The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – March 6th Edition

The trainwreck from last Saturday for punters continued for the most part this Saturday with long priced feature winners, while a bonny mare got a deserved Group l triumph. All that and more in this weeks edition of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’.

KEY NEWS:

Zoutori Wins Newmarket, September Run Flops

Straight track specialist Zoutori continued his love affair with Flemington by recording the biggest win of his career in taking out the Newmarket Handicap (1200m) on Saturday, wearing down WA speedster Indian Pacific in a tight go. It continued a great Carnival for jockey Luke Currie while for punters, favourite September Run was a notable drifter late in betting and ran accordingly.

Special Win For Homesman

It was mixed feelings for those concerned with Homesman after his maiden Group l triumph in the Australian Cup (2000m). While it was a brave win, wide no cover throughout, it was tinged with sadness given a part owner was the late, great, Michael Gudinski, who has had a number of big race wins with the Williams’ family.

A Roaring Win In The Guineas

Lian’s Roar was heading in the right direction for the Derby after his first up run in the Hobartville but I don’t think many anticipated a brilliant finale from the three year old to win the Randwick Guineas second up over the mile on Saturday, but that he did, and put his cards firmly on the table for the rest of the Autumn. The two story lines post race was the unlucky path Mo’Unga had and no doubt with a clear run, he wins the race. The other was the warm favourite Aegon, who seemingly had no excuses and was disappointing.

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:

How can you go past Eduardo and his win in the Challenge. 55.2 for the 1000m at Randwick and smashed the track record by half a second in the process, beating Nature Strip in a thrilling finish. Admittedly Nature Strip did a power of work in the run, but credit to Joe Pride and his camp. They have got this horse to relax and that was the difference, with a big of petrol left in the tank to kick back and win.

DEBUT OF THE WEEK:

Mr Mozart was an impressive winner on debut at Warwick Farm on Wednesday. Don’t think it was the strongest field and the overall time relative to the day was plain, but he produced a really good finale from off the speed and is in the right camp of Team Hawkes to go through his grades with the right placement.

RIDE OF THE WEEK:

Damian Lane rode a peach aboard Sovereign Award at Flemington. The mare was going fierce, so instead of restraining, he let the mare stride. Use her best asset – speed, breaking their hearts, and that he did. Super ride aboard a tricky mare and continues a real purple patch for this gun hoop.

SLAUGHTER OF THE WEEK:

Willie Pike got a couple of his rides on Saturday badly wrong with tactics. The main was Holbein, who was heavily backed. He just went too slow on this horse. He waited far too long to get going and in turn, it gave those behind with a sharper turn of foot a better chance of winning. I think had he got rolling earlier, he wins.

HORSES TO FOLLOW:

Trifaccia – A living, breathing you know what for the Percy Sykes
Collide – Pretty good from a Sydney Cup perspective
Fiesta – I’d love to see her go towards a Galaxy. Her run was outstanding
Mo’Unga – Was there for all to see

ONE MORE CHANCE:

September Run – She’s better than that
Personal – Disappointing if you were on this time, but she’s on track for the Oaks
Bivouac – He should be getting criticism more so than Nature Strip on current form. But, his GF is the TJ Smith
Nettoyer – Not sure she’s up to a Doncaster. Given far too much to do today

NEVER EVER AGAIN:

Pinkham – She might just be a 955m horse. All speed, no stamina
Nonconformist – The love affair punters have with him is over. He’s not a Group l horse
Remarque – He’s not a Slipper horse. Might make a nice three year old
Written Beauty – Big pop. When it came to stand up, she folded