The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – 24th October Edition

The overseas raiders dominated the Cox Plate, a veteran bounced back to his Group l best while a three year old continued his love affair with Randwick. All that and more in this weeks edition of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’.

KEY NEWS:

Northern Hemisphere 1-2-3 In Cox Plate

The money early afternoon suggested Russian Camelot was the one to beat in the Cox Plate, but the very late money, in a big way, was for Sir Dragonet, and punters got it absolutely spot on as the former European, now with the Maher/Eustace camp, gave his rivals a galloping lesson under big race rider Glen Boss to win the Cox Plate, leading home a 1-2-3 for the Northern Hemisphere breds, with Armory finishing second ahead of Russian Camelot.

Hey Doc Wins Manikato

Hey Doc wound back the clock for the McEvoy camp and continued his liking for the Valley circuit, winning another Manikato Stakes at the Valley on Friday night. He was there to be run down at the top of the straight but proved too good for Trekking and Dirty Work, with the stable declaring post race that this win was one of the more emotional wins of their career.

Peltzer Dominant In Bondi

Peltzer seems to really enjoy racing at Randwick and races like the Randwick Guineas and Doncaster Mile in the Autumn beckon for this three year old after he made it four wins from as many starts at the track with an all the way win in the feature of the day at Randwick, the Bondi Stakes (1600m). In heavy conditions, the son of So You Think led throughout and was much too good.

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:

When it comes to this season alone, at the moment, in the riding ranks across Australia, it is Jamie Kah and then daylight. She is just riding so well at the moment, winning four races on Cox Plate Day, and all four rides were absolute peach steers, notably Miami Bound in the Moonee Valley Cup.

DEBUT OF THE WEEK:

Tara Jasmine was backed with confidence early when debuting on Tuesday at Grafton, and I thought she was dominant in winning. Was there to be run down at the top of the straight, but she was far too good and ran solid enough time relative to the meeting. Staying in the Northern Rivers, she can be placed to advantage.

RIDE OF THE WEEK:

Thought it was a brilliant ride from Olly aboard Russian Camelot. Drawn wide, he could have snagged back to last, but like most, he saw the track pattern and rode accordingly, sending him forward and after a few hundred metres, landed the 1/1. Horse wasn’t good enough, but the ride gave him every chance to win.

SLAUGHTER OF THE WEEK:

Ugly, ugly watch aboard Wandabaa and Tommy Berry. Every move he made, he tried to get a gap but it closed, so eventually had to concede ground/momentum, ease wider and launch late, just missing out on the win. Think with a clear run, she clearly wins the race.

HORSES TO FOLLOW:

Criaderas – Nice horse. But his racing pattern needs to improve big time
Tempest Charm – She was enormous considering the pattern of the day
Arcadia Queen – I think had she not nearly fell, she goes close to winning
Mugatoo – Absolutely enormous