The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – 10th October Edition

‘The Wizard’ stole the show at Caulfield, putting on a clinic, while a star filly won another big feature at Randwick. All that and more in this weeks edition of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’.

KEY NEWS:

Pike Dominates Caulfield

The knock on Willie Pike for a number of years is that he dominated a fish bowl, with the fish bowl being Perth. But on one of the biggest stages on the Australian calendar, ‘The Wizard’ put on an absolute clinic, riding four winners for the afternoon, including a couple of majors, one of those being the feature, the Caulfield Guineas (1600m) aboard Ole Kirk. He proved that he can match it with the best in the business.

Russian Camelot Flops, Arcadia Queen Brilliant

The plan was supposed to be Russian Camelot wins the Caulfield Stakes, wins the Cox Plate, then wins the Melbourne Cup, then next year goes to France and win an Arc…Arcadia Queen had other ideas and at her first look at 2000m, the Group l winning mare was stunning in winning the Caulfield Stakes, making Russian Camelot look second rate, and has now made the Cox Plate wide open.

Montefilia Wins Spring Champion

Hungry Heart and Vangelic couldn’t back up from the gutbusting Flight Stakes last Saturday into the Thousand Guineas this afternoon but the winner of the Flight, Montefilia, showcased her star qualities with a strong win in the Spring Champion, making it two Group l wins in seven days. Trainer David Payne will likely send the mare to Melbourne for the Oaks, where she is now favourite.

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:

The training effort of Team Williams to get Arcadia Queen back as a Group l winner is outstanding. She looked gone after the Golden Eagle and more so after a couple of inconclusive runs this time in, but she found firm ground, got to 2000m and most importantly, the dreaded Bar Plates came off. She’s right in the Cox Plate mix now.

DEBUT OF THE WEEK:

Thought there was a bit of quality about the debut win of To The Nines at Canberra. Punters knew he was ready to go given he was $2.35 to $2.10 and he bolted up under McDougall. Ran quicker time than the 1000m Class One and was only a couple of lengths off the 1000m Open Handicap. He can win again for sure.

RIDE OF THE WEEK:

The thing that was a concern for Fiesta is how far back would she get in the run. But Hugh Bowman put in an absolute peach. Got her three/four wide cover off the speed within a couple of lengths of the leaders on the turn and once she was that close in the run, it was game over. Lovely ride from a world class hoop.

SLAUGHTER OF THE WEEK:

Have a look at the replay of Line Up Girls at Port Macquarie this afternoon. First to jump and a squeeze would see her settle in the first few. He dragged her back to last in the run and found backsides throughout in the run. Clearly should have won and will be interesting to see what the Stewards Report says.

HORSES TO FOLLOW:

She’s Ideel – On track for a race like the City Tatts Cup in two weeks. Massive win
Jet Propulsion – He’s going to be a good horse in the Autumn
Alligator Blood – He’ll come right on from that effort
Extreme Warrior – Should have gone close to winning. Good debut
Swats That – Confirming that the Cap D’Antibes is shaping up to be one of the best form references of the Spring
Mo’unga – He’s going to be a star. Just needs time

ONE MORE CHANCE:

Human Nature – Second up syndrome maybe?
Hungry Heart – I haven’t fallen out of love…yet. Hindsight, shouldn’t have backed up
Orderofthegarter – Better than that surely?

NEVER EVER AGAIN:

Scarlet Dream – I’ve had enough of her
Splintex – Speedy squib
(From a betting perspective) Russian Camelot – Yes, pulled in the run, but Arcadia Queen came from behind him and won with ease. He’s a clear punting risk in the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup