Weekend Review
Terang Race 1 - Chicago King - 3rd
You cannot fault Chicago King’s consistency, however he just can’t get his head in front at the finishing post. His 7 start career to date has seen 5 placings, and that includes his barrier mishap, so it is essentially 5 from 6. He sat in a great spot on Friday and looked to be travelling the best at the corner, but the 1850m was probably just a bridge too far. The race leader was a 45 start maiden that stuck on for 2nd, and the eventual winner, Diagri, was a horse that definitely appreciated the rise in distance. I think going forward, 1400-1600m will be where we see Chicago King at his most competitive.
Sunshine Coast Race 3 - Pyrois - 1st
What an incredible story! We knew going into the race that if the “switched on” Pyrois turned up to the races, he would be hard to beat, and that’s exactly who showed up. He was ridden perfectly by Melbourne Cup winning jockey, Michael Rodd. He parked worse than midfield in a race that generated a strong tempo, and he was able to peel to the outside and show a really nice change of pace to storm over the top of rivals and win by 0.2 lengths. It’s been a game of patience for owners, but great to see them rewarded on Friday night. Hopefully, this can help build some confidence for him going forward, and he can tackle some races in town up north over the sprinting trips.
Sunshine Coast Race 6 - Firebolt - 7th
Unfortunately, nothing has really gone right for her this preparation. After two luckless runs, we thought that she would be peaking 3rd up over a mile. The tempo was below average in comparison to standard, which allowed for Hooks (the eventual winner) to control the race from the front. Firebolt settled in last place and given that tempo, she never really built into the race. That said, the horse that settled in 9th (Poutchek), was able to run home well for 4th, so whilst the tempo may not have suited, it wasn’t impossible to run on. Hopefully with the added fitness benefit, she can finish closer at her next start.
Saturday
Flemington Race 2 - Bur Dubai
He ran super! He finished 2nd in what looked to be a very strong BM84, with horses in the field being destined for better staying races in the near future. The scratching of Independent Road in the morning provided a slight concern that the tempo would be slow again, however, it was a great decision for Beau Mertens to settle on speed. This was backed up by the sectionals, where the race was run 13 lengths slower than standard for the first 1400m. Despite this, Bur Dubai still showed a great change of speed to hit the line strongly in a “sit sprint”.
The winner, Revelare, is a classy stayer who is much further along in his preparation and looks all set for a race like the Roy Higgins at Flemington for a ticket to the Melbourne Cup. I think that being 0.75 lengths off Revelare will prove to be a very strong form reference going forward. Therefore, I’m confident that Bur Dubai will be very hard to beat in 3-4 weeks time at his next start up in distance.
