The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – September 14th Edition

An absolute boilover in the Makybe Diva stunned punters, Arcadia Queen kicked off her 4YO season with a bang and the fairer sex in the jockey ranks dominated Flemington. All that and more in this weeks edition of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’.

KEY NEWS:

Gatting…Good Lord

On form, you couldn’t have Gatting at all, as reflected in the market where he started $100+, but aided by a peach from Jamie Kah, the WA gelding was too tough for Mystic Journey and won his maiden Group l in the Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington. Does it confirm, like in Sydney, that the WFA ranks over a middle distance, as a whole, are thin? Time will tell, but full credit to trainer Darren McAuliffe.

Arcadia Queen Brilliant

Arcadia Queen made her NSW debut for Chris Waller in the Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) on Saturday at Rosehill and she didn’t give her supporters a moment of concern, put into the race via the gate from James McDonald and from the 400m onwards, it was a painless watch if you were on the mare, who will now likely go straight into the Everest en route to the Golden Eagle. Trope was outstanding from the back and he has a good race in him.

Girl Power At Flemington

It’s know the talent of the female riders in Australia has vastly improved over the past 10-15 years and it was there to see at Flemington, with Raquel Clark producing a gem aboard Dalasan to win the Danehill, while Jamie Kah gave Gatting a 12/10 to win the Maybe Diva, then in the following race, Linda Meech found the outside fence aboard the well supported Zoutori and from there it was an easy watch.

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:

Number of ways you could go here. I want to go back to Hawkesbury on Thursday and the win of Sally’s Day. First up for Gerald Ryan, formerly with Brad Widdup, and it was just arrogant. The change up speed between the 400-200m, clocking 10.64, won her the race, then the last 200m of 11.28, eased down the final 100m, was very good. Really keen to see where she progresses.

DEBUT OF THE WEEK:

Dazzling Damsel was hard in the market when debuting at Queanbeyan on Monday where she sat on speed and I’m not sure she was 100% happy on the tight track, but she put them away impressively when asked and ran very sharp time relative to the meeting. Not sure what level she gets to, but perhaps a provincial race next time out or maybe a midweek race. Looks a handy one.

RIDE OF THE WEEK:

He produced a couple of stinkers did Craig Williams, but have to give credit for his steer on Rox The Castle. Showed really good initiative from the wide gate to land near the speed and once he got across, it was pretty much game over on a day/track where being near the speed was the spot to be. Could add a few others, including the initiative from J Mac aboard Arcadia Queen.

SLAUGHTER OF THE WEEK:

Gee, where do you go. There were several you could mention at Flemington, a couple at Doomben, heck even one at Echuca. But I’ve landed with Brenton Avdulla and the ride aboard Champagne Cuddles in the Sheraco. By race eight, Stevie Wonder could see the inside section of the track was red hot. The mare drew gate two, jumped 3/4 clear of the inside horse…just a squeeze from Avdulla and she lands the box seat behind the eventual winner Mizzy. Not going to be critical of the choice to get three wide on the back of Fasika because that was the key chance.

HORSES TO FOLLOW:

Shadow Hero/Castelvecchio – Both outstanding returns
Exceedance – No admirers lost in defeat IMO. They’ve run home in a tick over 33
Trope – Draws a gate and he’ll be winning
Fasika – Outstanding in defeat
Caliburn – He’ll be really dangerous if he finds a wet track
Tenley – Replay says it all
Tarwin – Not sure his rating is high enough, but he could easily measure up over a mile in the Toorak/Cantala
Dalasan – Horse to beat in Caulfield Guineas

ONE MORE CHANCE:

Vincere Volare – Really poor set up from the stable for her resumption, a trial, then travel to Melbourne a few days later

NEVER EVER AGAIN:

Baller (At Stakes Level) – That confirmed he’s not a Stakes class horse
Lady Lupino – She’s going awful
Fundamentalist – Who are these idiots that keep backing her?