Carnival Finale–Emirates Stakes Day

Mounting Yard Gate for Emirates Stakes Day

A light shower of rain passed through last Saturday morning, but the afternoon was  lovely, mild and slightly overcast with good light for photography.

The public lawn at Flemington was still very damp from Thursday’s downpour, but that didn’t discourage patrons from spreading themselves all over it. Ankle biters were in abundance, Emirate Stakes Day being traditionally a family day, but it wasn’t overcrowded and it was easy to wend through the crowd or get a drink.

I arrived early at Flemington, keen to watch Divan run in the second race on the program. I’ve been following him for over year, though he is very lightly raced, only starting seven times. He’s regally bred being by Zabeel out of champion New Zealand mare Seachange. At his last outing he ran second to the Gai Waterhouse trained The Offer in the Bendigo Cup (2400 metres).

He was coming back in distance for the Starlight Children’s Plate to 2000 metres and accounted for his opposition, easily winning by a length from Velox and Have Plenty. He looks a promising young stayer and hopefully will be back in autumn for a few races, though his owner Lloyd Williams is hoping to get him qualified for the 2016 Melbourne Cup.

Divan winning the Starlight Children’s Plate

Divan returns to scale after winning the Starlight Children’s Plate

Velox in the mounting yard

Have Plenty in the mounting yard

The program for Emirate Stakes Day was much classier than that of the Oaks and race 3 was the Group 3 Queen’s Cup (formerly the Queen Elizabeth Stakes) run over 2600 metres, a sort of consolation prize for stayers who didn’t qualify for the Melbourne Cup field.

A small field of 8  horses were contesting it and British galloper Secret Number started as favourite.

However, Darren Weir, the Melbourne Cup winning trainer’s roll continued with Dandino taking the prize. He was to win another in race 4, when Michelle Payne guided home 7/1 shot Palentino to  register a good win.

Darren Weir near Dandino’s Stall

Dandino won by almost 2 lengths from Secret Number with Don Doremo running third.

Dandino on his way to the barriers

Secret Number

Don Doremo

Queen’s Cup finish – Dandino, Secret Number & Don Doremo

As previously mentioned, the Darren Weir trained Palentino won race 4, the Hilton Hotels & Resorts Stakes (1400 metres) from Demonstrate and race favourite Ngarimu.

Palentino ridden by Michelle Payne returns to scale after winning the Resorts Stakes

Race 4 finish – Palentino wins easily

It’s a fair hike from the winning post to the stalls area, so you get plenty of exercise if you want to take photos. I must have tramped back and forth at least six times over the course of the afternoon. 

Here are some of the contenders for the two Group 1 races photographed in their stalls.

Arod – Emirates Stakes

Bow Creek – Emirates Stakes

Moriarty – Emirates Stakes

Turn Me Loose  - Emirates Stakes

Politeness – Emirates Stakes

Boban – Darley Classic

Buffering – Darley Classic

Chautauqua – Darley Classic

Delectation – Darley Classic

Flamberge – Darley Classic

Terravista – Darley Classic

Lucia Valentina – Matriarch Stakes

Back trackside, Race 5, the Antler Luggage Handicap (1600 metres) was the next race on the program, after which there wasn’t long to wait for the first of the Group 1 events, the Darley Classic.

Rhythm To Spare won the Antler Luggage Handicap from Defiant Angel and Setinum.

Race 5 finish – Rhythm To Spare on his way to winning the Antler Luggage  Handicap

 
Rhythm To Spare returns to scale

Defiant Angel

Setinum

Chautauqua was understandably hot favourite to take out the Group 1 Darley Classic, but the heavy track inhibited his powerful sprint and Delectation from the Chris Waller stable pipped him at the post. Last year’s winner, Terravista, managed to run third with old Buffering hanging on for fourth.

The photo of the finish is taken from an odd viewpoint as the field was spread out across the track, so no clear winner is evident. However it’s a dramatic shot that I’m quite pleased with.

Darley Classic finish – Delectation (foreground) Chautauqua (far right) Terravista and Buffering behind.

Delectation returns to scale

Chautauqua

Terravista

Buffering

The Group 1 Emirates Stakes was up next and my top pick was the young New Zealand stallion Turn Me Loose, trained by Caulfield Cup winning trainer Murray Baker. I’d been impressed with Turn Me Loose’s  win in the Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate day where he led from start to finish.

He did the same in the Emirates Stakes and hung on to win narrowly over the fast finishing Politeness. Outsider, Rock Sturdy ran third.

Emirates Stakes finish – horses spread across the track

Turn Me Loose returns to scale after winning the Emirates Stakes

Politeness playing up as she is guided to the starting gates

Rock Sturdy on his way to the starting gates

I stayed for Race 8, the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes as I was keen to see Lucia Valentina in action and hoping that she would win. She hadn’t won a race since winning the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes last spring.

The Matriarch Stakes is a race for mares over 2000 metres, and it was the easiest race she had contested for over a year, her latest runs being in top class events.

Her class prevailed and the heavy going suited her.  She won by a length from Manageress with Casino Dancer taking third place.

Matriarch Stakes finish – Lucia Valentina is the widest  runner in the picture

Lucia Valentina on her way to the barriers

Manageress returns to scale

Casino Dancer on her way to the barriers

And so ended what turned out to be a fantastic Spring Racing Carnival.

It all started fairly quietly back in August with a variety of horses winning the major Group 1 events. The only horse to win more than one Group 1 race was Winx, whose Cox Plate victory was the highlight of the season. Her other Group 1 win was the Epsom Stakes at Randwick, another spectacular performance.

Other highlights:

Chautauqua’s three wins this spring in the Group 2 McEwen Stakes at Moonee Valley in September, the Group 2 Gilgai Stakes at Caulfield and the Group 1 Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley in October.

Mongolian Khan’s Caulfield Cup, Prince of Penzance and Michelle Payne’s Melbourne Cup,  Jameka’s Crown Oaks, and Turn Me Loose in the Emirates Stakes.

Remarkably the three big events of the season were all won by locally (including New Zealand) bred horses and the much hyped Internationals and Imports were generally missing in action. Perhaps Australia’s staying stocks are not that bad after all and certainly New Zealand bred stayers are still a force to be reckoned with.

There is quite an interesting meeting at Sandown this coming Saturday, but I am not inclined to attend, content to watch it from home.

After that Perth has a brief Spring Racing carnival featuring three excellent Group 1 races, then it’s Christmas and the horse racing dead season until late January when it all sparks up again with the Group 2 Australia Stakes at Moonee Valley.

There are however the Gold Coast Magic Millions two and three year old races in January which are generally pretty interesting in light of the Golden Slipper and Blue Diamond Stakes.

I won’t know what to do with myself on Saturday afternoons from now on, but no doubt I’ll find something else to write about; music and books for instance.

As for the punt this racing season, I hardly had a bet so my racing outings were all pretty cheap. My sole good win was on the Caulfield Cup with a bonus bet on my online Sportsbet account.

The Sun, The Stars & Romance of Racing

Lucia Valentina rugged after winning the Turnbull Stakes

Astrologically it’s not all that surprising that Lucia Valentina won the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes last Saturday. The current zodiac sign is Libra and some of its attributes are love, romance and partnerships, its ruling planet being Venus, goddess of Love.

I made a note of last Saturday’s winners, and several of them could be said to have Venusian names. Lucia Valentina is one as is Blazer Stakes winner Forever Loved. In Sydney, He’s Your Man and Brazen Beau both won their respective races and Rising Romance narrowly lost out on winning the Craven Plate to Moriarty, whose name is almost the antithesis to Venus, being Sherlock Holmes arch enemy and more associated with Scorpio.

Though I am a believer in the power of Astrology, I don’t really put much faith in choosing winners based on the zodiac sign active at the time of year. But it is quite interesting to note what names the winners of races bear in relation to the astrological aspects, and surprisingly there are always a few horses who fit the bill.

Enough on Astrology, and on to my day at the races.

It was a splendid warm and sunny day on Saturday – t-shirts and sandals weather – so it was a pleasure to be outdoors at the beautiful Flemington racecourse even though the roses are not yet in bloom.

Arriving just after the running of Race 2, the UCI Stakes which was won by Magicool a half brother to Super Cool, who wears the same silks as his older brother, I headed as usual to the stalls area to see who had already arrived.

Living Legends Efficient and Zipping were parading in the walking ring as I got there, both former winners of the Turnbull Stakes – Efficient won it in 2009 and Zipping won in 2010.

Efficient

Zipping

Also walking around were several contenders for the feature race…

Happy Trails

Silent Achiever

The Offer

And others were waiting in their stalls…

Puissance de Lune

Let’s Make Adeal

As it was almost time for Race 3, the Group 3 Bart Cummings, I hastened back to the public lawn to watch it run.

The starting gates for this 2520 metre race are placed just in front of the mounting yard, but I failed to get a photo of the start as a couple of owners (presumably) blocked my view.

The race was won by Who Shot Thebarman by 2½ lengths from Marksmanship with Anudjawun running third. I did not have a bet on this race, in fact I only bet on three races all afternoon, for a win and a third place.

Who Shot Thebarman returns to scale after winning the Bart Cummings

I was pleased Who Shot Thebarman won as he was one of my Star Stable horses, so scored me points in the competition.

My Star Stable did very well on Saturday with a few of them winning the major races – He’s Your Man (Epsom Handicap), Lucia Valentina (Turnbull Stakes)

Back at Flemington, the next race on the cards was the Vintage Stakes, a 1400 metre race for three year olds.

The Darren Weir trained Stratum Star was the winner, with Manhattan Avenue and Kapset filling the minor places.

Stratum Star returns to scale after winning the Vintage Stakes

Chautauqua, the sensational winner of Race 5, the Group 2 Gilgai Stakes, seems to have come from out of the blue into the spotlight. He first came to notice in the Bobby Lewis Quality on 13 September, a race I didn’t witness as I’d left the course before it was run. Anyway, Chautauqua won that race by a couple of lengths and created a positive impression, but he won the Gilgai Stakes by four lengths, confirming that he is a sprinting force to be reckoned with.  We can look forward to him taking on Lankan Rupee and Buffering in either the Manikato Stakes or the VRC Sprint Classic.

Chautauqua was my first bet of the day, and even though he started favourite his odds were a reasonable $3.00, so I made a fair profit on my outlay, which basically financed the other two bets I placed. He’s also in my Star Stable.

New Zealand mare Bounding ran second with Final Crescendo filling third spot.

Bounding in the mounting yard

Chautauqua in the mounting yard

Spirit of Boom in the mounting yard

Chautauqua returns to scale after winning the Gilgai Stakes

Returning to the stalls area -  a fair walk up the public lawn, I noticed two small ravens sitting on the Makybe Diva statue – a good omen perhaps as two ravens are for joy, according to the old rhyme.

Ravens perched on Makybe Diva statue

In race 6, the Edward Manifold Stakes I decided to put my money on Pittsburgh Flyer, mostly because she was in my Star Stable.  I should have forgiven Fontein Ruby her last loss, for she redeemed herself with a vengeance and Pittsburgh Flyer ended up running fourth behind Maastricht and Crafty who ran second and third.

Fontein Ruby heads for the track

One filly, I’m A Flying Star didn’t want to leave the mounting yard, and had to be persuaded to go to the barriers.

I’m A Flying Star baulks at leaving the mounting yard

She did however compete in the race, which is more than can be said of  Suavito in the Blazer Stakes (race 8) who refused to leave the barrier and missed the race entirely.

As the next race was the Turnbull Stakes, I decided to catch up with Super Cool and his strapper Jade to whom I’ve been supplying photos via Dropbox.

He was being saddled up when I reached his stall, so I lingered until he was ready. While Jade demonstrated his sweet and laid back temperament by getting him to kiss her…

 

…I overheard his trainer Mark Kavanagh telling another bystander how he came to be called Super Cool. Apparently before they had named him, they noticed one day that he had three kids sitting on his back and he was completely unfazed by this attention. As Mark Kavanagh remarked, he couldn’t give a shit...

Returning trackside I got a good position on the mounting yard fence to get photos of the main contenders…

Brambles – ran third

Lidari – ran second

Green Moon – second last

Happy Trails with Super Cool following

 
Puissance de Lune – finished fourth

Silent Achiever – finished ninth

Lucia Valentina – the winner

Stipulate – finished fifth

Super Cool – a disappointing eleventh

Lucia Valentina became the first mare to win the Turnbull Stakes since Devil Moon took it out in 2007.  Before her Makybe Diva (2005) and Sunline (2001) also won the race.

Here’s an old photo of Devil Moon taken at Moonee Valley on Manikato Stakes Day in 2007 after she won the Group 2 Cranes Stakes (now known as the Stocks Stakes). 

Devil Moon – Moonee Valley 15 September 2007

Anyway it’s rare for a mare to win the race, and Lucia Valentina, after being under an injury cloud for most of the week, won it by ½ length from Lidari and Brambles who raced up on the speed for most of the race with Lucia Valentina swooping from mid field to deny them victory. She is now outright Caulfield Cup favourite, and she quite possibly can win it.

Lucia Valentina returns to scale

I did not wager on the Turnbull Stakes, being unable to make up my mind on a selection, so was delighted with Lucia Valentina’s win.

Deferring leaving the course after the feature race, I stayed to watch Race 8,  the Group 2 Blazer Stakes, where I fancied May’s Dream who had a good record of winning second up. The Gai Waterhouse trained Forever Loved won comfortably from Enquare with May’s Dream finishing third.  The big drama was the favourite, Suavito, refusing to leave the barriers, which was only noticed by race caller Greg Miles half way through the race.

May’s Dream leaving the mounting yard

Forever Loved returns to scale after winning the Blazer Stakes

Throughout the afternoon I caught up with the Sydney racing action.

He’s Your Man pipped his stable mate Royal Descent at the post to win the Epsom Handicap with outsider Hooked running third.

First Seal won the Flight Stakes in dynamic fashion by 3 lengths from Winx with Thinking of You running third. The top three fillies in the race a natural trifecta.

And in The Metropolitan Junoob made it two wins in succession, beating home Opinion and Araldo.

After collecting my place winnings on May’s Dream which were a pretty good $2.25, I headed to the station and home.

It was a very enjoyable day at the races, and I was pleased to witness two possible new stars of the turf in Chautauqua and Lucia Valentina in action. Also I wouldn’t be surprised if Who Shot Thebarman was somewhere in the finish in the Melbourne Cup.

Next week is Caulfield Guineas Day at Caulfield. I pre-purchased an early bird ticket ages ago, so mean to attend. There are four Group 1 races and an excellent support card to boot.