Redzel misses place for first time since 2016 after quickly run Doomben 10,000
With a record of 12 starts for eight wins and four seconds since finishing eighth in the A J Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) at Moonee Valley on 30 September 2016, it was hardly surprising that Redzel went out a firm favourite to win his second successive Doomben 10,000 on Saturday.
All was going well for his supporters when Kerrin McEvoy looked for the front with Redzel but the underrated Queensland sprinter Monsieur Gustave (Al Maher) can prove difficult to beat for pace and that may have been the undoing of the favourite.
After racing outside Monsieur Gustave until well into the home straight, Redzel momentarily found the lead before his early efforts told and the outstanding sprinter tired late for fourth, just under a length from the late-closing winner English (Encosta De Lago).
The time for the 1200 metre journey on the Soft 5 track was a quick 1:09.58 with the early fractions really telling the story.
Daily Sectionals clocked the leaders (from the barrier) to run the first 600 metres in 34.50, first 800 metres 45.92 with the first 1000 metres in 57.66 – a hot tempo on the Soft 5 track.
The winner English had enjoyed a nice trip under Tim Clark from her inside barrier (1) before getting along the inner over the closing stages to score by a long head from Impending (Lonhro) with Le Romain (Hard Spun) a half neck away in third.
English produced the fastest closing sectionals of any of the winners on the nine-race card with her last 800 metres in 45.78, last 600 metres in 34.76, last 400 metres in 23.32 with her final 200 metres in 11.84.
Impending did well in making ground for second, while Le Romain really impressed as he had been trapped deep, racing close to the strong early tempo, so his effort in holding on as well as he did for third, narrowly defeating Redzel at the post, was top class.
Earlier in the programme, the Chris Waller-trained colt Zousain (Zoustar) came off a strong early tempo to take out the Champagne Classic (Gr 2, 1200m) in a time of 1:10.80.
That time was 1.22 seconds slower than English recorded for the same distance in the Doomben 10,000, however some of the early sections compared well, namely the first 600 metres in 34.22 and first 800 metres in 45.98, while the first 1000 metres was clocked in 58.46.
The winner Zousain had raced back in eighth place before running home strongly to record his first stakes success in four starts by two and half-lengths.
Zousain was timed to run his last 800 metres in 47.58, last 600 metres in 36.58, last 400 metres in 24.82 with his last 200 metres in 12.34 – his slower closing times reflecting the effect of the strong early pace.
The runner-up Mishani Hustler (Exceedingly Good) was mainly responsible for the fast early pace as he had worked outside the leader Pennino (Easy Rocking) and he did well in holding on as well as he did for second, while Pennino, a winner of three of four prior starts, finished second last.
The other strong running leader warranting comment at the Doomben meeting was the Paul Perry-trained colt Perast (Snitzel) who set a solid tempo before taking out the Queensland Day Stakes (Listed, 1350m) for three-year-olds.
A winner of the Caulfield Guineas Prelude (Gr 3, 1400m) last preparation, Perast was having his fourth run back and he went on to win by just over a length from the Godolphin-raced gelding Marsupial (Street Cry) in a time of 1:19.18 (11.70 200m rate, equivalent to 1400 metres in 1:22.11).
Noteworthy in Perast’s sectional times was that he clocked 57.84 for his last 1000 metres, one of the quickest for that section on the day.
Last Saturday also featured Scone’s standalone TAB meeting where a number of performances took the eye, especially the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained three-year-old filly Moss Trip (Mossman) and the John O’Shea-trained two-year-old filly Pretty In Pink (Sebring).
Moss Trip is racing in top form this term, now winning four of her six starts, and after settling back in second last place in the 11-horse field, she came with a strong burst to win the Inglis Three-Year-Old Guineas (RL, 1400m) decisively by two lengths.
That race saw a fast early pace where the leaders clocked 34.84 for the 600 metres (from the 1200m to the 600m) and 58.31 (from the 1200m to the 200m), adding merit to the winner’s effort.
Moss Trip is now likely to head to Queensland with the Tattersalls Tiara (Gr 1, 1350m) at Doomben on 23 June as her main mission.
Pretty In Pink was impressive, also coming from the tail of the field, before taking out the Segenhoe Stud and Woodlands Stud Stakes (Listed, 1100m) clearly by two lengths in a time of 1:04.97 (11.81 200m rate), equivalent to 1200 metres in 1:10.87.
She also came off a strong early tempo that saw the 800 metres (from the 1000m to the 200m) clocked in 46.09.
Pretty In Pink is now unbeaten in two starts having recorded a smart debut win in a Gosford 2YO maiden (1000m) on 25 April.
John O’Shea subsequently said that he would not take Pretty In Pink to the Queensland Winter Carnival but instead would spell the filly, whom he holds in high regard, and reserve her for the spring three-year-old features.