This Listed Open Handicap mile saw the favourite Rock On Wood, an up and coming lightly tried 4yo, get up by a short head when getting 7kg from the topweight that he nailed on the line. The track presented was very suspect and the times ordinary all day but for a supposed Dead6 track the most alarming thing was every winner but one was steered five-off to fourteen-off the inside, so the track was very biased indeed. One runner cut the corner all day and it came in the last event and three-off the inside on a lane no runners had dared to tread in fear of being bogged down in clearly slower lanes. The key was it was an unused lane but also was still a slow one as a three length lead at the 300m became three-quarters of a length at the line and a rapidly diminishing one too. The winners and where they turned for home in race order were third (five-off the inside and half a length from the leader), led (seven-off the inside and a neck in front), second (six-off the inside and a length from the leader), seventh (ten-off the inside and three lengths from the leader), led (six-off the inside and four lengths clear), tenth (eleven-off the inside and four and a half lengths from the leader), ninth (fourteen-off the inside and three and a half lengths from the leader) and led (three-off the inside and three lengths clear). Eight of this sixteen horse field at Listed level were ridden by apprentices and that says it all really about riding depth in New Zealand and accepted worth of many Blacktype races. Blacktype events should not be for apprentice riders as no claims are allowed. Rock On Wood last season had tried Blacktype racing three times for a two fourths and a sixth, so he was a notch below the main names but a long spell to strengthen naturally has been the making of him. He resumed in February this year and has not been beaten since and now has won a Listed event against the older horses. The 4yo gelding was eased back to fourteenth early then was twelfth wide midrace and came up ninth and very deep turning for home before being asked to unleash. The response was not explosive as he reached sixth at the 200m but the force of it was apparent soon after as he hit full stride and moved into second 50m later then set out after the clear leader. Rock On Wood sustained his surge and got up the last 5m to score by a short head in 1:35.88 to record his fifth win from nine starts. The victory was impressive as that will to win is now there in the eye of this 4yo that in three months will be a 5yo fully furnished. What did he beat today now is the yardstick and he was ridden by an apprentice albeit one that has lost his claim. Shadows Cast with 60kg and a very impatient ride (he went far too soon) got caught the last 5m when giving Rock On Wood 7kg, after sitting second outside the leader. The attack and then grabbing the lead before the home turn and going for gold so early clearly cost it the race, as waiting for 50m longer before hitting the go button would have seen a win. Shadows Cast is a very in and out type and before this had run eighth beaten over fifteen lengths in a G1 at WFA over 2000m where the runner up that day beaten a neck was Danzdanzdance. She has since run third at G1 under WFA in Sydney but the runner up that day was He's Eminent that has since finished eighth at G1 beaten over sixteen lengths and then ran dead last at G1 in Hong Kong beaten almost fifty lengths Danzdanzdance then finished seventh beaten fifteen lengths at G1 behind Winx in her swansong, the race that He's Eminent finished a place behind her, so this is patchy and untrustable form. Both she and He's Eminent have got worse and worse at WFA by the outing. Shadows Cast has won at G1 in New Zealand in a handicap mile with 58kg and that day beat home a lot of non-winners (they very rarely salute). Of the fifteen runners that finished behind Shadow's Cast that day just two have won a race since in The Mitigator and On The Rocks (won at G1 at WFA over 2000m (that an odds on Danzdanzdance finished fifth in) then he has flopped badly twice more since). Shadows Cast ran second in this race last year with 60kg and got beaten half a head and only three out that race have won since too. The form is very suspect indeed. Cutting Up Rough showed the form worth is to be taken with a bigger grain of salt when coming from second last and widest turning for home to get third. The rising 7yo's last win came in a Benchmark 82 (four or five grades inferior) at Poverty Bay six runs ago. Today was not only his first ever run at start forty-five in Open Class but also his first try at Blacktype too, so to get third beaten less than a length and a half from well behind the winner turning for home says plenty about the actual depth of this field. Dolcetto ran another sound race for fourth beaten over three lengths but he has not saluted since December of 2017, while Sergeant Blast ran fifth beaten four lengths but he was outclassed five times in the Queensland Winter carnival last year for a depth gauge Monrecur ran on okay from third or fourth last on settling to get sixth beaten just under five lengths but she has not won a race since December of 2017. Woodsman was not too bad for seventh as he was a tad tardy (not in stewards report) and got well back the inside and came through closer in along slower lanes the run home. He's Cavalier raced midfield or a shade worse and wide and fought on for eighth beaten almost five and a half lengths. Hunta Pence was reasonable and William Wallace can be forgiven again as he came through closer in after getting well back. Ignore the commentator saying this race at the start was a 'pretty good line' as that simply did not happen with William Wallace away very ordinarily and last away quite clearly. Glimpse rising multiple classes (last start Benchmark 65 winner so this was a rise of five to six grades) was not disgraced. Shadow Fox was ordinary and Porcelain Princess plain too but she was a tad tardy the inner (not in stewards report) before booting through seventh the inside and then through third midrace. She came through to second turning for home closest in then got bogged down and tired. The rest got beaten over seventeen lengths. This was not a strong field at all and barely Listed grade with the topweight having to give Dolcetto 3.5kg telling indeed as that runner has not won for sixteen months and still is yet to come back to scale first. Rock On Wood is an up and comer and he beat the best horse in the race narrowly after getting 7kg from it but likely would not have had its rider not cut the ribbons so far from home. Shadows Cast beats him if not let loose so far from home under clear topweight and factor in too the third finisher came from behind Rock On Wood and finished at the same rate of knots plus it was a first time runner in Open grade and at Blacktype. The time was mediocre for this grade and the footing a lot trickier than Dead6 plus blatantly biased so an asterisk of legitimate doubt is applied.