A potential superstar was unearthed at Ascot, feature racing was held at Doomben while the cow paddock which is Pakenham hosted stand alone Saturday racing. All that and more in this weeks edition of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’.
KEY NEWS:
I Tell Ya, She’s Special
Just how good is the Adam Durrant trained mare This’ll Testya? The Bunbury maiden win on debut was brilliant…but the effort at Ascot on Saturday was stunning. Led throughout, bolted up by nearly seven lengths and absolutely smashed the clock in winning over 1100m. At start two, straight to Saturday company, that’s just so impressive and she’s destined for better things, with Durrant declaring she’s, potentially, the best horse he’s put a saddle on.
Brilliant Return By Spurcraft
Spurcraft hadn’t raced for nearly seven months, only had one jumpout leading in, but that didn’t matter to he, trainer Charlotte White and jockey Les Tilley as the speed demon returned to racing in outstanding order in leading throughout to win the Bribie (1050m) at Doomben. Short course racing is his go in life and there are plenty of options for him over the Summer Carnival.
Etah James Surprises In Pakenham Cup
The way the track played, it was a case of anything goes at Pakenham and that’s how it panned out in the Cup, with outsider Etah James under Fred Kersley scoring a tough win in the 2500m feature. The mare, who had been out of form prior, got into the right spot and despite being there to be run down, she was strong to the line in winning.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:
How can you go past This’ll Testya. She was stunning on debut at Bunbury and backed it up on the clock. Was expected to win at Ascot and she did in even more impressive fashion, and again smashing the clock relative to the day. How good is she? Time will tell, but off a short sample size, she’s destined for blacktype.
DEBUT OF THE WEEK:
Bit surprised Sancy was somewhat disrespected in early markets off an impressive trial at Wyong but she backed that trial up, was well backed and landed the money at Rosehill in a 2YO race which looked to have a bit of depth on paper, and she somewhat pulled up when hitting the front so there is a bit to like about her.
RIDE OF THE WEEK:
There would have been some pressure on Jarrod Fry given he got the late call up to replace Ben Melham aboard the well fancied Yulong January in the VOBIS race at Pakeham. Bad luck was taken out of the equation after a couple of strides when humming over from the wide gate to lead, control things from the front and nothing was going to beat him from the 600m. Lovely ride.
SLAUGHTER OF THE WEEK:
I could sit here all night and list the ordinary steers I saw today. To name a few:
Nash Rawiller on Word For Word
Dan Griffin on Way Beyond
Steph Thornton on Red Stina
Nick Keal on Snitch
Jim Byrne on Latin Boy
Robbie Fradd on Le Juge
Barend Vorster on Disco Rebel
HORSES TO FOLLOW:
Pinup Miss – Big track, more genuine tempo, can win again
Lucicello – Relaxed better, can sit closer in the run and win next time
Poetic Charmer – 1400m next time for him
Lynch Mob – Too far back
Snitch – Set an impossible task from where he was
Le Juge – He’s flying. Horror watch
ONE MORE CHANCE:
Nordic – Back in trip the negative. Needs a rise to 2400m
Starla – Did too much wrong. Can win off a more genuine speed
Outrageous – Forgiving for one poor run
Wise Hero – Better than that surely
Astro Toy Boy – Want to see him again
Red Stina – Ordinary ride, so forgive and forget
Latin Boy – Given no chance, don’t sack him
NEVER EVER AGAIN:
Statuesquely – She’s been disappointing this prep
(In Town) Up The Stairs – Country horse only
Magione – Very poor from him
Akasaki – No more for me
Pakenham As A Saturday Meeting – Track isn’t up to Saturday standard