Winx runs fastest last 600 metres at Rosehill in her hard-fought George Ryder Stakes win
She settled back in second-last place in the six-horse field, behind a moderate tempo on the Soft 7 track that saw the first 800 metres (1400m to the 600m) clocked in only 49.12 (12.28 200m rate).
Realising that the race had developed into a sprint home, Hugh Bowman moved forward on Winx (racing deep) from the 600 metres before gradually getting the upper hand over the closing stages and defeating a gallant Happy Clapper (Teofilo) by three quarters of length in a very game performance.
She was clocked to run 33.32 for her final 600 metres – her 200 metre breakdown being 11.12, 10.91 and 11.29 on an affected track that was rated by Racing And Sports as 0.44 seconds slower than standard time, her adjusted time for the last 600 metres being 32.00!
It was certainly a vastly different George Ryder Stakes to the race Winx won last year in her peak Timeform–rated performance, scoring by just over seven lengths – winning this time by just under a length.
But her fast closing sectionals confirm that Winx is definitely on track to also take out her second successive $4,000,000 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Randwick on 14 April and score her 25th successive win and 18th Group One victory.
Acknowledgement is due to the second-placed Happy Clapper and third-placed Kementari (Lonhro) who also had to contend with the sprint–home conditions of the Ryder Stakes, Happy Clapper clocking his last 600 metres in 33.83 and Kementari 33.71.
That pair will meet again in the Doncaster Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) where the Group One–winning colt Kementari meets Happy Clapper on 2.5 kilograms better terms and is the pre-post favourite with CrownBet at $4.20 with Rosehill Guineas (Gr 1, 2000m) winner D’Argento (So You Think) and Happy Clapper second in the betting at $6.00.
Later in the programme, the Ben Smith-trained mare In Her Time (Time Thief) took out another of the Group One features in winning The Galaxy (Gr 1, 1100m) after an astute ride by Zac Purton who kept her back off a hectic tempo before scoring an impressive first up victory.
The race actually produced some amazingly fast early sectional times where three noted front-runners Snitty Kitty (Snitzel), Ball Of Muscle (Dubawi) and Jungle Edge (Dubawi) all vied for the lead, forcing a crazy early tempo.
Now racing on a Soft 6 track, the 200 metre breakdown (from the 1000 metres to the 200 metres) was: 10.49, 10.97 (400m in 21.46), 11.11 (600m in 32.57) and 11.08 to give them a mid-race section of 44.23 – brilliant times on the affected conditions.
Of that trio, Snitty Kitty did best in holding on for a most creditable (2.8 lengths) fourth, with Ball Of Muscle (3.6 lengths) sixth and Jungle Edge finishing (7.7 lengths) tenth in the 11-horse field.
That resulting hot pace saw the winner In Her Time run home in a fast 33.96 (sixth fastest on the day for the final 600m), the runner-up English (Encosta De Lago) 33.64 (second fastest only to Winx’s 33.32), while The Mission (Choisir) made late ground for fifth clocking 33.95 (fifth fastest on the day for that distance).
In the main event, the $3,500,000 Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), the Team Hawkes-trained Estijaab (Snitzel) scored in an all-fillies finish after surprisingly getting a relatively soft mid-race pace despite having to work in crossing to the lead from barrier 14.
Estijaab then fought back really gamely to score by a long head from the best credentialed maiden in Australia Oohood (I Am Invincible) with her Tony McEvoy-trained stablemate Sunlight (Zoustar) just over a length away third.
Time for the 1200 journey was 1:12.01, moderate even allowing for the Soft 6 surface, with Estijaab clocking 36.75 for the first 600 metres of the race with the final 600 metres in 35.26.
While the aforementioned fillies impressed, the horses to return smart closing sectionals that should provide a pointer to the remaining juvenile features were the fifth-placed filly Seabrook (Hinchinbrook) who clocked a quick 34.72 for her last 600 metres and the Lindsay Park-trained colt Long Leaf (Fastnet Rock).
Having his fifth start after winning his first three in impressive fashion, Long Leaf settled near the tail of the field from his difficult barrier (15) and then went widest of all on turning for home before running on strongly for sixth, beaten just over three lengths in arguably the best performance of the race.
Long Leaf returned the fastest last 600 metres of the Golden Slipper Stakes clocking 34.47, despite being deep on the track, with a 200 metre breakdown of 11.54, 11.00 and 11.93.
He now heads to the ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) and ATC Champagne Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) with bright prospects.