Horse Racing The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – 8/10/2022

Anamoe stamped himself as a champion, the Blue Army dominated Caulfield while the Sydney halted Randwick. All that and more in this weeks edition of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’.

KEY NEWS:

Anamoe Wins Epic Might And Power

There was a doubt on Anamoe and how he was going after the George Main where he was 3/5 lame, but two minutes of racing at Caulfield in a memorable edition of the Might And Power (2000m) confirmed he is the best middle distance horse in Australia and will go around as Cox Plate favourite, producing an unbelievable finale to wear them down. With upside to come, he’s clearly the one to beat in two weeks time.

Godolphin Dominate Caulfield

It was a red letter day for James Cummings and Godolphin on Saturday at Caulfield, winning four of the ten races, including two of the big ones, Anamoe winning the Might And Power before Golden Mile secured his life post racing with a gritty Caulfield Guineas triumph. The stable has been flying the last few weeks and the Caulfield demolition confirmed it.

Randwick Called Off After Six Races

The Sydney wet caused Randwick to be called off after six races, with the inaugural edition of the Tapp=Craig proving to be the sixth and final race on the program. What was bizarre was after the fifth race, the jockeys met with the Stewards and a ‘Gentlemans Agreement’ was reached where they would stay away from the inside down the side and race out wide in fresh ground. Given the inside was red hot for the day, that wasn’t going to last, and with heavy rain, continuing, the meeting was called off.

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:

How can you go past Anamoe and his performance in the Might And Power. He looked to crab on the turn and lost all hope it seemed, but he balanced up and just launched late to win a memorable race. He’s now a Group l winner at 2, 3 and now 4 years of age. He’s a champion and a win in the Cox Plate will rubber stamp him a champion.

DEBUT OF THE WEEK:

King’s Gambit, I don’t think, beat much at Caulfield in the Debutant, but gee there was a bit of arrogance about the way he put them away. He was absolutely bolting in the run under Blake Shinn and it was just a matter of him easing to the outside and he won like it was a barrier trial. Either they are no good, or he’s a very good juvenile.

RIDE OF THE WEEK:

I thought the ride from Ryan Hurdle aboard Bamyan Buddha at Morphettville on Saturday was very good. He was the first jockey to realise that wider the better was the spot to be. He was happy to sit four and five wide for the trip and the ride won the race. As we saw later in the day, the rest cottoned on. Great ride.

SLAUGHTER OF THE WEEK:

The decision to race that meeting at Randwick. Stevie Wonder could see that the meeting wouldn’t run its course, first with the track being Heavy10, and then raceday rain, and with Randwick, you just have to sneeze on it during the day and it becomes a cow paddock. I saw an article saying that The Everest meeting is now boosted thanks to postponed races being moved to next Saturday…how about the track and how bad it’s going to be. The meeting should have been moved, even allowing for how important the hospitality/corporate factor is, but purely from a racing perspective, it was terrible.

HORSES TO FOLLOW:

Kin – Flying and bursting to win one
Triple Missile – Excellent return. He’ll win during Cup Week
Nonconformist – Ticking along beautifully for the Caulfield Cup
I Am Lethal – Coming winner. Had no hope from the gate

ONE MORE CHANCE:

Old Flame – Get him to Flemington
Berkeley Square – If he goes to the Derby, he’ll be hard to beat, likewise Osipenko and Amenable
Callsign Mav – Choked down. Total forgive
Another Award – Nice horse but not in Melbourne

NEVER EVER AGAIN:

Hill Smith Stakes – How is this a Stakes race?
Shelby Sixtysix – Call me an armchair expert, but what are they doing with this horse?
I Wish I Win – The hype isn’t real
Battleton – He’s an off season Saturday class horse at best. Not Stakes quality