This G1 Open 1200m under set weights and penalties saw Enzo's Lad, a boilover winner of this last year, repeat the does and cause another upset at Trentham. The Australian bred paid $74 last year from gate one carrying 55.5kg to score by short neck and today paid $33 from gate three carrying topweight of 58kg to win by a nasal hair, so loves a tight finish for theatrical effect. The bias towards on pacers and the faster inside lanes was even worse today than here last week with six of the ten winners turning for home running one, two or three and another winner trailing the leaders The winners and where they turned for home in race order were seventh (five-off and three lengths from the leader), tenth (five-off and three lengths from the leader), led (length inner), second (outer and one length off the leader), second (outer a neck from the leader), co-leader (outer), fifth (trail inner and two lengths from the leader), eighth (inner and three lengths from the leader), third (two-off and a length and a half from the leader) and second (one-off and a length from the leader). The first two races were down the bionic chute and the run on winners were not that far away turning for home and in fact no victor on the whole day came from further back than three lengths from the leader tellingly. Vast swathes of runners every race were dead on arrival at the gates if backrunners and anything angled too wide had no chance of winning whatsoever, such was the incredibly manmade biased track presented for the second week in succession. This was a double G1 day and manmade track bias just cuts to shreds the relevance and worth of a race result and belittles an already suspect G1 significance internationally. Enzo's Lad trailed the leaders on the inner and worked out and four-off at the 250m then kept coming to gradually haul in the leader that had sat outside the pace and shot clear at the 200m. The 6yo gelding was looking ominous at the 50m and then on the line, after an excessive time for the photo finish to be called, was declared the winner in 1:06.95, which is a ludicrous time as usual posted here down the dogleg chute. Totally forget the times posted for Trentham and Riccarton, two dogleg chutes, as they are not realistic or believable and across that junction the measuring assumes a bubble and many cut across in a straighter line to join the course proper. Downhill or the distance is not 1200m or whatever, the times can never be accepted and this is not even the fastest time ever run with the track record being 1:06.51 set by Bawalaksana in 1999 with 52kg. Bawalaksana could only run eighth in the G1 Newmarket at Flemington six weeks later with 55kg and the winner Isca clocked 1:07.8 (almost eight lengths inferior) for a dose of utter reality. Enzo's Lad carried 58kg today and last year won it in 1:08.30 narrowly over Kawi and Ferrando, with the latter running second today beaten a nostril flare. The fastest 1200m time in Australia ever is Iglesia at Flemington (a straight line race so how a dogleg is faster defies science and common sense) and he ran 1:07.16 that day in 2001, which was a hot day with a tailwind. No horse has broken 1:07 in Australia and that tells you all you need to know about Trentham and Riccarton chute times and now it seems Awapuni with the top bend being restructured cannot be believed any more either after a recent outlier of a time for Gift Of Power. Enzo's Lad has run faster a year later and carried more weight, which makes no sense but the finish had a look of sameness about it. It was his seventh win from twenty-seven starts and five of them have come at 1200m with his maiden success coming at 1100m. Ferrando sped over from a wide gate early and sat outside his stablemate and then took the lead at the 300m and looked home and hosed at the 200m and 100m. He carried 2.5kg less than the winner and got beaten a pixel. Last year in May he ran at Morphettville twice and was well beaten at G3 then beaten out of sight at G1 with a wet track blamed for his showings. They ran 1:09.88 in the G1 Goodwood, so the track was not that bad and he got beaten over eighteen lengths carrying 56kg to put some perspective into New Zealand sprinters. Sensei, the stablemate of the winner, deadheated for third after racing ninth and five-wide and the being seventh and deeper turning for home. The also Australian bred is a 4yo and kept coming to be beaten just under a length and a half so lord knows what time he clocked sitting so deep and may have broken 1:06 using Trentham-time and the athletics track stagger-lanes formula for extra distance covered. It may have been a world record and this is not April the first. Signify sat sixth and four-wide to the home turn and reached third at the 100m and fought hard to deadheat for third, so he clocked a bionic time too. He won this race in 2016, so the South Island has no won the last three Telegraphs and many of the same horses keep running against each other and the trifecta this year have seen each other at least twice before. Since this race was made a set weights and penalties affair the results have pole-axed punters with the winning prices being $27, $80, $46, $74 and now $33, so stick a fork in bettors as they are well and truly done. This sprinter hattrick by the South Island is like Perth can produce G1 sprinters for Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Adelaide but is very shy in the miler, middle distance and stayer categories bar the odd freak happening like Northerly. Bostonian ran a fair fifth and was beaten just under two and a half lengths but had every possible chance again and his reputation has been tarnished significantly this year so far. Gift Of Power led up and was run over to finish sixth equal beaten almost three and a quarter lengths. She won by over ten lengths three starts ago at Awapuni and the time afforded her looked ridiculous of 1:07.46 and today she ran slower than that and got well beaten. Times matter but not when they are palpably false and get exposed with each and every run afterwards. Livin' On A Prayer fought on from tenth the inner to deadheat for sixth while Volks Lightning ran on okay from well back and widest across the junction. Rocanto sat third wide and weakened but was only beaten just under five lengths, so manmade track bias ensured he did not drop out exhausted. True Excelsior the visiting 4yo Australian trained mare was a tactical riding howler as she has speed and could have come over with the runner up Ferrando early or at least be put in the race on settling but was not. She ran on okay late from fifteenth on settling and connections would surely like a redo of the tactics as she ran almost the fastest last 600m and only got tenth, which must be maddening as it shows she was ready for the race but settling that far back was an insurmountable task. Prince Oz and Hi Flyer were both not too bad late after settling well back. The rest were ordinary or shocking and the hot favourite Melody Belle at $2.50 ran sixteenth beaten over eleven lengths in a career worst performance. The mare was eighth and five-wide but with cover behind runners that deadheated for third so it was an epic flop and a monumental head scratcher. Enzo's Lad and Sensei could be next seen at Sha Tin and Caulfield in the Chairman's Sprint (1200m) and the Oakleigh Plate (1100m) respectively. They both will be longshots but you cannot win if you are not in.
Previous Winners
Date | Horse | Jockey | WT | Trainer | BP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
ENZO'S LAD
(AUS)
5G TESTA ROSSA (AUS) - SHEERAMA (AUS) CATBIRD (AUS) |
SAM WEATHERLEY | 55.5 | MICHAEL & MATTHEW PITMAN | 1 |
|
SIGNIFY
(NZ)
5G PERFECTLY READY (AUS) - PICA PICA (NZ) STRAVINSKY (USA) |
R CUNEEN | 55.0 | A COWAN | 10 |
|
ADVENTADOR
(NZ)
7G FAST 'N' FAMOUS (AUS) - ALPINE BEAUTY (NZ) KHOZAAM (USA) |
M CAMERON | 55.5 | GUY LOWRY & GRANT CULLEN | 10 |
|
SACRED STAR
(AUS)
5G FLYING SPUR (AUS) - IRISH NOVA (NZ) O'REILLY (NZ) |
V A COLGAN | 57.0 | TONY PIKE | 12 |
|
IRISH FLING
(NZ)
5M DARCI BRAHMA (NZ) - IRISH BELLE (NZ) O'REILLY (NZ) |
MARK DU PLESSIS | 52.0 | GUY LOWRY & GRANT CULLEN | 4 |
|
FINAL TOUCH
(NZ)
5M KASHANI (USA) - MY LYDIA (AUS) UMATILLA (NZ) |
C W JOHNSON | 58.0 | J F PARSONS | 6 |
|
GUISEPPINA
(NZ)
5M JOHAR (USA) - BATTOCCHI (NZ) SUCCESS EXPRESS (USA) |
JAMES MCDONALD | 53.0 | STEVEN RAMSAY & JULIA RITCHIE | 18 |
|
MUFHASA
(NZ)
6G PENTIRE (GB) - SHEILA CHEVAL (NZ) MI PREFERIDO (USA) |
S C SPRATT | 56.5 | STEPHEN MCKEE | 15 |
|
VONUSTI
(NZ)
5G USTINOV (AUS) - REASONABLY (AUS) SOUND REASON (CAN) |
N G HARRIS | 52.5 | TIM & MARGARET CARTER | 16 |
|
MUFHASA
(NZ)
4G PENTIRE (GB) - SHEILA CHEVAL (NZ) MI PREFERIDO (USA) |
S C SPRATT | 55.5 | STEPHEN MCKEE | 11 |
|
SEACHANGE
(NZ)
5M CAPE CROSS (IRE) - JUST CRUISING (AUS) BROAD REACH (NZ) |
G MCKEON | 58.5 | R R MANNING | 3 |
|
DARCI BRAHMA
(NZ)
4H DANEHILL (USA) - GRAND ECHEZEAUX (NZ) ZAFONIC (USA) |
O P BOSSON | 57.0 | MARK WALKER | 10 |
|
GEE I JANE
(NZ)
5M JAHAFIL (GB) - MISS DISTINCTION (NZ) BLETCHENCORE (AUS) |
S SEAMER | 55.5 | N COUCHMAN | 10 |
|
KEENINSKY
(NZ)
3C STRAVINSKY (USA) - SO KEEN (NZ) JADE HUNTER (USA) |
A C PEARD | 50.5 | GRAEME ROGERSON & STEPHEN AUTRIDGE | 4 |
|
KING'S CHAPEL
(AUS)
3C KING OF KINGS (IRE) - LOWER CHAPEL (GB) SHARPO (GB) |
N G HARRIS | 52.0 | MARK WALKER | 8 |
|
TIT FOR TAAT
(NZ)
5G FALTAAT (USA) - MISS KIWITEA (NZ) TRULY VAIN (AUS) |
M J WALKER | 58.5 | W HERBERT | 5 |
|
VINAKA
(NZ)
3G VOLKSRAAD (GB) - SHEPHERD'S DELIGHT (NZ) FAMOUS STAR (GB) |
L A O'SULLIVAN | 52.5 | JIM GIBBS | 3 |
|
OUR STAR OF GOLD
(NZ)
6G FAMOUS STAR (GB) - GOLDTAINE (NZ) CENTAINE (AUS) |
P D JOHNSON | 53.0 | STEPHEN & TREVOR MCK | 3 |
|
FRITZ
(NZ)
5G KREISLER (IRE) - BRIGHTEN UP (GB) SHARPO (NZ) |
N G HARRIS | 53.0 | N COULBECK | 5 |