Saturday at Caulfield was a day to savour
Yucatan won the Herbert Power Stakes in the fastest time ever recorded in the race.
I cannot recall seeing two more extraordinary performances at the one race meeting. Alas, we are unlikely to see The Autumn Sun again until next autumn. He won’t be taking on Winx in the Cox Plate.
In truth, it’s because trainer Chris Waller believes he’s not physically ready for it and that’s fair enough notwithstanding that he also happens to train Winx. The colt’s controlling owner John Messara said he was reluctant to take on Winx for the ‘good of the game’. Hopefully that same thought will see him race The Autumn Sun as a four-year-old.
Mercifully, Yucatan won’t be backing up in Saturday’s Caulfield Cup which he might well have won by the length of Koornang Road. Mercifully because he could not be penalised for the Caulfield Cup which makes a mockery of the handicap conditions of that race and of the quality handicap conditions of the Herbert Power.
Yucatan could have beaten runner-up Brimham Rocks by anywhere between four and six lengths had he not been eased down… but no penalty. Patrick Erin beat the same horse by a nose in The Metropolitan and copped two kilograms. Yucatan could, of course, be penalised (and was) for the Melbourne Cup. Explain that logic to me!
The controversial Caulfield Cup penalty conditions introduced last year have now been scrapped and the situation with the Herbert Power Stakes certainly needs to be reviewed.
One thing is for sure I think (is that an ‘oxymoron’) you can trust what you saw with The Autumn Sun and Yucatan.
The Autumn Sun, by Redoute’s Choice, won the Guineas by four and a half lengths – a margin not bettered since the champion filly/mare Storm Queen won by five lengths in 1966. For the record she went on to beat all-comers in the now Cantala Stakes.
His winning margin was superior to the champion Guineas winners Vain (3 lengths); Sobar (3.5); Surround (2.5); Luskin Star (0.5); Manikato (1.25); Sovereign Red (3); Red Anchor (2); Mahogany (1.5); Lonhro (1.3) and Weekend Hussler (2.75) and superior to the most recent visually impressive winners Whobegotyou (3.25) and Starspangledbanner (2.75).
What this list indicates clearly is that if you look like a superstar winning the Caulfield Guineas then you’re almost certainly just that. Yes, time will tell us about The Autumn Sun’s opposition and you’d suspect there’s been stronger editions of the race but the likes of Graff, Zousain and Fundamentalist have franked his form.
Yucatan has been transformed since the blinkers went on three starts back; his form ties in with the Arc runner-up via Eziyra and he was breathtakingly good at Caulfield.
The temptation is take the $9 available now for the Melbourne Cup although he may ease in the interim if other fancied rivals runs well – especially in this Saturday’s Caulfield Cup.
I’m more than happy to trust the Herbert Power Stakes form. The best on-pace performer in last year’s edition was Boom Time who duly won the Caulfield Cup. Protectionist won the Melbourne Cup in 2014 after his slashing Herbert Power run and the race, in recent years, has also thrown up Melbourne Cup winners Shocking and Rogan Josh.
There were three other notable winners on the weekend. Redzel, of course, in The Everest along with Amphitrite in the Thousand Guineas and the unbeaten Dubawi colt Too Darn Hot who maintained his unbeaten record in the Dewhurst Stakes. He’s the best two-year-old in Europe.
Not many come from last to win the Thousand Guineas as Amphitrite did. Serious Speed and Miss Finland are the two most recent winners to score in similar fashion. The latter went on to win the Oaks while the former ran second.
Redzel, the orphan foal who was passed in at $55,000 at the 2013 Magic Millions National Weanling sale and later sold to Triple Crown Syndications for $120,000 at the 2014 MM Gold Coast Yearling Sale, now boasts $15.3 million in earnings after his second The Everest win.
His victories have ensured a strong return on investment for his 2017 and 2018 slot holders – Yulong and James Harron. At the other end of the spectrum – after two years – The Star, The TAB and Chris Waller Racing are ‘doing’ $725,000 and Inglis are $675,000 in the red.