Strong on-pace performance brings Written By into calculations for Blue Diamond Stakes
After a quick beginning from his wide barrier (13), Written By was forced to work, close-up in third place, at a solid tempo before the colt took the lead at the 200 metre mark.
He then fought back particularly well when challenged, comfortably holding off the Godolphin-raced colt Plague Stone (Lonhro) by half a length to take out the Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) (Gr 3, 1100m) and remain unbeaten after two starts.
Time for the 1100 metre journey was 1:04.98 (11.81 200m rate), which is equivalent to 1200 metres in 1:10.89. This represents a smart effort on the Good 4 track but the most noteworthy part of Written By’s victory was his early sectional times.
Clocked from the 1000 metre point, Written By returned a 200 metre breakdown of 10.88, 10.94 (400m in 21.82), 11.25 (600m in 33.07) and 11.54 (800m in 44.61), with his last 200 metres in 12.65 to give him a final 1000 metres in 57.26.
It was also interesting to compare Written By’s early sectionals to that of the multiple Group One-winning sprinter Flamberge (Exceed And Excel), who was caught on the post for the closest of seconds to Super Cash (Written Tycoon) in the Rubiton Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) later in the day.
Flamberge’s 200 metre breakdown, also from the 1000 metre point was: 11.14, 11.23 (400m in 22.37), 11.46 (600m in 33.83) and 11.14 (800m in 44.97), with his last 200 metres in 11.70 to give him a final 1000 metres in 56.67.
Therefore Written By returned faster early times than Flamberge for all those sections except for the final 200 metres and Written By was racing three deep on the track while achieving those splits, whereas Flamberge was racing nearest to the rails.
Another pointer for Written By was the fact that the colt’s overall time of 1:04.98 was 0.24 seconds faster than that recorded by the Lindsay Park-trained filly Enbihaar (Magnus) in winning the Blue Diamond Prelude (F) (Gr 2, 1100m).
On the subject of Enbihaar, while not as impressive as Written By, she too staged a good on-pace effort in winning.
Also now unbeaten after only two starts, Enbihaar raced close to the speedy filly Lake District Girl (Not A Single Doubt) before getting to the front at the 100 metres. She then did well in holding off late challenges to score by half a length.
Clocked from the 1000 metre point, Enbihaar returned 200 metre sections of 10.88, 11.23 (200m in 22.11), 11.75 (600m in 33.86) and 11.46 (800m in 45.32), with her final 200 metres in 12.03 to give her a final 1000 metres in 57.35.
While solid tempos were a feature of the two juvenile races at Caulfield, it was a very different scenario in the C F Orr Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m).
That Group One race was taken out by the high class Godolphin-raced gelding Hartnell (Authorized), who grabbed a short-head win in a finish that saw the first seven horses hit the line less than a length apart – clearly a sign of a slowly run race.
The early sectional times tell the story: first 600m 37.03, first 800 metres in 49.12, first 1000 metres in 60.92, first 1200 metres in 1:12.46 with the 1400 metre journey in 1:24.79, which was the slowest C F Orr Stakes since the race was transferred from Sandown in 1997.
So that factor does place a question mark on the residual form out of the race, while the quality of the field was such that it would be foolhardy to discount the form until tested a bit further into the season as the majority of the runners were having their first start this preparation.
For the record, Hartnell clocked the fastest final 1000 metres (58.76) of the race in coming from ninth at that point, while Single Gaze (Not A Single Doubt) returned the quickest last 600 metres (34.92) and 400 metres (23.09) in running on from tenth to take second.
The quickest last 800 metres (46.84) was recorded by the Chris Waller-trained mare Shillelagh (Savabeel) who made ground from last to finish (2.3 lengths) tenth.
At Warwick Farm on Saturday, the Godolphin-raced colt Kementari (Lonhro) staged a most impressive performance on the watch in taking out the Eskimo Prince Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m).
Having his first start since November, the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) runner-up came from back in fifth place to easily defeat Siege Of Quebec (Fastnet Rock) by almost three lengths in a time of 1:09.69 on the Good 4 track.
Kementari was clocked to run his last 400 metres in 22.38, last 600 metres in 33.75 and last 800 metres in 45.04 with his final 1000 metres in 56.01, looking primed for a very good preparation, the Randwick Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) on 10 March now being his immediate target.
Earlier in the day, last year’s Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner She Will Reign (Manhattan Rain) resumed and easily defeated her opposition in winning the Inglis Sprint (1100m) in a time of 1:03.63 (200m rate of 11.56), equivalent to 1:09.41 for 1200 metres.
She Will Reign was clocked to run her final 400 metres in 22.75, last 600 metres in 34.17, last 800 metres in 45.07 with her final 1000 metres in 55.84 and she too looks set for a very good preparation.