Yard to the Post @ Caulfield Cup Day
Race Day: Caulfield on Saturday, 20 October 2018
It was a global Caulfield Cup this year, the huge volume of international gallopers adding to the quality of the race, but leaving a few local punters wondering who to back. The strong handicap form of DURETTO and RED VERDON came up against the class of Coolmore's THE CLIFFSOFMOHER and Godolphin's BEST SOLUTION, and of course the Williams team of HOMESMAN and THE TAJ MAHAL were key players in the race too.
Unfortunately the strong field wasn't matched by a strong tempo, local hope ACE HIGH controlling some slow mid-race sectionals before the power went on 700 metres from home. Firstly THE TAJ MAHAL took off from midfield and hit the lead with BEST SOLUTION on the turn, leaving the one-paced ACE HIGH in their wake. HOMESMAN (2nd) emerged from the box seat and challenged, but he couldn't get past the brave BEST SOLUTION (1st), irishman Pat Cosgrove getting eveything out of the son of Kodiac to win by a small margin with THE CLIFFSOFMOHER (3rd) chasing home behind.
While ACE HIGH was dissapointing on the SOFT track, YOUNGSTAR definitely wasn't, surging home late for a strong 7th after getting way too far back off the slow speed. DURETTO (4th) and KINGS WILL DREAM (6th) ran honourable races too, while RED VERDON (11th) had no luck in a very tactical race.
How much of a guide this gives us to the Cup, it's hard to say, the line-finding YOUNGSTAR and winner BEST SOLUTION won't have lost any supporters though.
In other races, the Waterhouse and Bott three-year-old THINKIN' BIG booted home to win the Group 3 Ladbrokes Classic by 3 lengths, stable-mate SHUMOOKH did the same to the mares in the Group 2 Tristarc and little VERRY ELLEEGANT continued on her winning way in the Group 3 Ethereal Stakes for the three-year-old fillies.
Track Info
| Rail | +6m |
| Conditions | SOFT 5 to SOFT 6 |
| Weather | OVERCAST |
| Bias | FAIR, inside playing well |
Race 1 QMS Media Plate
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zizzis | Patrick & Michelle Payne | Craig Williams | 7 | 57.0 | |
| 2 | Khulaasa | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Jordan Childs | 6 | 58.0 | |
| 3 | Zargos | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Regan Bayliss | 3 | 55.0 |
Race 2 Polytrack Gothic Stakes
steady tempo
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ranier | James Cummings | Hugh Bowman | 3 | 55.0 | |
| 2 | Yulong January | Ciaron Maher | Regan Bayliss | 5 | 56.0 | |
| 3 | Wild Planet | Michael, John & Wayne Hawkes | Dwayne Dunn | 9 | 57.5 |
Race 3 McCafe Caulfield Sprint
strong tempo
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eduardo | Joseph Pride | Brian Park | 8 | 53.0 | |
| 2 | She Knows | Danny Williams | Corey Brown | 9 | 53.0 | |
| 3 | Bons Away | Wendy Kelly | Kerrin McEvoy | 4 | 57.0 |
Race 4 Carlton Draught Alinghi Stakes
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | From Within | Danny O'Brien | Kerrin McEvoy | 3 | 55.0 | |
| 2 | Working From Home | Daniel Bowman | Luke Nolen | 11 | 55.0 | |
| 3 | Soothing | James Cummings | James McDonald | 4 | 56.0 |
Race 5 New Zealand Bloodstock Ethereal Stakes
fair tempo
: long sprint
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verry Elleegant | Chris Waller | John Allen | 2 | 55.0 | |
| 2 | Aristia | Mathew Ellerton | Damian Lane | 1 | 55.0 | |
| 3 | Sizzleme | Cindy Alderson | Ben Melham | 6 | 55.0 |
Race 6 Ladbrokes Classic
steady tempo
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thinkin' Big | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Tim Clark | 11 | 57.0 | |
| 2 | Chapada | Michael Moroney & Glen Thompson | Patrick Moloney | 5 | 57.0 | |
| 3 | Sikorsky | Brett Conlon | Luke Nolen | 6 | 57.0 |
Race 7 Ladbrokes Coongy Cup
slow tempo
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mask of Time | Ciaron Maher | Kerrin McEvoy | 2 | 54.0 | |
| 1 | Best Of Days | James Cummings | James McDonald | 5 | 54.5 | |
| 3 | Life Less Ordinary | Chris Waller | Zac Purton | 7 | 58.0 |
Race 8 Stella Artois Caulfield Cup
Brilliance all that matters in this Caulfield Cup
slow tempo
: long sprint
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best Solution | Saeed Bin Suroor | Pat Cosgrave | 17 | 57.5 | |
| 2 | Homesman | Anthony & Sam Freedman | Ben Melham | 4 | 53.0 | |
| 3 | The Cliffsofmoher | Aidan O'Brien | Hugh Bowman | 3 | 56.5 |
In The Running
ACE HIGH dominated a SLOW tempo in the middle stages with HOMESMAN in the box seat, a couple of 14 second sectionals slowing things right down before THE TAJ MAHAL took off 800m from home for a LONG SPRINT and was joined by BEST SOLUTION, who had missed the start and worked his way up to 4th.
The Result
BEST SOLUTION (1st) and HOMESMAN (2nd) drove to the line together in a very close finish, THE CLIFFSOFMOHER (3rd) running on well from midfield (laid in slightly), DURETTO (4th) sprinted well from the pack too and THE TAJ MAHAL (5th) was edged out, but not disgraced.
The Interest
A very unique Caulfield Cup this year, the SLOW TEMPO: LONG SPRINT set up suiting certain horses and canny rides. Hard to take anything away from BEST SOLUTION though after he was slow to jump and worked early. HOMESMAN seemed to have the ideal run. Horses to note from the back include YOUNGSTAR (7th, wound up late) and KINGS WILL DREAM (6th, held up turn, ran on), who were both expected to run big races and didn't get the tempo to suit. The sneaky run of the race was RED VERDON (11th), who was travelling well when running into trouble on the turn. Perhaps one to follow up on in the Cup. There was something about the way THE CLIFFSOFMOHER shaped to the line too that makes him look like a Cups horses despite laying in a bit. ACE HIGH (15th) was very plain and David Payne has asked for the stallion to be moved from his curent stable now - too many fillies he says! SOUND CHECK (12th) never settled out the back and could be a forgive too, Bring on the big one!
Race 9 Schweppes Tristarc Stakes
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shumookh | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Tim Clark | 11 | 57.5 | |
| 2 | Invincibella | Chris Waller | Hugh Bowman | 6 | 57.5 | |
| 3 | Aloisia | Anthony & Sam Freedman | Michael Walker | 2 | 58.5 |
Race 10 Ladbrokes Moonga Stakes
fair tempo
: early pressure
| Place | Silk | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Gate | Kgs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sircconi | Nick Ryan | Ms Linda Meech | 5 | 56.0 | |
| 2 | Dreamforce | John Thompson | Damian Lane | 1 | 56.5 | |
| 3 | Perast | Paul Perry | Tim Clark | 10 | 57.5 |
