The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – February 1st Edition

Some of the Autumn Carnival big guns were out on display at Randwick and Caulfield on Saturday while the Golden Slipper picture started to take shape. All that and more in this weeks edition of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’.

KEY NEWS:

Seth Super In Manfred

Caulfield Guineas winner Super Seth continued his love affair with the Heath, resuming with a bang in taking out the Manfred Stakes (1200m) on Saturday. Mark Zahra had him in a perfect spot just off the speed before angling clear and his class came to the fore, beating a very game Free Of Debt. Dalasan slightly missed the start and that sealed his fate.

3YO A Standout In Expressway

The Gerald Ryan trained three year old Standout continued the dominance of the younger brigade against the older horses in feature races with a commanding first up win the Expressway Stakes (1200m) at Randwick, comfortably fending off star mare and a horse that has claims to being the best in Australia, Kolding. As to where this guy goes next is unknown but it further confirms how strong this 3YO crop is.

Maher/Eustace Stable Stamp Slipper Credentials Again

It seems to be you can’t have a week of racing without the Maher/Eustace camp winning a feature 2YO race and the stable are on song towards the Golden Slipper with Away Game and Prague confirming their place in the big dance with wins in the Widden and Canonbury respectively. Both needed to win in order to boost prizemoney to get into the field and with the wins, both should be safe.

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:

Wasn’t the best race for the week in terms of class, but it was a massive win from Greenspan in the Highway at Randwick. Was wide no cover throughout and normally that would seal the fate, but Sam Clenton was able to keep her cool on the John Bateman runner and the horse was just too classy for them in winning. Big win.

DEBUT OF THE WEEK:

Didn’t set the world on fire re overall time, but just have to trust your eye and the debut win of Ellis Park at Sandown on Monday was excellent. Sat on speed and looked to drift about early on in the straight but once he properly balanced up, he put them away and was impressive, dashing home with real purpose. He can win more races for sure.

RIDE OF THE WEEK:

A jockey that shows initiative…it’s a thing of beauty and Hugh Bowman produced it in spades aboard Hostage Of War at Canterbury on Friday night. Led at a slow tempo but he elected to take off 600m out and those behind were just asleep. He was full bore on the turn and held a safe margin to the line. Ride won the race.

SLAUGHTER OF THE WEEK:

Couple of ordinary steers in small fields. Starting with Tommy Berry aboard September Run in the Widden. Not sure why he chose to kick forward and work, sitting wide no cover in the field of five. Thought the filly did a good job to stick on as well as she did given the hard run. The other poor ride was Ron Stewart aboard Trevelyan at Eagle Farm. It was always going to be a race where they would crawl. Firstly was somehow three wide. Why he snagged back I do not know. Admittedly, horse was poor, but the ride gave it no chance.

HORSES TO FOLLOW:

Dalasan – He’s crying out for further
Fabric – Up in trip on firmer ground next time

ONE MORE CHANCE:

September Run – Given an ordinary steer. Don’t entirely drop off her
Fasano – Perhaps 1600m+. One more look before penning him
River Bird – Forgive a horse for one poor run
Our Luca – Legless on wet ground. Forget he went around

NEVER EVER AGAIN:

Love Shack Baby – She’s racing really poorly at the moment
(On dry ground) Monsieur Sisu – Wet tracker only
Hi Stranger – Eligible for provincial races. That’s his level for now
Miss Leonidas – Had been jumping out just fair and ran well below par. Only gets harder from here