Saturday’s Doomben recap
Race 1 Doomben Dash
A few of these met on August 1st at Eagle Farm, namely Fab Fevola and Honest Truth. Fab Fevola we backed last time at Eagle Farm and it was run down by Honest Truth as they went along at a very good clip. With the flying machine Monashee Dancer engaged in this race the pace was anticipated to be very strong, further enhancing the chances of Honest Truth to sit off them and run them down. However that was not the case as Fab Fevola and Monashee Dancer decided to lope along at a moderate tempo. Surprisingly at the 150m Monashee Dancer dropped off but the advantage was to the leader who covered the last 600m in 33.7. Honest Truth and Daunting Lad got to the line well under the circumstances.
Race 2 and 3
No comment, both poor races.
Race 4 Hampden Stakes
Very interesting race from the point of view of future form. As I said in the online commentary I felt that both favourite’s were vulnerable. Steel Dragon having been up for a while and drawn wide, Starstreamed drawing inside which didn’t suit the horse as it gets back. Pace here was genuine and Ringa Ringa Rosie went past them all as if they weren’t there, completely dominating the race and suggesting it’s certainly a horse to follow out of this meeting. Notably a very big filly and by Bradbury’s Luck who are generally swimmers, however this horse has certainly proved that it needs to be on top of the ground. Big Chance ran home fairly, Steel Dragon was honest, but none of these are in the same class as the big filly.
Race 5 Chairman’s Handicap
Not much form here. This race was run at a very slow speed and Munce was able to shoot Crossthestart to the lead from the 500m and given the tempo and the fact they got home in 34.51 over the last 600m it advantaged those racing on the speed. As per usual Larry’s Never Late was very much one-paced and got to the line reasonably well and Lyncean Academy who notably has changed from Guy Walter stable to Steven O’Dea camp got to the line fairly. From a Brisbane Cup perspective nothing doing here. This race was run 10 lengths slower than the Rough Habit Plate and most of these are one-paced plodders.
Race 6 Rough Habit Plate
This race was run at a genuine clip and the Moody trained Tee Emar looked to have them covered from the turn as it shot clear but then proceeded to lay out in the straight, taking the run of The Hombre who lost it’s momentum. Subsequently despite crossing the line in first place a protest was lodged and the John Barry trained The Hombre was awarded the race. Of the beaten division, no surprise to us that Bluey’s Way didn’t measure up as it went into the race with inferior figures to Tee Emar and I certainly couldn’t envisage it being able to turn the table on any of these in future runs. The locally trained Sanderson got home fairly. From a Derby perspective I’ll wait and see what happens as both the winner and 2nd place-getter seem to lack the zip needed to win a Derby. Certainly not totally out of it though.
Race 7 BTC Cup
Off a moderate early tempo the race the leaders were certainly advantaged. Albert The Fat is no slouch having won 10 races but he did surprise me by winning, particularly given the fact that Melito had a clear shot at it and was unable to go past it over the last 50m. Having said that, the fact was they did cover the last 600 in 34.07 so any runner who was not on the speed was always going to find it difficult here. Certainly a horse like Ortensia who got well back as usual, and struggled to negotiate the Doomben turn, was set the impossible task of having to run sub 33 seconds for the final 600 to win. A horse to watch from the race is Latin News trained by Bart Cummings. It returned after a lengthy spell (16 months) to win the Gosford Guineas and really found the line here and may well be winning very soon.
Race 8 Class 6 Handicap
For a Class 6 Handicap the time was good at approximately 3 lengths inferior to the BTC Cup. This race was run at a very good tempo and surprisingly The Sixties was still able to put paid to them from the 300m when I would have expected something to come from behind. Last 600m was run in 35.15. Fleet ‘N’ Fast, Ulladulla and Gundy Son all ran to their usual ratings and were right there at the finish.
Horses to follow: Ringa Ringa Rosie, Latin News.
Horse to forget: Crossthestart.
Barrie COX says:
Thank you for the excellent presentation REGARDS Barrie Cox
[Reply]
May 22nd, 2010 at 7:45 am
Michael Noonan says:
This is a brilliant analysis.I watched all these races on replay and had these comments on hand.It was exact and also there were runs mentioned in the review i would have missed.
Pass on to Ed my congratulations on a job well done and also for having it available so early on Monday.
Its a great service and i anxiously await its arrival each Monday.
Big Thankyou.
Michael Noonan
[Reply]
May 25th, 2010 at 9:40 am