Horse Racing The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – 21/5/2022

The Price/Kent Jr camp continued their Adelaide domination, a few balloons were popped at Flemington while Doomben got washed out. All that and more in this weeks edition of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’.

KEY NEWS:

Price/Kent Jr Flex At Morphettville, Again

Usually a Carnival domination is saved for Chris Waller and Maher/Eustace, but the Price/Kent Jr stable have made the Adelaide Carnival their own this year, which was set in stone on Saturday with Lombardo producing sustained speed to take out The Goodwood (1200m). Zac Spain took bad luck out of the equation by sending the horse forward from the wide gate and that was the end of the race.

Hype Horses Rolled At Flemington

These off season meetings at Flemington can produce a future top liner. On paper this afternoon, that looked like it could be the case again, and while Star Patrol didn’t let punters down, a couple of others did, with Front Page flopping in the Straight Six while Tuvalu got run down by a rank outsider and the jury is out on him.

Doomben Postponed

Mother nature has wreaked havoc with Brisbane in recent weeks and it claimed a feature meeting on Saturday with Doomben washed out, postponed until Wednesday. The entire meeting has been shifted, giving horses from the Doomben Cup, BRC Sprint and The Roses a chance to race for key races down the track.

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:

There’s a small list of horses that have produced a ‘wow’ win on a Thursday night at Pakenham. I can recall Russian Camelot, Marabi and more recently Illation. You can add Passive Aggressive to that list. What she did on Thursday night, with sustained speed, was something to behold. Outstanding performance from the front, eased down late, smashed the clock relative to the night…she’s destined for better things.

DEBUT OF THE WEEK:

Loved the all the way win of Bold Hoi Ho at Bendigo last Sunday. Led throughout under Billy Egan for Patrick Payne and it’s been quite evident in recent weeks, that the stable are electing to ride their horses more positively, with the results speaking for themselves. This horse ran good late time from the front and he can certainly win again with the right placement. Good horse I think.

RIDE OF THE WEEK:

Mark Zahra is on the top shelf when it comes to best riders during a Carnival. He has ridden a treat at Adelaide and he rode a 12/10 aboard Tha Amazonian in the SA Fillies Classic at Morphettville on Saturday. Drew 13/16 but shortly after jumping, landed the 1/1, and really, the race was over from that point given the filly lacks a turn of foot but stays.

SLAUGHTER OF THE WEEK:

I’ll start by saying when it comes to the North QLD riding ranks, it’s Ryan Wiggins and daylight next. But, he rode a howler on Thursday at Rockhampton aboard Police. He had ample opportunity to angle into the wide lane, peel wide for clear air, let down and win. But, he chose to stick between horses, ride for luck and while he did get the clear air, he copped a couple of heavy bumps and lost momentum while the eventual winner had the run that Police should have got. He rides better than anyone in that part of the world, but this ride was poor IMO.

HORSES TO FOLLOW:

Passive Aggressive – I think she’s city class at very least
Bitcoin Baby – Loomed, but condition gave out. She’s in for a good prep
Defining – Smart filly. Very negative ride
Extremely Lucky – He could be Group l quality
I Am Bene – I love her. She’s a very good horse for the future

ONE MORE CHANCE:

Accountability – Lone survivor of the genuine tempo. Brave
Worthily – D-Day next start
Coolth – 2400m next start and D-Day
Front Page – Better than that surely
Tuvalu – I want to see him ridden with a sit and have a bunny to chase
See You In Heaven – I hope the Thousand Guineas talk has stopped. She’s not that good. Placed right, she can win races

NEVER EVER AGAIN:

Media Starguest – Just not a line chaser
It’sourtime – Curran 2.0
Dalasan – He was terrible. No more
The Inferno – Messy prep, but gee he was ordinary
Extreme Warrior – Squib
Instant Celebrity – Breeding barn beckons