This weekend’s big talking point was the weather across the country. While Magic Millions Day on the Gold Coast was postponed due to an unsafe track, Flemington’s meeting started at 10:30am AEDT as the mercury hit 38 degrees in Melbourne. Meanwhile, the twilight meeting at Murray Bridge was abandoned due to high winds.
Nevertheless, three of the metropolitan meetings were run at Flemington, Rosehill Gardens and Ascot, with the Group 3 Standish Handicap and Group 2 Perth Cup left as the only feature events for Saturday. Along with some prospects from Flemington and Rosehill, we at the Follow Files have found a very impressive winner from the Sunday meeting at Moe, that may have been missed by some.
Rosehill Gardens – Rosehill Gardens Raceday
Track rating: Good 4
Rail position: +3m entire circuit
Race 7: Benchmark 88 Handicap (1100m) | Time: 1:03.59
- Horse to follow: Spacewalk (3rd)
The James Cummings-trained Spacewalk was backed into favouritism in the first leg of the quaddie at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, but the punters that took the short odds would have been ready to curl up into a ball at the 200m mark as he ran up the backside of four horses in a seven-horse field. This son of Exosphere settled at the back of the field and raced a bit keen in the middle stages, which led to Tyler Schiller having to settle him down, and he missed the chance to get to the outside of Dehorned Unicorn, who was the widest horse in the field. When this three-year-old gelding switched tracks back to the inside, he picked up nicely to finish third and ran the fastest last 200m in the race (11.14 seconds).
When to bet: The jury could be out for this gelding after he finished in the placings for the fifth time in his nine-race career. However, it was easy to see that this run on the weekend was more of a prep run and he wasn’t completely wound up to win first-up. Next start, when he is second-up and most likely to stay at the 1100m, we could get a much better price than the $2.40 we saw on Saturday, and he will be worth a bet in a similar grade.
Flemington – Standish Handicap Raceday
Track rating: Good 4 (G3 after R8)
Rail position: True entire circuit
Race 1: 2YO Handicap (1100m) | Time: 1:04.34
- Horse to follow: Veecee (1st)
The first race of the day at Flemington was for the two-year-olds, with all bar one of the runners on debut running down the famous Flemington straight. The winner from the Ciaron Maher & David Eustace yard, Veecee, was very impressive running away from the field to record an easy 2.5 lengths over Hellish and Rhodesian Red. This son of Capitalist settled in the back half of the field and sat outside the leading trio in the breeze down the straight, which isn’t usually a good place to be for a young horse at the first attempt, but this colt made it look very easy.
When to bet: Veecee looks to be a very nice speedy colt from a yard that places its horses well, and if he can raise the bar again at his next start, we could see this colt thrown in the deep end in a Blue Diamond Stakes prelude or preview in the coming weeks. There is still a lot of water to go under the bridge considering he was on debut, but he is already a third favourite at $10 with online bookmakers for the Blue Diamond in late February, so keep an eye on this guy.
Moe – Sunday Raceday (transfer from Sale)
Track rating: Good 4
Rail position: True entire circuit
Race 3: Maiden Plate (1100m) | Time: 1:06.10
- Horse to follow: Silkstar (1st)
We don’t suggest runners to follow from a Sunday meeting very often; however, this three-year-old filly from the Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr yard looks to be well above average. Silkstar, a daughter of Bel Esprit, proved that she had panels on the field in the third race of the day as she jumped, led and ran away from the rest on the home turn to win by 5.5 lengths while being throttled down in the final 150m. Daniel Moor spoke post-race about this filly and confirmed that both he and the stable have a very good opinion of her and that she will progress to better races in the near future.
When to bet: Silkstar won on debut at $1.60 after opening at $2.30 on Friday morning, so anyone that got more than even money would have been giggling to themselves on the home turn when she kicked clear. After that dominant display, however, we doubt that she will go around at better than even money at her next start. It will be worth following her at her next start and then seeing where she goes next, as there are plenty of options for a speedy three-year-old filly at this time of year.
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