winner. The United States is also highly fancied having won the Ranvet Stakes back in autumn and running second to Lucia Valentina in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

The support card at Moonee Valley is far more interesting than at Caulfield last week.

For a start there’s the Group 2 McEwen Stakes, a sprint over 1000 metres. Speedy mare Heatherly will no doubt start as favourite as she recently won at her last start on the track over the same distance. The mighty Chautauqua won this race last year, but there are no sprinters of his quality in the race.  Heatherly’s main rivals appear to be Reldas, O’Malley and fellow mares Alpha Miss, Chloe in Paris and Wild Rain.

The Listed Atlantic Jewel Stakes has a great field of three year old fillies

Unbeaten Western Australian filly Whispering Brook, having her first start in the East is the most interesting of the runners. She’s up against smart Victorian fillies like Zamzam, Sweet Sherry and Gretna.  First starter Piccadillies is a half sister to great sire Fastnet Rock and has ignited keen interest after trialling well.

Up in Sydney the Randwick race meeting is expected to be run on a heavy track, yet again. The main attraction is Winx in the Group Two  Chelmsford Stakes.  If the track is too heavy she may be scratched, but if she races she will be gunning for her 11th win in succession.  Perish the thought that she could be beaten, but her main rivals in the field of eight are Hartnell and colt Prized Icon.

It has warmed up in Melbourne at last and Saturday is expected to be overcast and mild with morning showers.