It was a tough day for punters as The Championships Day 1 became a very wet affair.
Sydney had mostly avoided their typically wet autumn so far, but the rain came in a big way on Saturday.
The track quickly received a downgrade to Heavy as the rain fell early in the card.
Meanwhile, it was another open day at Bendigo for their annual Golden Mile day, with Ben and JD Hayes capping off a brilliant day with Here To Shock winning the feature.
Yet Another Day To Remember For Lindsay Park
Ben and JD Hayes had no shortage of knockers when they took over responsibility for Lindsay Park. Even if people supported the boys, there was no doubt would have been a thought in the back of their mind surrounding how the boys will go. However, there certainly isn’t any questions surrounding them. In the past 12 months they won the Doncaster Mile, The Blue Diamond and the Doncaster Mile again just to name a few. They have been a tremendous success.
In a matter of 15 minutes, the stable celebrated winning both mile features at Randwick and Bendigo. Mr Brightside was tremendous backing-up his All-Star Mile win a fortnight ago to defend his Doncaster Mile Crown. Then a short time later, Here To Shock won the Bendigo Mile. The stable has certainly exceeded many punters’ expectations and probably even their own.
Sick Watches To Start The Day At Randwick
If you had tickets on either Saltaire or Matcha Latte in the first two races at Randwick, you would be forgiven for thinking you were home. Each horse shot clear in the final furlong, putting a gap on their rivals from off the speed before eventually being beaten on the line. Libertad was given a beautiful ride by Chad Schofield to extend his unbeaten streak to two in the Group 3 Kindergarten Stakes. Meanwhile, The Fortune Teller’s first trip to Sydney was a winning one as the Caraviggio colt recorded his second career win in the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes.
Arts Stamps Oaks Credentials
There was a bit of déjà vu in the Adrian Knox Stakes for many punters who followed the career of Duais. Also out of the Edward Cummings Stable, Duais defeated Bargain in the 2021 Group 3 Adrian Knox Stakes, before running second to Hungry Heart in the Group 1 ATC Oaks a week later. With the heavily backed race-favourite Sequestered pushing to the lead at the 200m, there looked to be a shadow looming large on the outside as Arts ploughed through the heavy ground to win.
The official margin was labelled four-lengths by the judge and there is little doubt Arts is the horse to follow out of the race. Arts has now firmed into $8 for next weekend’s ATC Oaks and will be very hard to beat if the rain continues to fall.
I Wish I Win Brilliant, Giga Kick Great
What a battle it was between the Victorian sprinters I Wish I Win and Giga Kick in the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes. Both horses were tremendous winning the Golden Eagle and The Everest respectively last spring and returned to Sydney for the TJ Smith Stakes. Especially for I Wish I Win, a shot at The Everest was up for grabs for both horses and each stamped themselves as leading chances for the race. Giga Kick jumped a well-supported favourite after an eye-catching placing behind Passive Aggressive in the Challenge Stakes.
Zac Purton gave the three-year-old a brilliant steer, but it was I Wish I Win who was the superior horse on the day. In a similar watch to his Golden Eagle win, Nolen settled the Peter Moody-trained galloper at the back of the field and asked him to extend, producing a booming finish to power past the best sprinters in Australia. What seems so exciting is that connections and punters seem to be yet to get to the bottom of each horse.
