Yard to the Post @ Championships Day One
Race Day: Royal Randwick on Saturday, 07 April 2018
Dry conditions, a fair track and plenty of high quality gallopers usually means a great day for punting, but there were very mixed results for punters on Day One of The Championships.
The well-backed LEVENDI out-bobbed equal favourite ACE HIGH in the Group One Australian Derby in what was one of the more popular results. It was a driving finish down the length the Randwick straight, the closest thing you will see to out-and-out war on a racetrack.
Lady luck played her part in the other feature Group Ones, The Doncaster Mile going to second-favourite HAPPY CLAPPER after KEMENTARI (10th) was badly blocked and never got clear, and TRAPEZE ARTIST sprinted home in the TJ Smith as IN HER TIME (3rd) was only finding her way out of the pack late to chase.
IN HER TIME's trainer Ben Smith was horrified at the ride replacement jockey Damian Lane gave his horse (Corey Brown was injured), his luck reversed after 80/1 shot EL DORADO DREAMING got the cash in the G1 Inglis Sires' from favourite OOHOOD, who was yet another unlucky runner on the day!
A full review of both days of The Championships will be on-line Monday 5pm.
photo: @atc_races
Track Info
| Rail | TRUE |
| Conditions | GOOD 4 (raced as firm track) |
| Weather | FINE |
| Bias | FAIR (tbc) |
Race 1 WIDDEN KINDERGARTEN STAKES
Blinkers on, barrier one, big odds!
fair tempo
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paquirri | Gary Moore | Andrew Adkins | 1 | 56.5 | |
| 2 | Legend of Condor | Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou | Mark Zahra | 8 | 56.5 | |
| 3 | Lean Mean Machine | Chris Waller | Blake Shinn | 7 | 56.5 |
In The Running
ENNIS HILL led at a FAIR tempo. LEGEND OF CONDOR wide before moving up outside the lead. PAQUIRRI in the box seat. LEAN MEAN MACHINE covered a bit of extra ground midfield.
The Result
PAQUIRRI (1st) moved out 3W from the box seat and drove past LEGEND OF CONDOR (2nd 1.5L). LEAN MEAN MACHINE (3rd 2.5L) chased home OK from midfield.
The Interest
PAQUIRRI ($51) came into this with a 4.7L 3rd to Sunlight when checked, followed by an 8th in the G2 Todman after striking interference and making his run wide out. For a roughie his form ratings were right around the mark. Back to the perfect barrier with the blinkers on turned his fortunes around. LEGEND OF CONDOR put in another honest race, LEAN MEAN MACHINE *(stuck wide) clearly has talent and there were obviously still things wrong with the Hayes filly ENBIHAAR (8th 8.7L). She drifted from $3 to $5.5 and raced like she was the one that should have been $51.
Race 2 CHINA HORSE CLUB CARBINE CLUB STAKES
Back to his best after a flop
steady tempo
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Safin | Tom Dabernig | Damien Oliver | 5 | 56.0 | |
| 2 | Dissolution | Brad Widdup | Christian Reith | 10 | 56.0 | |
| 3 | Holy Snow | Darren Weir | Blake Shinn | 7 | 59.0 |
In The Running
SONDELON took up the running with DISSOLUTION on the outside, a STEADY tempo set-up (on the fair side), sprinting from 800m and accelerating right to 200m before runs peaked.
The Result
MURAAQEB (1st) got a nice run through and fought on best, from DISSOLUTION (2nd 0.8L), who fought on from on-pace and HOLY SNOW (3rd 0.9L), who ran on OK.
The Interest
Not a lot between the top seven here (SONDELON 7th 2.2L) and SAMBRO (8th 3.8L) was a complete forgive run getting blocked on the inside. MURAAQEB was in the mix based on Flemington form (as good or better than HOLY SNOW in Guineas), but he was plain at Rosehill last start and therefore started at big odds here. A group of very solid gallopers, but perhaps no world beaters.
Race 3 THE MAN SHAKE P J BELL STAKES
fair tempo
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houtzen | Toby & Trent Edmonds | Glyn Schofield | 9 | 56.0 | |
| 2 | Manicure | James Cummings | Damian Lane | 17 | 54.0 | |
| 2 | Problem Solver | Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou | Robbie Fradd | 14 | 54.0 |
Race 4 NEWHAVEN PARK COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS FINAL
fair tempo
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victorem | Jenny Graham | Ben Looker | 5 | 56.0 | |
| 2 | Don't Give a Damn | Danny Williams | Kerrin McEvoy | 9 | 57.5 | |
| 3 | O' So Hazy | Greg Eurell | Brooke Sweeney | 3 | 55.5 |
Race 5 SCHWEPPES CHAIRMAN'S QUALITY
steady tempo
: long sprint
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sir Charles Road | Lance O'Sullivan & Andrew Scott | Blake Shinn | 10 | 56.0 | |
| 2 | Ventura Storm | Tom Dabernig | Mark Zahra | 2 | 59.0 | |
| 3 | Peribsen | John O'Shea | Sam Clipperton | 8 | 53.0 |
Race 6 INGLIS SIRES'
Not a dream for Ben Smith's second G1 winner
fair tempo
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Dorado Dreaming | Kris Lees | Damian Lane | 12 | 54.5 | |
| 2 | Oohood | Tony & Calvin McEvoy | Zac Purton | 8 | 54.5 | |
| 3 | Outrageous | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Brenton Avdulla | 10 | 56.5 |
In The Running
BONDI worked up on-pace with RINGERDINGDING on his inside, setting a FAIR tempo. SPIN was three wide with no cover, SEBERATE was four wide with no cover.
The Result
EL DORADO DREAMING (1st) launched down the outside to win, crossing the line together with OOHOOD (2nd 0.1L), who was badly held up 'til the 200m. OUTRAGEOUS (3rd 1.1L) ran on through the pack.
The Interest
Big runs from SEBERATE (wide) and NOT A SINGLE CENT (held up) as we head towards the Champagne, but you can't deny the top two were very good, OOHOOD so unlucky not to win (held up) and EL DORADO DREAMING jumping up out of nowhere after losing a much easier race the start before this. Ben Smith said she was still learning, apparently the penny dropped today!
Race 7 HARROLDS AUSTRALIAN DERBY
An exciting Derby finish, this was war!
fair tempo
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Levendi | Peter Gelagotis | Mark Zahra | 3 | 56.5 | |
| 2 | Ace High | David Payne | Tye Angland | 2 | 56.5 | |
| 3 | Tangled | Chris Waller | Michael Walker | 10 | 56.5 |
In The Running
CAPITAL GAIN went to the lead and rolled at an honest tempo. MAIN STAGE worked up on the outside and left FURORE with no cover.
The Result
LEVENDI (1st) peeled wider and chased hard with ACE HIGH (2nd 0.1L) on his inside, both horses driving to the line clear of the pack. A gap back to TANGLED (3rd 5.9L) running on OK.
The Interest
Lots of hard luck in the race, but there is no doubt the best two horses fought out the finish. A classic Derby and they can both go onto the Cups in the Spring now. ACE HIGH perhaps a better futures bet given he is so tough and reliable (doesn't want it too wet though). FURORE (6th 8.3L) (wide, sore) and ASOTRIA (17th 35.8L) (no room) the two biggest hard luck stories along with THE LORD MAYOR, who copped an early check and was eased out of it.
Race 8 DARLEY T J SMITH STAKES
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trapeze Artist | Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou | Tye Angland | 9 | 56.5 | |
| 2 | Redzel | Peter & Paul Snowden | Kerrin McEvoy | 6 | 58.5 | |
| 3 | In Her Time | Kris Lees | Corey Brown | 3 | 56.5 |
Race 9 THE STAR DONCASTER MILE
The people's horse wins easily
strong tempo
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Happy Clapper | Patrick Webster | Blake Shinn | 1 | 57.0 | |
| 2 | Comin' Through | Chris Waller | Tim Clark | 7 | 51.5 | |
| 3 | Arbeitsam | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Michael Dee | 10 | 50.0 |
In The Running
ARBEITSAM led at a STRONG tempo with HAPPY CLAPPER on his back. COMIN' THROUGH wide no cover near the speed. KEMENTARI was badly blocked and checked in the straight.
The Result
HAPPY CLAPPER (1st) moved through on the inside as ARBEITSAM (3rd 2.2L) rolled off the rails, COMIN' THROUGH (2nd 2L) fighting on bravely out wider.
The Interest
The class horses had Winx form and the class horses ran well. HAPPY CLAPPER with all the breaks up the inside and KEMENTARI (10th 4.1L) with none. Both serious G1 horses. COMIN' THROUGH was enormous up on the pace stuck wide and D'ARGENTO (4th 2.5L) made good ground from the back, but the strong tempo did suit.
Race 10 TAB ADRIAN KNOX STAKES
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luvaluva | John Sargent | Kerrin McEvoy | 6 | 60.0 | |
| 2 | Pretty to Sea | Ciaron Maher | Michael Dee | 1 | 53.0 | |
| 3 | Chilly Cha Cha | Kris Lees | Jason Collett | 3 | 53.0 |
