Horse Racing The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – 5/11/2022

The Melbourne Cup was won, again, by a class runner of the field, Nature Strip had his colours lowered again and Zaaki bounced back into the winners list. All that and more in this weeks edition of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’.

KEY NEWS:

Gold Trip Wins Melbourne Cup

He had only won the one race prior, but you can’t substitute class and Gold Trip had that in spades, which came to the fore and he was too good for them in the Melbourne Cup (3200m) on Tuesday, which was a proper staying contest and he ended up being the best stayer for Emissary with Bendigo Cup winner High Emocean in third.

Roch N Horse Spoils Another Party

Roch N Horse was $101 when winning the Newmarket earlier this year in a massive surprise and she spoiled the party again at Flemington, this time winning the Champions Sprint (1200m) and proving herself at WFA, lowering the colours of champion sprinter Nature Strip, while Everest winner Giga Kick was unlucky. The win provided both horse and rider Jamie Mott with their second Group l.

Zaaki Wins Champions Stakes

Zaaki made it two wins in a row in the Champion Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on Saturday, leading all the way like he did last year, though this time it was a different rider. James McDonald won on him last year and he rode Anamoe, who was a struggling fourth, so it was left to Jamie Kah, who got control in front and was never getting beat.

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:

How can you go past Soulcombe. Australian debut came in the Queens Cup on Saturday. He gave them 10+ lengths at one stage, but was trucking in the run before presenting wider and came with a well timed to run to win and win impressively. He looks a Cup horse for next year. Just a matter of getting him there in one piece.

DEBUT OF THE WEEK:

Unravel didn’t beat much on debut at Muswellbrook on Cup Day, but gee he won like a good horse. Not sure he was 100% happy on the bog track but he won with a bit of class and the big tick was that he ran good time relative to the meeting. You can follow him with confidence.

RIDE OF THE WEEK:

When there is a tearaway leader, some riders get nervous and want to chase it early. Josh Parr didn’t force the issue aboard Joyful Fortune at Flemington on Thursday. Yulong Command was humming in front and Parr just waited for it to tire, gliding up to it and finishing best. Patient ride won the race. That’s the perfect ride when it comes to chasing a leader.

SLAUGHTER OF THE WEEK:

There were a couple of really poor rides at Flemington on Derby Day, but the slaughter has to go to Jamie Spencer aboard Light Infantry in the Golden Eagle. Just little to no initiative shown on the overseas raider and by the time he did wake up, it was race over. Good thing beaten? No, but should have finished much closer. He’s a class rider, but his worst is very bad.

HORSES TO FOLLOW:

Quick Tempo – Should have bolted up on Cup Day at Randwick
Solar Apex – Flying
White Marlin – Cup horse for next year

ONE MORE CHANCE:

Eponymous – Pulled his head off. Don’t pen him
Castlereagh Kid – Races best when on speed
Honeycreeper – Needs a wet track

NEVER EVER AGAIN:

Sir Ravanelli – No more for me in Highway races
Ayrton – Just not the same horse
Bella Rouge – Had the ideal run but was plain late
Maximal – He’s not much good