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Saturday Post Mortem - September 23

3 minute read

Chris Scholtz reviews racing around Australia on September 23.

THE STARS

TRAPEZE ARTIST: Gave his stablemate and hot favourite Menari windburn as he blew them away in the Golden Rose. What a difference blinkers make when applied to this horse!

GINGERNUTS: Fine G1 win at Hastings. Great to see a high class Kiwi set to return to Melbourne in top form.

SNITZEL: Champion sire earns more plaudits for a 1-3 result by his progeny in the G1 Golden Rose. He is setting records almost every week!

HARLEM: Burst into the Caulfield Cup picture with a resounding win at Caulfield. Adds another string to the Lindsay park bow for the spring.

LINDA MEECH: Brilliant tactical rides to land a double at Caulfield. Gets the job done without the fanfare and publicity afforded some other female riders.

TYE ANGLAND: The quiet achiever of the Sydney riding ranks lands two big prizes at Rosehill in the Golden Rose and Gloaming Stakes.

PETER GELAGOTIS: Smart move by asture Victorian trainer to make an Adelaide raid and come away with two winners.

CAULFIED FIRSTS: Congratulations to apprentice Zac Spain for his first Melbourne win and Chris Meagher for training his first winner.

RICHARD FREEDMAN: Has often been a legend in his own lunchtime but deserves all the plaudits for the fine job he has done with the difficult import Auvray, adding to an amazing strike rate of wins since he returned to training. By the way, he missed the Rosehill meeting due to interstate TV commitments and left his son to do the day work!

TONY GOLLAN: In the week he became a father for a second time he gets Charlie Boy to win his first race in 575 days. Not sure what counts as the biggest achievement!

TALKING POINTS

CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN: Did the ATC jump too soon by claiming Brave Smash for its Everest slot? Will the Japanese galloper press on to the big dance or will the ATC be let off the hook and have the chance to claim another horse? Stay tuned. Which brings us to Deploy – how interesting to see Gerald Ryan’s record-breaking sprinter run under the “ownership” of Chris Waller in The Everest. And it’s obvious the Lindsay Park stable will be in two corners with Redkirk Warrior and Vega Magic representing different slot owners. This new race is certainly the talk of the town!

BLAKE SHINN: There’s no better rider when he is on song but it seem he is spending far too much time on the sidelines due to suspensions after he copped another one at Rosehill on Saturday. Interestingly he deferred the start of the ban until after he rides Happy Clapper in next Saturday’s Epsom, preferring to take his chances on a successful appeal if he is to ride English in the Everest on October 14. The conclusion is Blake has handed out a free tip for the Epsom!

JAMES CUMMINGS: It’s been just over two months since James Cummings started his tenure as head trainer for Godolphin and it’s a credit to him how quickly he has come to terms with the machinations of running such a large and complex operation. Three winners at Rosehill, Caulfield and Kembla Grange on Saturday took his tally for Godolphin to 46 wins since he sent out his first runners in the blue on July 8. They include five Group and Listed wins and he’s sitting in third place on the national list for the new season with 35 wins behind Darren Weir (55) and Chris Waller (43) but with a vastly superior win strike rate to his rivals! Suspect there are some happy faces in Dubai!

THEY SAID IT

• “I have been saying for two weeks this horse has been flying under the radar because he has taken a different path. He has been the forgotten horse but I had him top three.” – trainer Gerald Ryan had a different view to most of his upset Golden Rose winner Trapeze Artist.

• “He's in the Epsom and why not? He gets in with 48 kilos and he will run 1600 metres. It is a serious consideration.” – Ryan on his plans for Trapeze Artist.

• “In 20 years I've never won in here ever..... so guilty. I don't believe I'm guilty, but I'm pleading guilty because I'm going to get less." Noel Callow’s blunt careless riding guilty plea in the stewards room at Caulfield.

• “She’s an incredible mare, she always puts her best in for me. I love her to bits.” – Apprentice Andrew Adkins and his admiration for his favourite mare Daysee Doom.

• “It would have been better if it was a dead-heat. People asked could I split them and I couldn't really, so I wasn't far out. I hate putting them in against each other but you've got to do what you've got to do." - Trainer Ron Quinton after his Golden Pendant quinella with his mares Daysee Doom and Dixie Blossom.

• “I'll have a meeting with the owners and see what they want to do. He looked to shorten up in his stride in the last 100 yards when the race was there to be won, but that's looking for an excuse." – Disappointed trainer Darren Weir reflects on Everest plans for Brave Smash after he goes under at Caulfield.

• “Richard has certainly done wonders with this fellow. He’s been an enigma to train and to ride but of late he has certainly got his mind on the job which is a credit to Richard and his team.” – Glynn Schofield praises Richard Freedman’s training of Auvray.

• “He’s got such a lovely big action. It’s nice to be on the back of a horse that has got as many gears as this guy.” – Kerrin McEvoy impressed by Washington Heights.

• "He's been a bit of a headache. He ended up with a little virus a fortnight ago and I missed last Saturday. It gets a bit tough when you're playing catch-up all the time." – Relieved trainer Peter Morgan after Sircconi’s win at Caulfield.

• "The choice was today or Benalla next week. I said to Ciaron three times in the bush is enough, let's have a throw at the stumps." - Owner Ken King reveals why the Ciaron Maher-trained Bons Away started at Caulfield after a run of country wins.

• “I thought it was about time he and mum sat back and enjoyed life a bit more. Obviously that meant me taking up the reins which I'm more than happy to." – John Meagher’s son Chris Meagher steps up with his first winner Savanna Amour at Caulfield.

RIDES OF THE DAY

HUGH BOWMAN: Handed out a lesson with a superb tactical ride on Alward at Rosehill, never giving his favoured stablemate Up N Rolling the room to move when he needed it at the vital stage.

DWAYNE DUNN: Made all the right moves on Harlem as he negotiated the windy Caulfield conditions by taking the rails route. Shame about his later ride on Ravi!

SIN BIN

: Astoria; Dawn Wall; Euro Angel; Merchant Navy; Bonny O’Reilly; Kerrin McEvoy (Up N Rolling).

: Any time it’s a northerly wind; Nikita Berriman (I Did It Again); Dwayne Dunn (Ravi).

: Liam Riordan (Kellstorm)

IPSWICH: Bergerac

BLACKBOOK

PARET: Obvious talent but has so much to learn.

UP ‘N’ ROLLING: Luckless. Outridden in a tactical race.

ZENALICIOUS: Building nicely for a suitable mares race.

I DID IT AGAIN: Hard run made the difference. Full of ability.

SUPERHARD: Never got a crack. Complete forgive run.

RAVI: Sure Dwayne Dunn would like this ride over again. Nothing went right.


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