3 minute read
Chris Scholtz reviews racing at Randwick and Flemington on October 6.
THE STARS
WINX: Can we ever get enough of her? She drew 22,000 to Flemington for her 28th successive win in the Turnbull Stakes and Moonee Valley is all but sold out for the Cox Plate. Sadly her time on the track is likely to be over later this season – let’s hope she doesn’t suffer that loss we all fear!HIGHLIGHTS
JAMES CUMMINGS: Took the gamble to pass up a gift race in the ATC Metropolitan with the import Avilius and now has him safely in the Melbourne Cup after winning the race named after his grandfather Bart Cummings at Flemington. A special win for the family.JIM JARVIS: Great to see the former Victorian trainer who has been at Coffs Harbour in NSW for 20 years get his first Sydney winner with Evopex, a horse he thinks can go all the way to the Country Championship in the autumn.
CIARAN MAHER: Adds another Sydney win to his record with the well placed Yulong January. Seems he is going to be beating a regular path up the Hume Highway.
GAI WATERHOUSE/STEVEN BASTER: Dare say he has become the trainer’s favourite Melbourne jockey with the great strike rate he has built for the stable. Impressive debut winner Unite And Conquer has set the bar high for Melbourne’s spring two-year-olds.ADAM DURRANT/WILLIAM PIKE: Perth’s gun trainer/jockey team land four winners at Belmont, all owned by Bob Peters.
ROBERT HEATHCOTE: His stable is firing big time. Dominated Doomben with a winning treble.CHRIS WALLER: Not only Winx. Waller took the honours with his winning doubles at Randwick and Flemington.
DARREN WEIR: A double at Flemington was standard fare for his stable but his trifecta with three fillies in the G2 Edward Manifold Stakes was a personal achievement.HUGH BOWMAN: Two out of three ain’t bad, or is it?. He can be thankful for Winx and Invincibella because his effort on Ranier was not missed by anybody and was condemned by all sundry from the stewards down to the car park attendants.
KERRIN McEVOY: He was also in top form with a double at Flemington…but lost points for that ride on Savatiano!
GRUNT: Punters will quickly find another name for him.KEEP UP: Belied his name with a woeful performance.
MAGIC ALIBI: Cardiac arrhythmia and ECG.AYLMERTON: Blinkers made no difference.
IRUKANDJI: Long way from his 2YO form.FIRST AMONG EQUALS: Throat abnormality. Vet clearance required.
PLATINUM ANGEL: Cardiac arrhythmia. Vet clearance required.HARRISON: Went out too hard. Had to stop…but was he used as a pacemaker?
HUSH WRITER: Looks a lost cause on this form.RIDE OF THE DAY
Hugh Bowman, aka Mr Cool, rises to the occasion every time on Winx but was he feeling as much pressure as Rachel King in the last 100 metres of the Spring Champion Stakes when she was trying to lift Maid Of Heaven to the first Group One of her career. Both got the win – and share honours for ride of the day!QUOTE OF THE DAY
The Avilius/Jaameh protest hearing brought out some strong defence from the rival riders Michael Walker and Glyn Schofield:-MICHAEL WALKER (Jaameh): “I missed four or five chances to hit him. He just needed one decent whack and he would have won.”
GLYN SCHOFIELD (Avilius): “I’ve got no doubt he wasn’t going to run past my horse.”HUGH BOWMAN (Winx): “When I peeled off and went after them I thought we're in for a fight. My concentration levels were high and I could just imagine the tension of the crowd but I knew that I had another gear left. The final 100 metres was extraordinary.”
PETER TIGHE (Winx owner): “It's more for them than us now, obviously the crowd is behind her. We used to be those people who came and watched Black Caviar and Makybe Diva so we know how it feels to come and watch a champion and get the atmosphere. It's just something that we never expected to be involved in."
JAMES CUMMINGS (Avilius): “We tend to go for the small fish when they're there but there's a whale on the horizon. Today was about getting His Highness Sheikh Mohammed a runner in the Melbourne Cup and we've achieved that. Now he's exempt we can plot a path which best suits the horse, we're not chasing our tail with him.”
GAI WATERHOUSE (Unite And Conquer): “I’m not here for window dressing.”DAVID PFIEFFER (I Am Excited): "It's probably not a dumb idea to have a throw at the stumps. You don't know how long these Everest horses are going to last, they've all got their grand final next weekend."
DWAYNE DUNN (Wild Planet): "Everything went wrong and he was still able to win. He was three wide no cover and not many can do that around here.”MARK NEWNHAM (Maid Of Heaven): "I'm buzzing. That last 50 metres I had my heart in my mouth. I didn't know whether she'd get there but the last two strides got us over the line."
RACHEL KING (Maid Of Honour): "It's really special doing it for Mark (Newnham). He was the one really pushing me to have a go and get me started. He gave me a lot of guidance early. She really dug deep that last 100 metres, I think my throats sore from shouting at her."STEVE O’DEA (Sesar/Doubt Defying): “I had never had a Sydney winner before, I’ve only had a handful of runners here over the years. To come here and have the two half-brothers win on the same day is really satisfying.’’
JAMES McDONALD (I Am Serious): “There is that trick again, 2000m back to the mile – he (Chris Waller) does it time and time again. It is a credit to the team and the mare, she turns up every time and delivers the goods rain, hail or shine.”JIM JARVIS (Evopex): “He's only a pony. He'd be flat out being 15 hands but he's got a big heart."
DAMIEN BROWNE: "I needed surgery on my nose after a trackwork accident. It isn't that flash-looking now but at least it is working.”BLACKBOOKERS
RANIER: Good thing beaten.VERRY ELLEEGANT: Great start to her Oaks build-up.
SAVATIANO: Would have made it interesting with a clear shot.SIR JOHN LAVERY: Watch out for him over more ground.
WARRANTY: Gave up too much start in tough conditions.ETYMOLOGY: Certain to benefit from sound first-up effort.