The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – March 4th Edition

Godolphin capped off their remarkable season with their two year olds, a “myth” finally got his major and a certain mare went okay. All that and more in this weeks edition of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’.

KEY NEWS:

Godolphin 1-2-3 In Slipper

The Godolphin operation has dominated two year old racing this season and that was capped off in the best possible way in the Golden Slipper on Saturday at Rosehill with James Cummings providing the quinella via surprise winner Kiamichi and Microphone, while the Blue Diamond winner, the Anthony Freedman trained Lyre, finishing third, in a real Blue Army domination.

Nature Strip Wins The Galaxy

Every cat has their day in the sun…but in all seriousness, it was an outstanding win from Nature Strip in the Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill, showing brilliant sustained speed from the front and gave nothing else a look in, clinging on to beat Pierata by the narrowest of margins. He now likely heads to the TJ Smith, where he is now a $11. I’m still keen to take him on at that level at 1200m, but he got his Group l win on Saturday and well done to all concerned.

Winx Just Being Winx

It really is difficult to think of something new when it comes to describing Winx and her deeds. She set another world record in the George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday. It was her third Group l she’s won four times, which is indeed another world record to add to her CV. She was dominant once again under Hugh Bowman and spaced her rivals with absolute ease, yet again.

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:

Making up significant ground was difficult to do at times on the Rosehill track on Saturday, so the effort of Pierata to get as close as he did to Nature Strip in the Galaxy was unbelievable and you really have to feel for the connections. Another 1cm and the horse is worth $10+ Million. He may well get his day in the sun in a couple of weeks time for the TJ Smith.

DEBUT OF THE WEEK:

Evening Spice debuted for John Sadler at Pakenham on Thursday over 1200m and did a pretty good job in defeat when on speed and fighting on to run third to a smart one in Bonaparte. Market said she’d need the run and that was right late as her condition gave out. She can improve on that and win soon.

RIDE OF THE WEEK:

Jamie Kah is one of the best in Australia and showed it once again with an absolute peach on Midterm in the Manion Cup. Poured the pressure on from around the 700m mark, put pay to Big Blue and was never in doubt of the win, holding a safe margin to the line. Stable has had a lean run at the moment, but that might well be the start of a fruitful few weeks at the ‘Provincials’.

SLAUGHTER OF THE WEEK:

Take nothing away from Sunlight given the work she did to find the lead…but Spright should have won. It was just a horrendous watch if you were on and instead of peeling wide, Jason Collett rode for luck and for the most part didn’t get it. Got clear late and savaged the line to just miss but really, I think with clear air she wins.

HORSES TO FOLLOW:

Avantage/Into The Abyss – The former will be hard to beat in the Arrowfield, the latter can win either the PJ Bell/James Carr on a dry deck
Wild Planet – One of the runs of the day given he was first up and copped serious heat on speed
Surely Sacred – Was heavily against the NZ Derby form…might have to rethink that
He’s Eminent – Took a high class/hard fit animal to beat him. Dry deck, can place in the Queen Elizabeth
Yes Yes Yes – Dry deck and he goes I think. Would love to see him at 1400m in the Sires
Pierata – He’s right on track for the TJ

ONE MORE CHANCE:

Classique Legend – Very good in defeat given the run he had
Shraaoh – Not sure he was entirely happy on the surface, want to see him again
Redzel – Copped a bump early on and was off stride/balance, have to forgive

NEVER EVER AGAIN:

Camp View – Hard to trust as a punter, doing too much wrong
Defence Missile – Every chance, not good enough
Girl Tuesday – Meow