Horse Racing The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – 12/2/2022

A bonny mare continued her love affair with 1400m Group l races, the Blue Diamond picture is still unclear while a former giant killer is becoming a proper giant. All that and more in this weeks edition of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’.

KEY NEWS:

Tofane Wins CF Orr

Caulfield hadn’t been a happy hunting ground for leaders for the afternoon but it all changed at the right time for Mark Zahra and trained Michael Moroney with classy mare Tofane going gate to wire in taking out the Group l CF Orr (1400m) at Caulfield. It was also a race dominated by fence in run, another thing that hadn’t been the case at the meeting prior, with Lighthouse and Cascadian filling minor spots.

More Questions Than Answers After Preludes

Prior to the Blue Diamond Preludes, the talk was that the winner would all but be found and the picture would become quite clear. And while the results for the respective connections were very good, especially Julius Sandhu with Lofty Strike, the Blue Diamond picture is as clear as mud, with indifferent results, a couple of unlucky runs, horses with improvement to come.

Think It Over Dominates Apollo

He was ‘Johnny on the spot’, but Think It Over is underestimated no more as a top class horse after making a mess of them in the feature race at Randwick on Saturday, the Apollo Stakes (1400m). He got the perfect drag up behind the two leaders and once Nash gave him clear air, it was race over and he spanked them. His Autumn looks like a fruitful one for all concerned.

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:

He gets the better as the prep goes on, so the first up demolition of Lost And Running in the Southern Cross certainly bodes well for the remainder of the campaign, setting up a dream clash with Zaaki in the Canterbury Stakes. He was similar to Think It Over, getting the A1 run behind the speed, but he just had way too much class on them and was dominant.

DEBUT OF THE WEEK:

I think Tony Gollan has a smart colt in Preach. He was sharp on debut at Ipswich on Wednesday. Impressive to the eye and the clocked backed it up, running three lengths faster time than a hot Class 1 later in the day. Off that performance, he can come straight to Saturday grade and win.

RIDE OF THE WEEK:

Absolute peach from Jamie Kah aboard Marine One. He was likely going to sit outside the speed but wasn’t 100% brilliant out of the gates. He could have easily hunted up to hold the spot outside the speed but instead Kah eased to get the tag behind the speed and that proved to be the winning move.

SLAUGHTER OF THE WEEK:

I’m sure there were a few, but I couldn’t find one from Saturday.

HORSES TO FOLLOW:

Lost And Running – He’ll make sure Zaaki knows he’s in a race in the Canterbury Stakes
Fangirl – I’d love to see her in an All Star Mile. She’s a star
Espiona – Dug up and sat wide. Lost no admirers
Startantes – She’s got a good race in her. Potentially a Coolmore Classic?
Jacquinot – He can win the Blue Diamond, but needs to jump

ONE MORE CHANCE:

Metallicity – Off that, he’s not a Slipper winner, but still a nice horse
Casino Kid – End of prep run, but a super campaign
Yiyi – 2000m next start will be D-Day
Artorius – He’ll win a good race…but the pockets will need to be deep

NEVER EVER AGAIN:

Captain Reign – Unless it’s 900m at Newcastle or on a hot leaders track, he’s not a winning prospect
She’s All Class – Her class is zero
Fundraiser – I think the MV run has busted him. Plain late
Behemoth – He’s been a great story. But his Group l winning days are limited, potentially behind him