SHAMEXPRESS       DWAYNE DUNN   1st   $4
GALVEZ                   LUKE NOLEN       2nd   $4.40
CHASING KISSES    DEAN HOLLAND   3rd   $4.80
The early pace summed up this race, they walked through the first half of the race and it was very evident by the 400m that they were going to struggle to pick up the winner who looks very classy Shamexpress. He looked comfortable down his home straight and has more wins in him. The favourite was the Hayes runner Henia, he was last and on the fence and as quickly as we could see the winner being in no trouble we knew Henia was going to struggle to make enough ground. Chasing Kisses and Galvez were good but just not in the same league as the winner.
Worth noting:Â Follow the winner.
Race 2.    1600M   St John Plate Â
TOTAL ATTRACTION  BEN MELHAM   1st   $5
SILENT ATTITUDE    JACOB RULE    2nd   $18
BESANT           NOEL CALLOW  3rd   $11
The speed map had Kellora as the clear leader here but it was all upside down pretty quickly when she settled midfield and came with a run a faded, her performance was a little inconclusive. The winner Total Attraction was really good again. She showed that she can settle closer to the speed and finish off and whilst doing that she overcame a few difficulties in the straight. Silent Attitude was the Adelaide visitor and she really kicked well over the concluding stages but was just nailed close to the line.
Worth noting: Total Attraction was really good, follow her. Forgive Kellora nothing went right for her.
Race 3.    1400M   Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria
GOLDEN PENNY      STEVEN ARNOLD   1st   $5.50
LADY ROCK            JAKE NOONAN      2nd   $11
LEGION’S BELLE      JACOB RULE         3rd   $15
Legions Belle jumped well here and was able to stack them up throughout in a race that had very little speed. What that did was enable Golden Penny to run out a strong 1400m under the in form Arnold. She was tucked away throughout and was just a little too good for them with the run she had. Plenty made runs at the top of the straight but it was just too hard for them to make up any ground from back and wide.
Worth noting: Analyse your sectionals here to see what happened over the concluding stages. The margins won’t tell you the true outcome.
Race 4.    2000M   Life Saving Victoria Race to the Rescue Â
ROYAL MAIL     JAKE NOONAN   1st   $3.60F
VIKING HERO   DAMIEN OLIVER   2nd   $4.40
PERSIAN STAR  GLEN BOSS        3rd   $8
The best ride won the race and that goes went to Noonan and Royal Mail. Once they settled the speed was again slow and Noonan decided to make the move around them and take up the running. Being on pace and not a hard tempo it really suited him as he is rock hard fit and he was able to keep kicking with the handy claim. Umatic made a mid race move also and he battled on pretty well but was in the right spot. Viking Hero couldn’t really get going until late and he hit the line well. Hanks loomed up and was disappointing.
Worth noting: You can sack Hanks, he isn’t very serious.
Race 5.    1400M   Flying Doctor Plate Â
FLYINGCONI      CRAIG NEWITT   1st   $3.40
VOLANDO          LUKE NOLEN     2nd   $9
WEALTHY LAD   DWAYNE DUNN  3rd   $9
Another race where the speed maps were out of the window quick smart when Cannonball settled back and Anteros and Diamonds At Dusk worked forward. Wealthy Lad landed in the right spot and had an excellent run throughout. He just found a couple of them a little too classy. Can’t knock the winner Flyingconi, he had a good run throughout and really hit the line well. He has made good improvement. Smokin Joey had a great run but yet again had no luck, he never has luck! Volando hit the line well and she is working towards a nice win.
Worth noting: Smokin Joey has to be on his last legs. Volando looks the one to follow.
Race 6.    1000M   Kensington Stakes Â
FIRST COMMAND       STEVEN ARNOLD 1st   $4.80F
DECIRCLES              DWAYNE DUNN   2nd   $7.50
WEEKEND SPECIAL   MICHAEL RODD   3rd   $5
After initially being caught near the outside Arnold steered the winner First Command to the inside and the old timer really did well. He was able to sit just off of them and sprinted really well to hold off the fast finishing Weekend Special. Esprit De Bullet ran well although he didn’t place, he looks in for a good campaign. 3yo Decircles did pretty well also, he is lightly race and should continue to improve. The Soldier was taken to the outside fence in what was a bad error in judgement by the jockey.
Worth noting: Hard to pick up on pacers down the straight.
Race 7.    1700M   SES Victorian Volunteers Handicap Â
BOLTON   NICHOLAS HALL   1st   $6.50
CHASSE   CHRIS SYMONS   2nd   $5
SEGURO   JAKE NOONAN    3rd   $13
The planets aligned for Bolton and he dashed away to score an excellent win whilst on the quick back up. He was given a lovely ride by Hall and when the gaps opened he was able to work through and show enough turn of foot to put them away. Conquering Journey was heavily backed and yet again burnt punters that followed the money. He can’t be taken seriously. Ship In The Night was ridden upside down and that took away his finishing burst, poor tactics. Chasse did what he does best and that’s run into second and Seguro hit the line well for third and he is very close to a win.
Worth noting: Forgive Ship In The Night he settled to close to the speed.
Race 8.    1800M   Tributes HandicapÂ
INFUSE              STEVEN KING    1st   $4.20
PHANTOM BREW DAMIEN OLIVER  2nd   $9
SIDECAR             JAKE NOONAN   3rd   $8.50
Infuse was heavily backed, jumped well stacked them up and won well. He is a nice type on an upward spiral and will continue to improve and make less mistakes. He won this coming out of an RB58 and in the end he did it pretty easily and King had one ride one win. The rest of the race was fairly uneventful. Sidecar, Bold Trojan and Phantom Brew all worked and looked to plod to the line. Measin was again poor and not sure where to for him.
Worth noting: Follow Infuse
1st   Alberton Park      Chad Schofield
2nd  First Look        Hugh Bowman
3rd   Hatton Garden     Blake Shinn
We Betcha missed the start. Rosie’s Reward made its intentions known early but Forward Love kicked up inside it which ensured a good tempo. This left Rosmerta three wide on the speed with First Look and Alberton Park getting cushy runs in 4th and 5th. Once those in front were spent, these two settled down to fight it out with Alberton Park doing best for the win. Hatton Garden ran on reasonably well. The run of Recorrido was disappointing again. It seems she can occasionally look like a very good horse but for the moment is not going well.
Follow: Hatton Garden
Race 2
1st   Hardbreak Hotel Rod Quinn
2nd  Thumbtacks      Glyn Schofield
3rd   Royal Esprit      Hugh Bowman
Good pace again here with So So Sure finding the fence in front of Riding To Win. This left Thumbtacks in the cheap seats so it had to be restrained back in the field. Similar to the first race, this then gave Hardbreak Hotel and Equable very good runs behind the speed. Irish Jig was another caught wide that eventually had to go back. In the run to the line, Hardbreak Hotel killed them but the run of Thumbtacks was very good to run on again into second after the forwards/backwards tactics. Royal Esprit missed the kick but got past the rest in the straight to run third.
Follow: Thumbtacks
Race 3
1st   Cavalry Rose      Glyn Schofield
2nd  Diamond Earth    Peter Robl
3rd   Taxmeifyoucan    Hugh Bowman
Plenty of pace as expected in the two-year-old event with Diamond Earth finding the front. Cavalry Rose made good use of its inside barrier to hold the fence and end up just behind the leaders. Vavavic was caught three wide in third and Single In Paris had a horror run four wide. Diamond Earth took off upon straightening which let Cavalry Rose out of the pocket. At the 200m mark if you were on Diamond Earth you were shouting the bar however it stopped in the last 50m and Cavalry Rose kept coming to just get up on the line and she looked as if she will learn from the run. Not a lot can be said for the rest as they were a good margin away. I liked the way the winner kept trying in the run to the line.
Follow: Diamond Earth
Race 4
1st   War Charm        Peter Robl
2nd  Aberrant            Sam Clipperton
3rd   Cindarockinrella   Andrew Stead
Miss Spoken found the front from Abberant and they did not look to go as fast here as in the early events. Cindarockinrella and Diamond To Pegasus were the ones getting nice runs behind the speed. Angel Of Mercy and Hoylonny who were the top two in betting appeared to travel well in the run but were quickly in trouble upon straightening due to the slow pace and never threatened. The eventual winner in a blanket finish was War Charm which weaved its way through after an economical run three back on the fence. I am not sure the form of this race can be followed to reliably due to lack of pace.
Follow: Hoylonny (give it one more go, and look for a race with pace on)
Race 5
1st   Magic Weekend  Brenton Avdulla
2nd  Vilakazi Street   Glyn Schofield
3rd   Mighty Obvious   Tom Berry
Mighty Obvious was ridden with intention and found the lead. Princess Qualo was outside it with Magic Weekend caught three wide until eventually working to “the death seat”. They bunched up on the turn and in the end it was a fair effort by Magic Weekend to keep fighting all the way to the line and win narrowly from Vilakazi Street. The favourite in the race, Aeronautical, was out the back the whole way and never came into it. The form guide for him will have to read “see again”. Perhaps another race where the form may not be all that reliable.
Follow: None to follow
Race 6
1st   Cabernet            Brenton Avdulla
2nd  Parthian             Sean Guymer
3rd   Mr Unforgettable   Andrew Stead
They took a little while to sort themselves out here but eventually O’Crikey which looked the likely leader found that position. Key West was outside him giving Parthian a good smother on the fence behind the leader. The impressive winner of the race was Cabernet who smoked its pipe four back on the fence. It was obvious the horse was bolting on the turn and Brenton Avdulla knew it. He rode a patient race taking inside runs to make ground before switching around heals and the horse did the rest. In the end she came clear to win by about three lengths and she can be followed to win more races. The rest had no excuses in my opinion.
Follow: Cabernet
Race 7
1st   Single            Nathan Berry
2nd  Rolling Pin       Hugh Bowman
3rd   Tropicana Girl   Corey Brown
The most interesting race of the day and in the end, the recipe for success was simple. Class and tactical speed. Rolling Pin found the front with its big weight and the eventual winner Single took a lovely run in about 6th on the fence. Single had been tried in better races as a three-year-old and the spell since seems to have improved it. The Owl settled second in the run but dropped out badly in the straight and you can imagine it will go for a spell now. Single railed up behind Rolling Pin before the turn and you had the feeling he would always get past him and he did. Jimmy Fortunes and Irish Love both get a pass mark here, however Irish Love has bad barrier manners.
Follow: Jimmy Fortunes
Race 8
1st   Kinnersley               Adam Hyeronimous
2nd  Romanus                Chris Reith
3rd   Oakfield Commands   Jim Cassidy
Kinnersley was wide early so worked to the lead when the pace was not fast. Oakfield Commands who many probably expected to lead landed second in the run. Kinnersley kept finding in the straight to hold on for the win. You have to give full marks to Adam Hyeronimous for the ride as he summed it up nicely early and took some initiative. Romanus ran on as it often does to get into second in front of Oakfield Commands. Think Mink will be improved for the run and wound up fourth.
Follow: Think Mink
Specials from the meeting: Hatton Garden, Cabernet, Think Mink
