I arrived in time for the two-year-olds despite the bane of my life, the replacement bus. There was a lot of coltish behaviour going on, especially by Irukandji and Mumbles. But Long Leaf, Sanglier and Oohood all looked good and duly took out the trifecta while I watched on. In the three-year-old fillies I was quite taken by Yulong Xingsheng with its head in towards the strapper. The horse romped in at $2.30 for the place. In the Zipping Classic the old boy looked great at the age of 16 and I am reliably informed that his prominent white sock on the near hind had some of the old Bold Personality treatment! The Taj Mahal looked fine, especially if you are sympathetic towards cross-over nosebands, and won well.
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- Irukandji
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- The Taj Mahal
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- Zipping
In the Guineas I spotted a standout and a possible future champion. Villermont looked stunning in the yard. The horse had a chequered run but still brained them. It’s hard to see that I will ever get $2.70 the place about this horse again! Two out of two for a top day and over two hours to contemplate my success on the wretched replacement bus going home.
Didn’t notice Yulong Xingsheng on the Racing.com view from Sydney, but I did see on my Foxtel replay later that he was wearing a barrier blanket, which would have been another positive. Also missed Villermont in the Guineas but noticed that Peaceful State behind him was arching his neck and looked on the verge of prancing. (Is an arched neck a precursor to prancing?) He ran a close second at $3.70. In Sydney, Federal was relaxed, head down, and hung on for third at $2.00. Interlocutor was a strong looking standout but in a small field was a very short price and unbettable.
Arched neck is very positive so long as the neck is not twisted!
That’s 5/5 in the last 2 meets. Well done.