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

Bart Blows Them Away in the Memsie

Black Heart Bart in the pre-parade ring before winning the Memsie Stakes

Black Heart Bart has truly shown what a great horse he is since joining Darren Weir’s stable. He now has two Group 1 victories on his CV, winning the Goodwood in the autumn and now the Memsie Stakes at his first run this spring.

It was a pleasant afternoon at the races on Saturday and the hours spent at the track passed in a flash.

I arrived in time to watch Race 4, a 1200 metres sprint handicap that was won by outsider Lord Barrington from Camdus with Bon Aurum running third. As the outside fence had been restored flush against the hedge, it was easier to take photos, but as I stuffed up the shot of the Race 4 finish and don’t trust the Nikon’s ability to adapt to the light,  I opted for the hill above the stalls for the rest of the afternoon.

Before Race 5 however I decided to cruise through the stalls area to see who had arrived.

The Weir mob – all twelve of them – were stabled together, so it was convenient to get photos of the four Memsie Stakes contenders from Weir’s stable – Mahuta, Black Heart Bart, Palentino and Prince of Penzance.

Mahuta

Black Heart Bart

Palentino

Prince of Penzance

Race 5 was the Group 3 Resimax Stakes, a sprint over 1100 metres.  Under The Louvre was the favourite, but he was upstaged by Redzel a Sydney horse having his first start in Melbourne.

Redzel in the pre parade ring

Under The Louvre

Race 5 – just past the winning post

Returning to the stalls area my aim was to get photos of Alpine Eagle and more of the Memsie Stakes field.

Alpine Eagle was being walked in the main ring, along with Rising Romance and Tarzino.

Alpine Eagle

Rising Romance

Tarzino

Alpine Eagle looked magnificent (photos don’t do him justice) and Rising Romance was glowing with health. Tarzino has grown since I last set eyes on him and is a big burly boy.

Also hanging out in their stalls were…

Sofia Rosa

and

Tashbeeh

The H.D.F. McNeil Stakes is generally a fairly interesting race, it being a Group 3 race for Guineas bound three year olds, run over 1200 metres.

The starting favourite was Highland Beat, but a very clever ride by Dwayne Dunn on Defcon, squeezing through an inside gap denied him the bikkies. Wazzenme finished third.

Race 6 just past the post – Defcon leads with Highland Beat trailing

Defcon returns to scale after winning the McNeil Stakes

Highland Beat returns to scale

Wazzenme returns to scale

There wasn’t long to wait for the Group 1 Memsie Stakes and the field were assembling in the pre parade ring by the time I got back from buying a drink.

Black Heart Bart

Tarzino

Charmed Harmony

Mahuta

Rising Romance

Alpine Eagle

Tashbeeh

Palentino on his way to the barriers

Prince of Penzance on his way to the barriers

Sofia Rosa on her way to the barriers

Black Heart Bart started as the short priced favourite, and certainly didn’t disappoint. The race was run at a rattling pace, Charmed Harmony taking the lead from Tashbeeh early on with Rising Romance and Mahuta racing in third and fourth spots, closely followed by Black Heart Bart.

Black Heart Bart took control in the straight, charging down the outside with Rising Romance at his heels. He won by 1.25 lengths from the game Rising Romance and Mahuta was third a couple of lengths behind. Alpine Eagle was a tad disappointing finishing in sixth place.

And so Black Heart Bart joins the illustrious list of Memsie Stakes winners. He could go on to greater glory as the Spring racing season progresses.

Memsie Stakes just past the post – the first three in sequence

I called it quits after the Memsie Stakes, the afternoon chill setting in and deteriorating light discouraged lingering any longer.

Walking back through the stalls area heading for the gate, I came across a raven strutting around on the grass. It was being tormented by another species of bird, a mynah perhaps. As I have long strived to get a decent photo of a raven, the close proximity and tameness of this raven enabled me get a good shot of it sitting on the wire fence surrounding the stalls, its black plumage glowing steely blue in the late afternoon sun.

Raven

Next weekend the racing action is at Moonee Valley featuring the Group 2 Dato Tan Chin Stakes. And in Sydney Winx will be striding out in her second race for the spring in the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes.

Mourning Ravens

Yesterday I noticed some interesting behaviour on the part of the local tribe of ravens.

Overnight one of their number had apparently been killed after sitting on the power box that controls a conjunction of power lines over the laneway near our house. There it was, a tatter of glossy black feathers on the ground at the foot of the power pole – one defunct raven.

Later in the morning I heard a commotion of ravens in the street. There were a number of them sitting in the plane trees close to the scene of the tragedy calling to each other, back and forth.

Raven in plane tree

I wondered, as I observed their behaviour, if they were discussing the death of their companion. It certainly looked and sounded as if they were.