The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – May 9th Edition

An important win in court for a trainer, the revamped Warrnambool Carnival and the SA Derby at Morphettville. All that and more in this weeks edition of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’.

KEY NEWS:

Goodrich Finally Gets Justice

It’s been a long battle for Kate Goodrich from a financial, physical and mental perspective but the trainer was cleared of obstructing Stewards in carrying out duties back in 2016. After several appeals were thrown away prior, on Friday, three Court Of Appeal judges determined that both the Supreme Court and VCAT should have dismissed the charges and cleared Goodrich, an order which they handed down. The story is far from over, with Goodrich likely to pursuit damages. The public silence, and to this point, the public ignorance from the Victorian Racing Minister on the verdict has been very disappointing.

Ablaze The Star Of Warrnambool

The Maher/Eustace stable sent Big Blue to Cheltenham without success but they might have a better prospect in 2021 via Ablaze, who well and truly sealed his spot as the best jumper in Australia with an outstanding win in the Grand Annual on Tuesday at Warrnambool. At just his fourth jumps start, and just his second Steeple outing, he was too good for a couple of old warriors in Gold Medals and Zed Em.

A Star Is Born – Russian Camelot

Danny O’Brien might well have one hand on another Melbourne Cup. He’s got the reigning champ Vow And Declare, Adelaide Cup winner King Of Leogrance, and Russian Camelot can be in that mix too after his stunning win in the SA Derby. He was three wide throughout, pulling, but got a drag up down the side and in the end, his brilliance came to the fore, beating another brilliant horse in Dalasan. He’s a star, with so much upside to come.

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:

Hard to get away from Ablaze and what he did in the Grand Annual. His second start over the big jumps and came into the race off a setback and what seemed a sluggish trial. But he showed his true class and won so impressively. He’ll likely now be set for the feature jumps races later in the season, then the Jericho Cup, before potentially heading to Cheltenham.

DEBUT OF THE WEEK:

Aidensfield was really impressive at Caulfield on Saturday. Not sure she was entirely happy on the wet ground, but loved the way she dashed when asked and safely held them at bay to score. She’ll get better with time based on breeding and could be one to watch for the Spring in lesser class blacktype. Nice effort.

RIDE OF THE WEEK:

Billy Egan…he’s the form jockey in Australia at the moment. He produced a couple of gems at Werribee on Thursday, notably Upswing in the fourth. Could have been a very messy watch but he played the patient game, got the inside split and dashed well to win. If he waited to get to the outside, it would have been an awful watch. He’s riding so well at the moment.

SLAUGHTER OF THE WEEK:

There were a couple of really negative rides on Tuesday. Starting at Warrnambool with Lee Horner. The one that was most negative was Slowpoke Rodriguez in the Brierly. The race was all over by the time he got going and the horse just can’t sustain an 800m-1000m run. The other was at Rockhampton with Elle A Walking and Emily Cass. A mare that usually sits back, she was ridden forward, but was wide throughout. No initiative was shown and just stayed there. Rightfully, the mare dropped out.

HORSES TO FOLLOW:

National Host – Wants 1400m+. Good run
Liapari – Jumped out super and ran accordingly. Gets more wet tracks, he’ll win races this prep
Nobu – He’s knocking on the door
Shamurt – Given no hope with the ride. She’s got a win in her soon

ONE MORE CHANCE:

Equation – He’s better than that, surely
Loveseat – That wasn’t the horse that won at Canterbury. Either she beat camels there, or deserves another chance
Scarlet Dream – Not the best of steers, should have finished closer
It’s King Of Magic – Won’t be seeing her on wet ground again

NEVER EVER AGAIN:

Rule The World – Just hasn’t come up
Hang Man – Given a 12/10 steer, every chance. Not again for me
Kementari – He’s a Special K alright…
Kooweerup – Meow