The track at Hastings today looked and raced poorly with the times confirming it was on the very worst side of slow and in some races the clocking were borderline heavy. This first G1 for the season is always a race of many underdone and some looking overseas to peak plus the WFA depth is suspect to say the least at the moment in New Zealand and has been for quite a while. The result today did the reputation of the race no favours with the 8yo Close Up scoring after getting in the field from first on the ballot. Incredibly he was only paying $18 so the 8-8 in the betting gelding made a mockery of WFA form with the well tried old horse scoring at his first ever G1 attempt at start twenty-nine. Up until his prior start, where the 8yo ran second at G2 under WFA conditions, he had never run in and Group race before and today snared a G1, which is astonishing and tribute to the trainer Shelley Hale and an ice cool ride by a senior jockey in Grant Cooksley. Close Up by being able to win this at his age under WFA says more about the rest than him and he now will not fear anything in New Zealand under this internationally accepted scale. He got buried back on the inner but his rider astutely saved every possible inch in the running and only angled him off near the home turn and the old fella (both the horse and the rider!) trucked up behind them with 400m to go. Once he pierced through into second at the 250m the gelding set out after the eventual runner up that had trailed the leaders then surged through to lead at the 300m. Close Up gained a narrow lead with 25m to go and scored by half a neck in 1:27.89 to record his tenth win in twenty-nine starts, so his strike rate for success is very good. Aide Memoire, which too had won at her first G1 attempt under WFA last December almost made it two-from two. The 6yo mare had the sit and then spurted to the lead at the 300m looking every inch the winner but could not hold out a tough old fella in a dour battle the closing stages. Underthemoonlight ran home powerfully for third after settling back and being cluttered up in traffic across the top. The also 6yo mare had to knock a rival out of the way turning for home and her rider Cameron Lammas got ten days for the get out of my way move. The mare had won her prior start at G2 under WFA and beat Close Up on wet ground with Kawi third that day and he finished fourth today so the rain-affected form stood up. Kawi, the favourite and going for three wins in a row in this event, was tardy and last away before recovering quickly but settled down still back ninth or tenth. His rider was between runners and desperate to pick the right path but his choice was made up when bumped backed to the inside turning for home and it actually presented a good run through albeit causing a rival in Sofia Rose to cop a bad check too. Kawi got through and was fourth at the 200m where he fought on well to maintain that position at the line and was a length and a half from the winner. The start cost him any chance of winning but whether he still has that known surge this season is still to be decided and better footing is the only way to find out. He has been beaten so many times now as favourite in his career and has won a lot less than half his starts to amplify that fact, so the bettors have felt the pain all too often and copped it again deluxe today. Gingernuts was the best flashing light run in the race with a strong closing fifth and he may well have buried these to score but for copping a get outta my way turning for home by the third finisher. Amazingly he was the only 4yo male in this race and that was to the detriment of this field and its grading as that is where you need to see if the 3yo power from the season before can step up at WFA. The tsunami of money that came late for Gingernuts to make him third favourite at the jump and only 50c behind the favourite Kawi suggests the gelding was ready to dunk them. Volpe Veloce was a disappointment finishing sixth beaten over three lengths and she will need to find improvement as her surge was very short lived. The mare ran second favourite and just 20c behind Kawi having won fresh up for the season carrying 54.5kg and third that day with 5.5kg more was none other than the winner today Close Up (he only had to carry 2.5kg more than her today under WFA). This 4yo mare was handy the outer early then lost her position and ended up surrounded in the midfield across the top to the home turn plus copped a slight bump by a runner stopping ahead of her at the 400m. She was however unleashed into clear air at the 300m wider out and let go to reach third at the 100m but the burn was very short and she weakened noticeably at the 50m. Sofia Rosa was a luckless seventh after getting well back on the inner then copping a chain reaction check turning for home. Thee Auld Floozie blew out late for eighth when the mare loomed up third turning for home after sitting midfield then working off across the top. Coldplay sat second the outer and weakened but her history shows she is most effective when given a sit and cover to then be asked for one surge. Ringo was noticed running on late from the rear duo while Packing Eagle has had two poor draws and nightmare very wide runs since coming to New Zealand from Hong Kong. He can do something at the highest level in New Zealand if he is not dulled by these gutbusters and gets a normal run in transit and of course on improved footing. El Pescado, runner up in this last year behind Kawi was beaten over ten lengths after settling back and wide. Luna Rossa never got into the race but cannot get a decent barrier draw this year it seems. Authentic Paddy ran a shocker after being sixth and then losing his place like a few others but to be beaten over sixteen lengths is unforgivable. It was his worst margin of defeat in his career of seventy starts so far and by almost half a dozen lengths too so it was a dreadful defeat. Rangipo had a tough run wide and working forward so was always going to puncture but the former G1 NZ Derby winner has been poor since that win bar one placing. The now 5yo was gone turning for home and ended up beaten twenty-four lengths. Perfect Fit, a G1 winner last Autumn against her own sex ran another shocker this time in and after working hard to lead ended up stopping badly to finish last. The wet ground is not her go so these crushing defeats cannot be good for the now 6yo mare and she should never be lined up again on wet footing. Her retirement was announced days afterwards. The result was a wet tracker finish so probably has little relevance deeper into the Spring unless it keeps raining and the fact an 8yo at his first G1 try can win under the WFA scale is very telling indeed. Close Up has never won at a mile but after achieving this first today why not try for the second leg of this Triple Crown, as he has nothing to fear. Aide Memoire is a fully mature mare that proved her G1 win at WFA last December was no fluke but just how strong this race was is now debatable but it certainly was superior too her Summer success. Underthemoonlight wants the rain-affected tracks to continue as she has thrived over Winter and now into very early Spring. It is worth noting how bad the Hastings track was presented today and raced with tellingly the winner and third finisher having raced all through Winter so they had that wet track core fitness. Kawi on better footing will be tough to beat in the second leg of the Triple Crown over a mile in three weeks and so will Gingernuts that was impossible to miss today the closing stages. Volpe Veloce will need to find a couple of lengths at least but two other mares in Sofia Rosa and Thee Auld Floozie ran okay and are logical improvers. Coldplay if ridden with cover can form reverse and Ringo is competitive just below this grade. Packing Eagle is the sly one from a decent gate and on top of the ground while Luna Rossa could do with a barrier that is not the carpark. Rangipo and Perfect Fit need either decent ground or not to be used up so much in the running. A dubious result indeed and wet track fitness mattered most over ability.