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A look at some of the stories of interest on the Caulfield undercard
I Wish I win's Caulfield cameo
Those engaged in the Underwood Stakes were not the only Group 1 performers on show at Caulfield on Saturday with new The Everest favourite I Wish I Win stepping out in an exhibition gallop.
With the absence of a suitable lead-up race three weeks out from the $20 million sprint, Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman gave their stable star a workout in between races.
The son of Savabeel worked over 800m with stablemate Boogie Dancer, sitting two lengths off the Group 2 winner before reeling her in under light riding early in the straight and going home to score by a neck.
"They've run a half-mile in about 52.5 (seconds) and quickened home in about 36 (seconds)," Moody said.
"That was just a nice regulation gallop with a trip away from home added."
I Wish I Win will go into The Everest off just one lead-up run, a third placing in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) on September, with Moody delighted at the way he has progressed from that event.
"Katherine and I were having a chat before he went out and we thought, 'he's just about there'," Moody said.
"To me, it looks like he's just about here, so it will just be a matter of maintaining him the next three weeks."
"We're happy with the prep and very happy with the path that we've chosen."
I Wish I Win now heads betting on The Everest, which will be run at Randwick, with the Clayton Douglas stable revealing on Saturday morning that defending champion Giga Kick was injured and would miss the race.
I Wish I Win's gallop took place just 15 minutes after Moody and Coleman celebrated victory with Nunthorpe making it back-to-back BM84 wins at Caulfield when she led all the way under Jamie Kah.
Bowman back a winner at Caulfield
The Underwood Stakes meeting was Hugh Bowman's first at Caulfield in almost three years, but he used the earliest opportunity to showcase that he still knows his way around the Melbourne circuit.
The Hall of Fame jockey partnered with untapped stayer First Immortal to score a dominant win in the 2000m BM78 handicap.
It was the now Hong Kong-based Bowman's first ride in Melbourne since Melbourne Cup Day last year, but his first meeting at Caulfield since Caulfield Cup Day 2020.
Bowman picked up the ride on First Immortal due to Blake Shinn being committed to a rival runner and the man most famous for his association with legendary mare Winx was taken by the $2.40 favourite's ability to win by 3-1/2 lengths despite carrying 63kg.
"I can see him developing into a high-class stayer, he's got a beautiful temperament (and) he's very natural," Bowman said.
"He's got the tactical speed if required and he's clearly got a turn of foot when asked the question.
"He lumped a pretty significant weight this afternoon to win with authority and I will be as interested as everyone to see how he progresses over the next six to 12 months."
First Immortal's co-trainers Mark and Levi Kavanagh now have the job of plotting a spring path with the four-year-old, who they wanted to run in the Caulfield Cup-qualifying Naturalism Stakes (2000m) on the same card but missed a run.
"You have to nominate in your races and do your best as he's such a low rater. He's got good enough ability to say he should be there, so Levi and I have to place him properly to get him there," Mark Kavanagh said.
Easy does it with Shock 'Em Ova
Shock 'Em Ova is one of the most talented horses Alex Rae has trained but that doesn't mean the young Cranbourne conditioner will be raising the bar too high for the gelding this spring.
The son of Shocking justified the confidence of top jockey Craig Williams to sweep past every one of his rivals in the opening and score a narrow-but-impressive win as an even-money favourite.
The five-year-old's neck victory over Big Brew snapped a run of three consecutive second placings, but as relieved as Rae was to see him win, he isn't getting ahead of himself with the winner of three of his seven starts.
"He's still quite lowly rated at the moment, still in the mid-70s after today, so we'll just continue to go through the grades and it's important that we don't throw him right into the deep end.
"He's still working it all out. He's still a bit of a bozo really. He'll hopefully continue winning and he'll toughen up and we'll give him an opportunity to target better races as he gets older and stronger."
Cardigan Queen provides reality check
There was an early reality check for favourite backers after two favourable results to start the card with Cardigan Queen providing a blowout result in the third race of the day.
The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained mare powered home along the fence under Michael Dee to score at $31 in the race that contained the shortest-priced favourite of the Underwood Stakes meeting.
The James Cummings-trained Red Card was heavily supported from $1.60 to start $1.40 and although she travelled well in front until about 400m from home, the daughter of Ribchester started to show signs of distress midway down the straight and missed a place, finishing fourth beaten just over a length.
Buffalo back a winner at last
It was almost two years and 17 starts between wins, but Buffalo River finally notched the eighth victory of his career with an all-the-way win in the $175,000 Listed Testa Rossa Stakes (1400m).
Celine Gaudray got the best out of the $19 chance, who tore along in front in customary style and lasted to score by a neck from Savannah Cloud ($11) with Corner Pocket ($6) just a short-head further back.
It was the first Black Type success for apprentice jockey Gaudray.
Trainer Mike Moroney said connections almost pulled the pin on his career after his previous start, when he finished 12th of 14th in a BM100, but decided to have one last roll of the dice without te earmuffs he has worn in most of his Australian starts.
"We took the earmuffs off him and you can see his lovely white face that you have probably never seen before," Moroney said.
"He had had all his starts before in the earmuffs just to try and relax him. We just thought we would change it as it wasn't working with him.
"We tried to ride him a little different last start and that didn't work. We were going to retire him after his last run, but we thought we would give him one go with the earmuffs off and see what happens."
The race was expected to see Amenable further frank his Toorak Handicap claims, but the Mick Price and Michael Kent-trained four-year-old, who started $1.80, was under pressure before straightening and never looked a winning hope, finishing sixth, almost 2-3/4 lengths from Buffalo River.
