3 minute read

We review the Sunshine Coast meeting with all the key ratings from a bumper night.

Sunshine Coast

Two Year Olds

It was the last chance for two-year-olds to win their way into Saturday's Magic Millions 2yo Classic (location pending) with Quietly Arrogant and La Bella Boom taking out the boys and girls races respectively.

On this occasion it was La Bella Boom out rating her male counterpart, both on the clock and on the Racing & Sports scale, running the 1100m approximately four lengths faster overall, and earning a rating of 101.

La Bella Boom improved her rating by 11 pounds, up from 90 at Doomben, and put herself in the mix with an easy victory set up by a strong tempo. The quickly run affair, up to 1200m on the quick turnaround, should hold her in good stead, and a rating of 101 has her in the mix without necessarily being top of the pile.

101 is the same rating Icarian Dream ran to win the B J McLachlan, which was a low rating edition of that race, and that filly is favourite for the Magic Millions so if La Bella Boom can bounce off this win she'll be a strong chance.

Gallo Nero is likely to go in as the highest rated horse off his 105 rating at Randwick, but unfortunately a couple, including Space Rider and Apocalyptic, appear unlikely to make the field given they've only raced once and won't have the prize money to make the field.

Quietly Arrogant ran to 98 in the colts and geldings race, three pounds below the filly La Bella Boom, but did still improve 13 pounds on his debut effort behind Pallaton, who is rated 102 off his debut and looks very smart.

Of these two races, it's fairly easy to say La Bella Boom is the pick and the market should reflect that on the day. In a year where nothing has really put their hand up and said they're the #1 Magic Millions seed, she could be the one best set up to peak given the fast race and quick backup.

Private Harry

The Slipper curse continues as Private Harry proves too strong for Lady Of Camelot, maintaining his unbeaten record and unsurprisingly running a big new career peak in the $3 million Sunlight slot race.

The pace was solid without being crazy, and Private Harry sitting on the pace was simply too good for them, running to a RAS rating of 114, an improvement of nine pounds from his last start.

He's now gone 93-103-105-114 in four starts now which is some effort and upon looking at the sectionals, it's hard to make a case for the beaten brigade.

Lady Of Camelot was ridden too quietly and found a bit of trouble in the straight, but even adjusting for her, and third-placed Arabian Summer's sectionals, Private Harry is still clearly the winner.

His time was 14-15 pounds faster than the placegetters, and that figure only comes into approximately 8 pounds once adjusted for the finishing speed. Even accounting for a bit of trouble in running, Private Harry is the deserved winner.

Lady Of Camelot remains winless since her Golden Slipper victory, where she ran to 118, and this rating of 105 is her worst run to date, especially on the Timeform scale where she's 18 pounds off her best and 9 pounds off her lowest rating since the Slipper.

That said, she hasn't gone badly, it's just hard to see what she could win. She'll likely target some weight-for-age sprints in the Autumn but I'd be surprised if she wins at Group 1 level which is where she'll likely be campaigning.

Private Harry is an interesting one to place looking to the Autumn. I'd assume he's given a break now, and I'd be interested to see if he could get over 1400m. The All Aged Stakes and into Brisbane for the Kingsford Smith and especially Stradbroke could be a nice campaign for him.