Sportsbet Caulfield Guineas (Group 1)

ON a surface that copped a bit of criticism as a ‘leaders track’, Damian Lane on the Chris Waller-trained Private Eye took full advantage of any perceived bias and led all the way to win the A$3 million Group 1 Caulfield Guineas.

Prevailing by a head, the Written Tycoon colt defeated the Super Seth gelding Feroce and the Per Incanto gelding Evaporate.

“No, it certainly wasn’t (the plan to lead),” said Waller’s foreman Charlie Duckworth. “When you put these world-class jockeys on like Damian, who obviously was successful for us only seven days ago at this elite level, you’ve got to leave a little bit to them.

“Ultimately the idea was to just try and settle around midfield. But he began so well, Damian must have taken it into his own hands and to his credit, he’s played an absolute masterstroke. So, full credit to Damien, he does plenty of homework.”

The Written Tycoon colt, a $650,000 Tom Magnier purchase from the Arrowfield draft at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, is now a winner of three from five and becomes the 16th Group 1 winner for the Yulong sire Written Tycoon.

Sportsbet Might And Power (Group 1)

CRAIG Williams on the $1.75 favourite Mr Brightside must have felt it was ‘groundhog day’ when he saw Deny Knowledge deploy Pride Of Jenni-style tactics and skip away to a healthy lead in the Group 1 Might And Power Stakes over the 2,000 metres at Caulfield.

The Irish-bred Pride Of Dubai mare got out by five lengths as Williams had to play his hand and try to close the gap on Mr Brightside. Rated beautifully by one of the best in Mark Zahra, Deny Knowledge held a two-length gap for the majority of the straight.

The Bullbars gelding narrowed the margin to a length as the one-time John Quinn-trained mare notched a maiden Group 1 win as the Savabeel mare Atishu ran third.

“That was the plan, that was the only chance,” remarked Mark Zahra on the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained, Yu Long Investments-owned mare.

“You know, she actually jumped well today and she wasn’t overdoing it, she was just happy. I just wanted to have her just slowly pick up and when we straightened up and I gave her one, she responded well and Mr Brightside, he’s probably sick of chasing these tearaway front runners, but I thought around Caulfield he might be a bit susceptible over 2,000m.”

Deny Knowledge will face the starter again today in the Caulfield Cup with the postage stamp weight of 50.5 kgs.

For the Hayes camp they were sanguine looking ahead to the Cox Plate. “Hopefully, The Valley has a bit more give,” said Ben Hayes. “I wouldn’t panic. It wasn’t the strongest (field) but she (Deny Knowledge) ran very well. If there is a little bit of rain into the meeting, that’s good for us.”

Toorak Handicap (Group 1)

BRISBANE’S leading trainer Tony Gollan struck well at Caulfield on Saturday winning the Group 1 Toorak Handicap with the Redwood gelding Antino.

Third at his previous two starts at Group 1 and Group 2 level, Antino was slow out from the 1,600 metre start and settled last. Hustled forward from the 800m mark by Blake Shinn, Antino caught the leaders napping and whipped round the field to lead through the final bend.

The proverbial horse had bolted as the best the remainder could do was fight for second. Seven lengths in arrears was the Territories gelding Craig as the Star Turn mare Alsephina claimed third.

A NZ$27,000 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale purchase by his Hong Kong-based owner, Antino looks set for that territory’s International meeting in December.

Really good horse

“He was brilliant, he was awesome, he’s a really good horse,” said Gollan. “He’s been destined to win a Group 1 and it’s just been a matter of when and to win it like that.

“This year I knew I had him as good as we’ve ever had him. It was just a matter of luck on the day and he took that into his own hands and got the job done.

“I was going to go to the (Group 1) Rupert Clarke, and then to Hong Kong, but I’ll just play it by ear,” Gollan added.

COOLMORE landed a second group success over the weekend with the Group 2 Roman Consul Stakes win of Switzerland over 1,200 metres at Rosehill on Saturday. The Snitzel colt was too strong for the Pierata colt Coleman, having run home swiftly from mid-field on straightening up.

“Today will give him a lot of confidence,” said trainer Chris Waller. “He’s so close to being there. We asked him a lot at two, and then we asked him to come back at three and when they have a bad game it’s all about getting your confidence up and scoring a goal.”

In the feature, the Churchill horse Attrition landed the A$2 million Group 2 Hill Stakes at 25/1 over 1,900m for trainer Mitchell Freedman and jockey Beau Mertens, improving from a five-length fourth to Pride Of Jenni at his last start.

“He’s a real competitor and I think he was just sick of getting back in the field and chasing the whole time,” said Freedman.

“He’s a horse who likes to get up and be competitive, but it’s hard when you’re not drawing barriers and you can’t push forward early as you could undo your good work.”

THE last remaining international contenders for the Melbourne Cup arrived safely last weekend.

Aidan O’Brien’s unbeaten Galileo colt Jan Brueghel, along with the Willie Mullins duo of Vauban and Absurde, disembarked, along with the former Jessica Harrington-trained Kinesiology, who will run in the Cup under Chris Waller’s care.

“He travelled over great, absolutely no problems,” said Ballydoyle’s Kieran Murphy. “He exercised on the track yesterday morning, and again this morning (Monday), he’s eating, drinking, couldn’t be happier.”

Local betting has Jan Brueghel the 5/1 Cup favourite ahead of Vauban and Point King at 8/1 and 10/1 respectively.

Travelling foreman for Willie Mullins, David Casey reported that his pair were well. “Vauban has put back on everything he lost and the other guy (Absurde) has put on most of it,” before adding that William Buick has the ride on Vauban for the Cup whilst Kerrin McEvoy takes the ride on Absurde.

This Saturday sees the running of the A$5 million Group 1 Caulfield Cup over 2,400 metres with the Japanese Noboru Takagi-trained Warp Speed, a 20/1 chance, the only internationally trained starter in the 18-horse field.

A WINNER’S cheque of A$7 million awaits the victor of today’s Everest at Randwick. With overall stakes of $20 million the race is the richest run on turf and has been wildly popular in Sydney since its inception in 2017.

Over 1,200 metres the race looks an open affair with five of the 12 starters rated better than $10, led by last year’s runner-up I Wish I Win at $5. Coolmore have used their slot for Storm Boy, one of three colts in the field, with the Golden Slipper winner Lady Of Camelot the sole filly in the field.

New Zealand

Livamol Classic (Group 1)

SNAZZYTAVI set sail as the widest runner on the bend of the Group 1 Livamol Classic at Te Rapa, held over the ‘almost’ Cox Plate distance of 2,040 metres. Sailing into the race from mid-field, the five-year-old Tavistock mare made a statement to post a four-length margin.

Trained by Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall at Matamata the win also brought up a treble for 44-year-old Warren Kennedy.

“That was pretty special,” said Kennedy. “She had to step up to weight-for-age level today and didn’t she do that? I just wanted to ride her where she wanted to be. She settled really nicely and the rest is history.

“To win a Group 1 weight-for-age race like this today is no mean feat for a mare that had only previously won at Group 3 level.”

Snazzytavi, owned by Cambridge Stud’s Brendan and Jo Lindsay, has now won seven of 13. “It’s fantastic we have another Group 1 mare to come to the farm,” said Brendan Lindsay. “You always need a bit of luck in this game, and we had it this week.”