When Finals Day at Flemington is all you’ve got to look forward to on the racing front this weekend, it’s easy to zone out and focus on the likes of Wimbledon and Euro, even if it’s to just see the tennis pros sook.
Racing Victoria’s catch-phrase – Winter Racing At Its Finest – isn’t just a stretch, it’s a an outright lie. Have they already forgotten about all those Group 1 races in Brissie just the other month? Spare me.
There are zero Group races on a card that sees the end of a number of autumn – winter finals series, and about as much talent on the track as there are worthy politicians in the Senate. Okay, that’s a bit harsh, there are SOME good horses kicking about at Victoria’s premier course on the weekend.
In the first – the Silver Bowl Series Final – Adam Trinder continues the Melbourne raid of his Tasmanian youngster Jerilderie Letter. We love a good Aussie bushranger story and this could be one worth following into the spring with early talk of a possible Melbourne Cup campaign. It’s unlikely, but so was the resurgence of Pauline Hanson in Parliament and we’re living that horror story now. #NedKelly
The first of the Black Types reads on paper as boring as a Wimbledon match between a third and 12th seed. But this week we saw Jo-Wilfried Tsonga give title favourite Andy Murray a much closer match result than the Wimbledon favourite would have liked, so we’re not giving up hope.
Godolphin saddles up Trenchant in the Taj Rossi Series Final and he’s a promising type in stellar form that could shape up as a Caulfield Guineas hope in October.
In the all Victorian Sprint Series Final Darren Weir is looking to unleash a bit of Voodoo magic with Voodoo Lad coming off a string of good runs. It’s an open field but the problem is, no one really cares. In the end a pretty ordinary sprinter is going to take home some pretty serious prize money. It’s like watching Blues skipper Paul Gallen keep cashing in that Origin cheque. Thank God the moron is retiring, maybe NSW can actually win a series without him slowing down the show.
Weir does have a class runner in the Banjo Paterson Series Final however in Master Of Arts. It’s not a stakes race, but this progressive four-year-old stallion is a gallant grey doing lots right in the Melbourne staying races. He’s a Warrnambool Cup winner in the wet and saluted at Flemington a fortnight back making him the best horse to back all day for mine. He also would make a nice Caulfield Cup horse if you ask me, not that anyone is, and I guess when it comes to Spring Cups Weir knows what he’s doing. #Prince
The day’s feature is the Winter Championship Series Final and finally we’ve got some known horses kicking about. Fourteen line-up and the bookies are having a harder time picking a favourite as they are counting our election votes.
Chance To Dance has to be right up there, a Group 1 performer with good form in the wet. Lloyd Williams owns him, but Flemington’s not the right track. Better suited to the course is veteran Jacquinot Bay racing as good as ever despite being a rising nine-year-old. The weight looks tough, but he carried it to victory here last time out so can get the job done under the kilos.
The other race worth a punt is the AR Creswick Series Final for three-year-olds including Robert Smerdon’s flying Odyssey Moon. The lead-up form is harder to knock than the skill of Oscar Pistorius’s lawyers. #OutInThree
The Snitzel colt shoots for three wins on the trot but has a big weight rise and wide alley to handle. He is still the one to beat, but if something does it’ll be Prince Of Brooklyn chasing late.
Finals Day, can’t wait to see the end of it and the shit storm this election has turned into. Thank god for UFC 200, Wimbledon and Euro!
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