WE SAW IT

Just when it seemed emerging Hong Kong star Happy Zero would be the horse Australia’s sprinters Scenic Blast, All Silent and Apache Cat would have to beat in the Group 1 Cathay Pacific International Sprint (1200m)  next month, connections have indicated they might chase a bigger purse on the same day.

Happy Zero beat another Australian-bred sprinter, Hong Kong’s short-course champ Sacred Kingdom, in yesterday’s Group 2 Sprint Trial (1200m) to establish himself as one of the favourites for the $HK12 million (about $A1.8 million) race on December 13. And trainer John Moore told the Hong Kong Jockey Club website that Happy Zero (Br g 5, Danzero-Have Love, by Canny Lad) would take plenty of beating in the sprint, which is shaping as the definitive sprint championship of the year. “He’s a very fit horse at the moment and I believe we’re a big chance of winning next month,” Moore said. “I think he’s the new kid on the block and I don’t want to take anything away from Sacred Kingdom, a world champion, but some times you have to give way to the next generation and I believe this is the one.”

Later, however, Moore told the South China Morning Post that Happy Zero would be a late entry for the $HK16 million (about $A2.3 million) International Mile. “Darren Beadman’s been telling me for weeks that this horse is a miler, not a sprinter. We will keep our options open, but we might go for the longer race with him instead.”

Beadman, Moore’s retained rider, told hkjc.com that he was held up in the straight yesterday as Sacred Kingdom made his run, but “once you have this horse wound up he goes through the gears pretty quick. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a horse with as long a stride, and that includes (former Australian champion) Saintly, who was a much bigger and longer horse. This guy covers an enormous amount of ground. He’s very exciting.”

Sacred Kingdom  (B g 6, Encosta De Lago-Courtroom Sweetie, by Zeditave) will be improved by the run and will meet Happy Zero 2kg better if he goes around over 1200m again. His Australian jockey, Brett Prebble, was not disappointed with the run, the top-rated sprinter’s first since June.

Although beaten by fellow Aussie Beadman, Prebble had another treble to continue his incredible form. In the past four meetings he has had four, three, three and three wins, and he is 15 clear on the jockeys’ premiership with 26 wins. Moore leads the trainers’ list with 17, one ahead of last year’s champion Caspar Fownes.

Zac Purton made it another big day for the Australians riding in Hong Kong with his first Group 2 win there, taking the Mile Trial on Fellowship from Sight Winner and the fast-finishing defending international champion, Good Ba Ba.

“He (Fellowship) has been a very honest performer and he has competed at the top level for a season and a half now, but he has often found one or two too good for him on the big day,” New Zealand trainer Paul O’Sullivan told hkjc.com. “Today, though, he got a nice run under Zac, the pace was good and he deserved a big win.”

Good Ba Ba, the International Mile winner for the past two years, had the  fastest final sectional time, prompting trainer Derek Cruz to say the horse was on course for a third win.

Fields for the Sprint, Mile and the other international Group 1s, the $HK20 million Cup (2000m) and the $HK14 million Vase (2400m), will be announced on Wednesday.

Scenic Blast has been in Hong Kong since October 17 after racing in Japan. He was scratched from the Sprint Trial because of a sore foot, but connections hope he will be ready for the main race. American sprinter Cannonball, who ran at Royal Ascot mid-year, arrived in Hong Kong at the weekend. All Silent and Apache Cat are due to fly from Australian next week.

Australia’s Racing To Win might also go, for either the Mile or Cup, but Gold Salute’s flop in the Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot in Perth, after which he pulled up sore, ended his connections’ hopes.

THEY SAID IT

“I love this horse. He never stops trying and, even though he hasn’t won for over two years, this win makes the wait worth it,” said NSW trainer Tracey Bartley about Sniper’s Bullet, winner of the Railway at $17 – he ran second last year and was consistent in the Melbourne spring, but had not won since June 2007, when he was first home in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm. Sniper’s Bullet (B g 6, Bite The Bullet (USA)-Yallah Terrace, by Yallah Prince) has earned more than $2 million and his win tally now stands at seven from 33 starts.

“I am mindful taking on the older horses next week with the weight (because) he is not a three-year-old yet. He is a chance of starting in the Winterbottom – we will monitor him this week,” said Perth trainer Perth Frank Maynard of Kid Choisir, strong winner of the $75,000 Listed Placid Ark Stakes (1200m) at Ascot on Saturday, carrying 59kg.

Kid Choisir (Ch c 3, Choisir-Friendly Seas, by Mister C. (USA)) has won five of eight – and most runs have been well spaced – but would face a tough task to beat the older locals, perhaps Ortensia (who didn’t get the 1600m in the Railway on Saturday) and another Victorian Lucky Secret, the recent Sandown winner, who is to be flown over on Friday. (Trainer Tony Vasil then intends to take the Rubiton 6YO to New Zealand for two big sprints in January.)

There will be an even more important visitor for the $500,000 Group 2 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) – retired champ Takeover Target, who won the race last year after a thrilling duel with Apache Cat, will lead the field out. The “traveller” (he had four trips to England and also went to Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore) is doing a farewell tour of sorts after successful surgery, the result of an injury in his final race, the Group 1 July Cup (1200m) at Newmarket in England.

“Jason has a great strike rate for me. He has only had a handful of rides and won at least three or four,” said trainer Lee Freedman of apprentice Jason Maskiell. Despite riding only rarely in the city over the Melbourne spring carnival, Maskiell reminded us at Sandown that he is a young jockey of considerable talent. The Caulfield-based Tasmanian claimed the first two races, on Umanugget for Peter Moody and Tariks for Freedman.

WE ALSO SAW

Among our television travels, Bits & Pieces “dropped in” at 2am Sunday on the best race of the weekend, the Grade 1 Betfair Chase (4800m) at Haydock in England. The race underlined how important longevity is in building horse heroes, when jumping favourite – that’s the people’s, as well as the punters’ (at 4/6) – Kauto Star slugged it out over the final four fences with Imperial Commander (9/1). To the eye, Kauto appeared beaten; but the photo gave him a win by a whisker.

Kauto Star (B g 2000, Village Star (FR)-Kauto Relka (FR), by Port Etienne (FR)), has won 19 of 32 jumps starts (15-22 over the bigger fences) since March 2003. The reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup champion fell in the Betfair last year, but won the previous two. He is quoted at a shade of odds-on for his next start, the King George at Kempton in December.

Imperial Commander (B g 2001, Flemensfirth (USA)-Ballinlovane (GB), by Le Moss (GB)) has won 6-14 and is shaping as a Cheltenham Gold Cup contender against Kauto Star in March.

WE’LL WATCH IT

Ascot on Saturday has the Winterbottom and two Listed races, the Jungle Dawn Classic (1400m) and Aquanita Stakes (1800m). Eagle Farm has two Listed races, the Carlton Draught Classic (1200m) and Tattersall’s Recognition Stakes (1600m). They also race at Moonee Valley, Randwick and Morphettville.

Australian John Moore, one of Hong Kong’s leading trainers and son of one of Australia’s greatest jockeys, the late George Moore, has bought a horse from the Aga Khan in Europe, with the 150th Melbourne Cup his ultimate target for next year.

With international attention on Hong Kong in the lead-in to Sunday’s four Group 1 races at the Cathay Pacific International meeting at Sha Tin on Sunday, Moore told Alan Aitken of the South China Morning Post that the horse, Beheshtam, was a rising four-year-old (by Northern Hemisphere time).

“My agent in the UK recommended that Beheshtam would be an ideal Melbourne Cup horse if I had a client who was interested, so I looked at his pedigree and his form and I went ahead and bought him for the same syndicate that owns Collection,” Moore said. ”He has won up to 2600 metres in France and he is in quarantine now with a (Hong Kong) Derby campaign the first target.”

Beheshtam (Ch c 2006, Peintre Celebre (USA)-Behkara (IRE), by Kris (GB)) was trained at Chantilly by Alain de Royer-Dupre. His limited career has resulted in two wins from six races – his most recent start was 12th behind the champion Sea The Stars in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October.

Collection, also by Peintre Celebre, won the Group 1 Hong Kong Derby (2000m) last year and Moore said then he would send him to Melbourne for the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m), Australia’s weight-for-age championship, at Moonee Valley in October. But he changed his mind and has prepared Collection him for the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup (2000m), worth $HK20 million (about $A3 million) on Sunday, for which he is a pronounced favourite ahead of English galloper Presvis, trained by Luca Cumani – Cumani, of course, has a Melbourne Cup connection, finishing second with Purple Moon in 2007 and Bauer in 2008.

“We’ll see how he (Beheshtam) works out here first, then the Melbourne Cup could be on his agenda later,” Moore said. “I’ve always said I’d love to go back and win one of the big ones in Australia, and he might be the horse.”

Hall Of Famer George Moore is regarded as one of Australia’s greats and, with another member of the Hall Of Fame, the late Scobie Breasley, the best rider never to win the Cup. After Moore snr retired from riding he trained in Hong Kong, and John Moore took over from him in 1985. Moore jnr has been leading trainer five times, and last season his horses earned $HK100 million (about $A15 million on today’s exchange rates).

If Beheshtam comes to Australia, Collection could come for the Cox Plate as part of a package that might also include Happy Zero, one of the main chances in the Group 1 $HK16 million International Mile (1600m) on Sunday. Moore had suggested he would be a travelling partner last year for Collection.

Darren Beadman, one of Australia’s champion riders of the past two decades and Moore’s retained rider in Hong Kong, would be expected to make the trip with them. He has won Melbourne Cups (Kingston Rule, 1990, and Saintly, 1996) and a Cox Plate (Saintly, 1996).

He will ride Moore’s four - Happy Zero, Collection, Viva Pataca (the $14HK million G1 Vase, 2400m) and Inspiration (the $HK12 million G1 Sprint, 1200m) – on Sunday.

Australia’s runners in the Sprint – All Silent (Nick Hall), Apache Cat (Damien Oliver) and Scenic Blast (Steven Arnold) - and Mile entrant Racing To Win (Hugh Bowman) have all worked well at Sha Tin this week.

The Hong Kong Carnival prelude at Happy Valley tonight features a three-race international jockeys’ invitation series. Sydney’s premier rider Hugh Bowman is Australia’s representative, although most eyes will be on the Canadian jockey Chantal Sutherland, who already has turned heads since she arrived in Hong Kong.

Sutherland, who has ridden more than 450 winners, combines her career in the saddle with modelling. Sutherland is currently second on the Woodbine jockeys’ premiership.

WE SAW IT

William Pike had been given permission by the Hong Kong Jockey Club to ride at Perth’s big meeting on Saturday, but because of “difficulties in making satisfactory travel arrangements” (that is, to get back to ride at Sha Tin in Hong Kong yesterday) he called off the trip.

It was the right move that kept him in the right place at the right time, and paid off three-fold. Pike, last season’s champion jockey in Western Australia, had a treble for Australian trainer John Size, to double his tally of wins for the Hong Kong season that began in mid-September.

The middle pin of the winners was Holi Ravioli (B g 6, Fasliyev (USA)-Curio Jade, by Varick (GB)) at better than 30/1 in the main race, the $HK1.75 million (about $A250,000) Midland Holdings Cup (1650m). The others were 9/4 chance A Walk In The Park (B g 4, Faltaat (GB)-Awave (NZ), by Crested Wave (USA)) and 9/1 shot Moonwalk (B g 4, Traditionally (USA)-Waikiki Princess, by Turtle Island (IRE)).

Size put Pike on because his No. 1 rider Douglas Whyte, Hong Kong’s champion for the past nine seasons, was in Japan for an invitation series. The engagements followed Pike’s win on Appreciation for Size a week earlier, when the trainer praised him but pointed out how difficult it was for little-known newcomers to get good rides when the top jockeys had the market cornered.

Size backed his words with rides on Sunday, and Pike (23) delivered … and vastly improved his chances of having his contract renewed in February for the remainder of the season that finishes mid-2010.

“It is very rewarding when you have a day like this here; just a great feeling any time you win here because it really isn’t easy,” Pike told Alan Aitken of the South China Morning Post. “There are a lot of good jockeys here and it’s hard to break in.”

Size said: “It is difficult to get opportunities here but he’s a good lightweight and, with Douglas having a day away in Japan, that meant there was a chance for Willie and he has taken full advantage of it.”

Size, after an early drought, is moving quickly up the trainers’ premiership towards his usual top-three spot. He has 13 wins, five off the pace set by Caspar Fownes and John Moore. Victorian Brett Prebble (30 wins) is top jock – he didn’t ride at the weekend but returns from suspension for the international day at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Pike’s Perth ride? It was to have been at Ascot on Star Encounter, eighth at $41 in the $500,000 Group 1 Kingston Town Classic (1800m), won by Sniper’s Bullet ($5.50), who completed the State’s spring-summer Group 1 double – and the first to do it in that order since the Railway was moved from December/January to November in 2005. Nash Rawiller won the Railway Stakes (1600m) – at $17 – and Damien Oliver took over in the Kingston Town, which took to $2.4 million the earnings for Sniper’s Bullet (B g 6, Bite The Bullet (USA)-Yallah Terrace, by Yallah Prince).

The gelding’s trainer Tracey Bartley (42), from Mudgee in NSW (soon to move to Brisbane), is a story himself. The Age reported on Saturday that Bartley quit riding in 2000 after a horror fall left him with a loss of balance of 18 months and, in 2006, was found to have stomach cancer – he was given the all clear last year. On top of that, Damien Murphy, apprenticed to Bartley, died after a race fall in 2007; and last year trainer Pat Quinn, father of Bartley’s wife (also Tracy but without the ‘e’), died after a heart attack when pinned against a rail by a horse.

Having read about Bartley, you could not help but cheer home Sniper’s Bullet.

God Has Spoken (Br c 3, Blackfriars-Dolly Will Do, by Rubiton) was second at $9 ahead of $3.10 favourite Scenic Shot (B g 7, Scenic (IRE)-Sweepshot, by Dr Grace (NZ)). The 3YO could back up in the $100,000 Listed St. Leger (2100m) on Saturday and Scenic Shot, who finished well, could tackle the $250,000 Group 2 C.B. Cox Stakes (wfa, 2100m) – a race he won in 2006 – the next week.

Across the Tasman, Ekstreme won the Group 1 Captain Cook Stakes (wfa, 1600m) at Trentham, prompting trainer Bryce Revell, a former jumps jockey, to say that next year’s Group 1 Cox Plate (wfa, 2040m) at Moonee Valley would be the mare’s target. Opie Bosson rode Ekstreme (B m 4, Ekraar (USA)-Cashcade (NZ), by Anziyan (USA)).

THEY SAID IT

“I would have sold him,” said trainer Mick Price of impressive Caulfield winner Marconi (B g 3, Lago Delight-Capriceuse (NZ), by Grosvenor (NZ)). Price had been offered $250,000 for the once headstrong colt, now tractable gelding, but he failed Hong Kong’s stringent vet exam – twice.  Seeing that Price bought Capriceuse, who was in foal with Marconi, for only $4000 from an advertisement in The Weekly Times,  a sale would have been a guaranteed a big profit – his wife, Caroline, wanted to breed “warm blood” eventing or show jumping horses.

Price said Marconi, despite a minor fetlock problem, was sound and was shaping like he had a racetrack future. Saturday’s runaway 5½-length win in the Acryn Plate (1000m) at $2.30 followed a six-length romp at Stony Creek a month ago and backed the “racetrack future” claim.

The Prices got their “warm blood” foal from Capriceuse, but she died giving birth.

“It’s nice when they replicate on race day,” said Randwick trainer John O’Shea after Ambers Waltz ($1.85f) lived up to her work on the training track and won the www.attheraces.com.au Handicap at Rosehill on Saturday. Ambers Waltz (Br f 2, Danehill Dancer (IRE)-Ambers Halo, Don’t Say Halo (USA)), a $550,000 Magic Millions buy, is likely to head to the Gold Coast for January’s Magic Millions 2YO race – she races in the blue with pink hoops made famous for West Australian Keith Biggs by 1995 Melbourne Cup winner Doriemus.

O’Shea has had a filly “replicate” two Saturdays on end – the other is Solar Charged (B or br f, Charge Forward-Soul Singer, by Danehill (USA)), an impressive winner on Randwick’s Kensington track as $2.40 favourite on November 28.

WE’LL WATCH IT

The international focus this week is on the Cathay Pacific meeting at Sha Tin in Hong Kong with four rich Group 1 races – the Sprint (1200m), the Mile (1600m), the Cup (2000m) and the Vase (2400m). Australia has three Sprint reps (All Silent, Scenic Blast and Apache Cat) and one in the Mile (Racing To Win), and will be represented by Hugh Bowman, Sydney’s premier rider, in a three-race jockeys’ invitation series at a warm-up meeting at Happy Valley on the Wednesday night.

There’s plenty to see in Melbourne at the weekend, too, with races at Moonee Valley on Friday night, at Flemington on Saturday and at Moonee Valley again on Sunday, the third meeting a twilighter fitting snugly with Hong Kong and Singapore (Kranji).

On Saturday, Ascot has the Group 3 Scahill Stakes (1400m) and two Listed races, Eagle Farm has three Listed races, and Rosehill and Morphettville each has one.

The Thoroughbred’s  Perth preview reveals the chances in the Quaddie legs and all other races at the Group 1 Kingston Town Classic meeting at Ascot on Saturday.

The best bets are in races two and three, and we’ve found eachway value in race seven.

To find out what our form analyst is tipping CLICK HERE

Apache Cat has landed in Hong Kong to complete the Australian invasion for the Cathay Pacific International race meeting at Sha Tin on December 13, strapper Ty Poulton reporting that Australia’s white-faced sprinter travelled well and settled in to familiar stables after racing at the same meeting last year.

Cranbourne trainer Greg Eurell left for Hong Kong today after hearing from Poulton that the Cat had “flown over the first hurdle” in his bid to improve on third placing, behind Inspiration, in last year’s Group 1 International Sprint (1200m).

Apache Cat is in the Australian quarantine barn at Sha Tin with sprinters All Silent and Scenic Blast and miler Racing To Win. Scenic Blast has been there since October 17, having raced in Japan earlier that month; the other pair, from NSW, flew in a day earlier than Apache Cat and have pleased connections since.

Sportingbet has All Silent as $4.60 favourite for the $HK12 million (about $A1.8 million) sprint ahead of local champ Sacred Kingdom ($4.80), Scenic Blast ($7), American California Flag ($7.50) and Apache Cat ($8).

Damien Oliver will ride eight-times Group 1 winner Apache Cat, Steven Arnold will be on Australia’s horse of the year Scenic Blast and Nick Hall will partner All Silent, the Group 1 Patinack Farm Classic (1200m) winner at Flemington last month.

The South China Morning Post reported that Scenic Blast appeared to be over foot problems that forced his withdrawal from the Group 2 Sprint Trial (1200m) at Sha Tin on November 22, working strongly for Arnold in winning a four-horse trial on the turf yesterday.

“I was happy with that,” trainer Dan Morton told the paper. “He clearly needed the hit-out but he seems to have come through it well.

“The foot problem is just something we have to keep an eye on and manage. It flares up now and again but he appears OK now.”

Racing To Win is a $13 chance in the $HK16 million (about $A2.2 million) Group 1 Mile – last year’s winner Good Ba Ba is favourite at $2.60 from Happy Zero ($4).

The big international meeting has four Group 1 races  – the 2000m Cup and 2400m Vase are the others – and a prelude meeting under lights at Happy Valley on December 9 that features an international jockeys’ challenge. Hugh Bowman, winner of the Sydney premiership last season, is Australia’s representative.

THE BREEDING

Apache Cat (Ch g 7, Lion Cavern (USA)-Tennessee Blaze, by Whiskey Road (USA))

All Silent (B g 6, Belong To Me (USA)-Lisheenowen, by Semipalatinsk (USA))

Scenic Blast (B or br g 5, Scenic (IRE)-Daughter’s Charm, by Delgado (USA))

Racing To Win (Gr g 7, Encosta De Lago-Surrealist, by Kenny’s Best Pal)

Sacred Kingdom (B g 6, Encosta De Lago-Courtroom Sweetie, by Zeditave)

Good Ba Ba (B g 7, Lear Fan (USA)-Elle Meme (GB), by Zilzai (USA))

Happy Zero (B g 5, Danzero-Have Love, by Canny Lad)

I need to begin with a confession.

Last week when penning this column, I felt like I was being a little bit of a conspiracy theorist in suggesting it seemed more than coincidental that details of the EPO charges laid against the Laming stable by RVL were released to the media late on a Friday afternoon, two weeks after the heat of the spring carnival had well and truly died down.

It seemed – I stress seemed – that given that the incident came to light in June, it was a strategic ploy to release any “bad” racing news post-spring, long after the Twigleys, Gales and Hawkins of the beautiful people had moved their supermodel selves back off track.

And I wrote – while hiding behind the grassy knoll in an open-topped car – that the “hiding” strategy is dumb strategy.

Since the column was published, Damien Oliver “suddenly” was suspended for a Derby-Day drug-related offence (reduced to a severe reprimand on appeal), Leon Corstens officially was charged over eventual Caulfield Guineas winner Starspangledbanner returning a pre-race positive test to a prohibited substance from AUGUST 1 – yep August, as in four months ago – and Racing Victoria announced the cancellation of jumps racing.

Has the theory become fact?

Ollie and the AFL example

The issue of Damien Oliver’s suspension and subsequent successful appeal has many layers. One that hasn’t been canvassed is this hypothetical:

On the same (Derby) day and place that Oliver tested positive, an AFL champion could have knowingly and wittingly ingested an illicit drug – such as cocaine – in, say, a typical celebrity-filled sponsor’s marquee.

The following day at pre-season training, a random drug test could have seen him test positive to the said drug.

Once confirmed, the governing body wouldn’t know about it, the player’s club wouldn’t know about it and the voracious media – and subsequently the public – certainly wouldn’t know about it, because the confidentiality of the illicit drug policy would have protected his privacy.

The AFL also would have counseled and attempted to medically rehabilitate the player.

This process has been put together by the AFL with experts in the field of drug rehabilitation, and has the full support of the AFL Players’ Association.

So with that in mind, did a Hall of Fame jockey with the highest profile in the country, whose suspension led TV sports bulletins and received significant coverage in other general sections of the sporting media BECAUSE it was Damien Oliver, REALLY need to have his name so publicly dragged through the mud?

Me thinks not, particularly given that his suspension was quashed on appeal.

Now it would be fair and accurate to point out that the significant difference between the AFL hypothetical and Oliver is that the AFL would be under the “out-of-competition” testing criteria, while Oliver was a breach of the regulatory rules, albeit minor and inadvertent.

But when reading RVL integrity services manager Dayle Brown (The Age, Nov 25) saying, “… we could be unjustly tarnishing a reputation” (by releasing a finding as soon as a positive test is discovered,) the intention of privacy seems honorable enough.

So why not let the appeal process (that is the whole box and dice) be heard in camera as well?

Sitting on the (jump) fence

For someone charged with giving his opinion, this writer professes to not have a strong opinion either way about the seemingly terminal future of jumps racing – both sides of the debate have merit.

Having said that, a true racing person can’t help but side with those fighting for their right to continue their professional existence, despite personally not being inclined to analyze, nor to invest on the races themselves.

But a better bet than Denman at Deniliquin is the revolting bunfight that we’re going to be seeing at any and all Victorian race-meetings featuring jumps racing next year.

RVL chief executive Rob Hines told Sport 927 that allowing the sport to continue in 2010 gave it “a chance to transition”.

In reality, it’s a gift-wrapped-hand-written-please-come-to-my-party invitation for the RSPCA and like-minded, vehement anti-jumping crusaders to showboat, demonstrate, grandstand and disrupt race meetings.

We got a taste of it at feature jumps meetings at Sandown and Moonee Valley this year when those with no reputations to lose were doing their utmost to smear all those attending.

It’s not going to be pretty.

THEY SAID IT

“Jumps racing, all due respect to Sheikh Mohammed, is not about millionaires. It’s grass roots people who will breed one cheap, buy one cheap that is going nowhere on the flat. They’re horse lovers, pure and simple,” said jumps and flat trainer Robbie Laing at the weekend in response to the industry’s latest major talking point, Racing Victoria Limited’s decision, announced on Friday, to end jumps racing next year.

Bits & Pieces is a big jumps racing fan, is disappointed by the decision and will leave comment at that, except for pointing out the following …

The headline news in English racing at the weekend was the win of Denman in the Hennessy Gold Cup Chase, carrying 11st 12lb (75.3kg) over 21 tall, unyielding fences and the odd distance of three miles 2 ½ furlongs (about 5300 metres) at Newbury – no not Australia’s Denman, a nice Lonhro three-year-old sprinter-miler, and a colt, but a nine-year-old gelding by Presenting (GB) from Polly Puttens (GB), by Pollerton (GB).

We told you last week about the popularity in the UK of Denman’s stablemate Kauto Star (http://thethoroughbred.com.au/fullstory/20091123_BitsPieces), who won the Betfair Chase (4800m) at Haydock, so in telling you about Denman this week we point out that the race English punters are talking about is the Cheltenham Gold Cup (about 5300 metres) on March 19 at the famous jumps festival. That’s still 16 weeks away – almost a Melbourne Cup lead in.

At this stage, British bookies have Kauto Star (B g 2000, Village Star (FR)-Kauto Relka (FR), by Port Etienne (FR)), winner of 19 of 32 jumps starts, just shading Denman (14 from 18) as favourite around the 2/1 mark, and punters are already asking which warrior Paul Nicholls’ stable jockey Ruby Walsh will choose – no one seems to be questioning the fact that on Saturday, in a 19-horse Hennessy, five were pulled up, one lost its rider and one fell.  

Head-to-head in the Gold Cup Kauto Star and Denman are 1-1. The loser ran second each time.

“For a lightly-raced horse, he’s certainly going the right way. It was a pretty good win. He showed he can stay well, which is a good sign,” said trainer Bart Cummings of the four-year-old Star Ripper ($4.20), winner of the Sharp Handicap (2400m) at Randwick’s Kensington track on Saturday.

It was the third win on end for the now gelded son of Encosta De Lago out of Cummings’ 1997 Cox Plate winner Dane Ripper (by Danehill (USA), who was 0-8 pre-operation.

Whether the win was the sign of another contender as the Cups King aims to win his 13th Melbourne Cup in its 150th running next year – or merely a pointer to Christmas staying events – is a little early to say, but it at least suggests that Cummings will push Star Ripper in the Cup direction, along with his 3YO G1 winners Faint Perfume (Oaks) and So You Think (Cox Plate).

WE SAW IT

Vodka has been a favourite in Japan for some time, and that country’s mare of that name won the Japan Cup (Turf, 2400m) in Tokyo yesterday. Vodka (B m 2004, Tanino Gimlet (JPN)-Tanino Sister (JPN), by Rousillon (USA)) won her seventh Group 1 by a lip, with a decision on the photo finish taking much longer than the race itself. Vodka has earned 1.3 billion yen, which is still impressive when converted to roughly $A12.6 million. Vodka was the 4/1 second favourite yesterday behind Britain’s Conduit, fourth at 9/4 after winning his second Breeders’ Cup (Turf) in the US this month.

The Darley double goes to … no, not trainer Peter Snowden and jockey Kerrin McEvoy in Sydney, but to the Melbourne support crew headed by Paul Snowden (Peter’s son) and Mark Zahra. Sheikh Mohammed’s southern stable had two runners at Moonee Valley on Saturday for two winners – Screen ($6) and Posadas ($3.30f). Screen (Br f 3 Lonhro-Thespian, by Zeditave) is a promising “two from three”; Posadas (B g 7, Commands-Navidad, by Christmas Tree) is a consistent 12 wins, 14 placings from 40 starts.

Ortensia (B m 4, Testa Rossa-Aerate’s Pick, by Picnicker) missed out on an invitation to the Group 1 Cathay Pacific International Sprint (1200m) in Hong Kong next month, but she gave trainer Tony Noonan every reason to smile with a storming win in the G2 $500,000 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) at Ascot in Perth on Saturday. If the trainer keeps her to races under a mile, he could even get a Group 1 smile from the mare, whose win pushed Noonan’s name right under the noses of local owners as he looks to open a satellite stable in Perth.

Sniper’s Bullet, winner of the Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot the weekend before last, will have NSW trainer Tracey Bartley’s rider of (second) choice in the Group 1 Kingston Town Classic (1800m) this weekend after Damien Oliver had his one-month suspension cut to a severe reprimand on appeal today. Traces of the drug ephedrine were found in Oliver’s urine, but he fought the stewards’ holiday, saying that the “positive” came from a herbal supplement he had taken, without a problem, for years. First-choice rider and Railway winner Nash Rawiller was unavailable because he is required by the Gai Waterhouse stable in Sydney, and Bartley had Rawiller’s brother Brad on standby if Oliver lost his appeal. Ollie, now, is also free to ride Apache Cat in Hong Kong next month.

WE’LL WATCH IT

How Apache Cat (trained at Cranbourne by Greg Eurell) and All Silent (Randwick, Grahame Begg) settle in alongside Australia’s horse of the year Scenic Blast at Sha Tin in Hong Kong this week in preparation for the International Sprint on December 13 will be key to their chances in the $HK12 million (about $A1.8 million) race – Scenic Blast has been there since October 17, but the other two travel today and tomorrow. Apache Cat handled the trip well when third last year, but All Silent was sent back to Sydney without racing as a younger horse when trained in Hong Kong by John Size.

Size, by the way, had a treble at Sha Tin yesterday to jump up to 10 wins and on to the heels of the leading pack after a slow start to the season that is 10 weeks old.

Another Australian trainer, Cliff Brown, had a big couple of days at Kranji in Singapore, with a treble on Friday and a double on Saturday. He has 31 wins for the (calendar year) season – the trainers’ premiership is New Zealander Laurie Laxon’s again – he has 90 wins, 36 ahead of the next best, Australians Don Baertshiger and Michael Freedman. With five meetings to go Laxon’s stable rider Saimee Jumaat (99 wins) will be top jockey, but he won’t get his century because he has been suspended for three months for racking up too many demerit points this year. Closest to him on the jockeys’ premiership table is Australian John Powell (65).

THE Preview for Ascot – Winterbottom Stakes day

 

The Thoroughbred’s  Perth preview reveals the chances in the Quaddie legs and all other races at the big Winterbottom Stakes meeting at Ascot on Saturday.

The best bets are in races three and seven, and we’ve found value in races two and eight.

To find out what our form analyst is tipping CLICK HERE

 

 

Tensig’s international pedigree – THE BREED blog

Tuesday’s very impressive debut winner at Sale, Tensig, has an interesting and topical international pedigree.

Tensig is a son of champion New Zealand stallion Zabeel (NZ) from the imported Danehill mare Kerkira (IRE). The 3YO gelding, who scored a dominant win over 1400m, is trained by Rodney Douglas for prominent and prolific Melbourne owner Jonathan Munz.

Munz’s Pincecliffe Racing Syndicate paid a whopping $600,000 for Tensig, through the bid of agent and advisor Dean Hawthorn at the 2008 New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Premier Yearling Sale from the draft of Beltara Stud.

It was the equal fourth highest price for a Zabeel yearling at the sale, which was topped by the $900,000 paid for a colt by Zabeel from La Quinta Gold by David Ellis of Te Akau Bloodstock. The colt races as the promising young stayer Heir Apparent. Heir Apparent, during the spring carnival, finished second in the Listed Geelong Classic (2200m, Geelong) before his ninth behind Monaco Consul in the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m, Flemington).

Tensig’s granddam Kotama, by 1985 Epsom Derby winner Shahrastani (by Nijinsky (CAN), was bred by The Aga Khan and won the Listed Leopardstown One Thousand Guineas Trial; she is a half-sister to Kasora (by Darshaan (GB)), the dam of the champion stayer and now exceptional young sire High Chapparal (by Sadler’s Wells (USA). Of course, High Chapparal, who shuttles to Windsor Park Stud, Cambridge, is the sire of the Derby winner Monaco Consul, and also the brilliant Group 1 Cox Plate winning colt So You Think.

The third dam of Tensig is Kozana (by Kris (GB)), the joint top filly in France in 1985, whose wins included the Group 2 Prix de Malleret at Longchamp, but her best performances were her second behind Rousillon in the 1985 Group 1 Prix du Moulin and third behind Rainbow Quest in the 1985 Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

The Zabeel-Danehill cross has provided the champion Hong Kong star Vengeance Of Rain (ex-Danelagh) and his high-class sister Group 1 AJC Oaks winning sister Dizelle, although Zabeel hasn’t covered Danehill mares in great numbers and certainly not the best of the Danehill daughters, who are generally based in Australia.

Tensig’s pedigree has a triple cross of Northern Dancer (4×4x5) and, of course, Danehill is inbred to Northern Dancer’s family.

By nature the Zabeel breed are late developers; the fact that Tensig, with his stout international pedigree, was able to debut with a win against some fast opposition over 1400m, gives owner Munz a lot to look forward to.

Few people would begrudge Munz a good horse after his considerable buying and breeding of horses in the last 10 years without the racetrack results to match. His best runner in that period was the ill-fated Group 1 Champagne Stakes winner, Meurice (by Strategic).

View Tensig’s pedigree.

Visit THE BREED blog

 

Racetrack Ralphy’s ramblings

In the AFL, the Kangaroos’ team-of-the-century coach Denis Pagan used to be fond of a saying that could be euphemistically translated as “don’t make my back damp and tell me it’s raining”.

One was reminded of that saying on seeing charges following EPO allegations against trainers Bevan and Richard Laming, released by Racing Victoria Limited at 4:43pm last Friday.

If that isn’t the equivalent of the government raising taxes on Christmas Eve, it’s a remarkable coincidence, and one can’t help but take a very cynical view of this situation. In this case, a serious allegation that first came to light in June – yes, five months ago – did not become an official charge until the spotlight of the spring racing carnival had well and truly been dimmed.

If the decision to delay the announcement until after Flemington’s carnival was a deliberate ploy by RVL, then it is a PR strategy as outdated as Swatch watches, skinny ties & non-Movember moustaches. It also flies in the face of the pro-active media policy of RVL’s chief steward Terry Bailey.

Bailey has almost made it a one-man crusade for punters to be hand-delivered useful information such as tactical changes and track conditions, and is available to media wanting information and clarification of situations.

Let’s spell it out for those missing the point:

PR 101 in big business is to shout bad news from the rooftops. With modern communication meaning that as soon as news is released, “everyone” has instant access to an internet talkback forum, blog or facebook site to vent their opinions, so trying to hide or bury a significant story only creates an opportunity for untruths, conspiracy theorists and exaggerations to fester.
• When something does go wrong – as it can and will – have all your ducks in a row and then be proactive and available, and invite anyone and everyone to ask you anything and everything about whatever controversy sees the media on your doorstep.
• Don’t “play favourites” in your release of non-positive news, as those who missed out on the story will consider it a gift-wrapped invitation to accentuate any negatives.

As an example, sports fans south of the Murray can compare the amateurish, patronising and “deny, deny, deny” response of the AFL when racism emerged as a serious problem in its sport in the mid-1990s to the “take two” response as a pro-active community leader in stamping out such disgraceful behavior in participants and fans alike.

The first was “head-in-the-sand” stuff which didn’t do anyone any favours at any level, while the subsequent actions went a long way towards the AFL being seen as Australia’s leading professional sporting organisation. (Which it is.)

Is it a long bow to compare the two? Hardly.

Horse racing has a significant percentage of the population that thinks it’s “dodgy” and almost unworthy of being seen as the elite mainstream sport and industry that it is, complete with extensive probity checks and balances throughout every aspect of its existence.

I believe that when one of these checks and balances uncovers a situation that leads to the laying of a serious charge, the intensity of the blanket media coverage that the spring racing carnival draws in would be an ideal opportunity to let the once-a-year group ask, listen and learn about how horse racing’s vigilance system works, especially in areas such as the extensive pre- and post-race drug testing procedures or the provision of security guards for Group 1 gallopers.

Part of Bailey’s response to those queries could include how proactive and aggressive stewards are in fighting a potential problem such as this head-on and he could have used the forum to announce the fact-finding overseas mission he is now on.

Even if we take the charitable line and accept that there was no opportunity to release news of the charge before 4:43 on a quiet post-spring Friday afternoon, there should have been well-briefed key players made available to explain the situation to all media.

A brief e-mail release is fine for the news about tactical riding changes or late scratchings, but a situation such as this deserved a more thorough approach.

Addendum:

Racing Analytical Services Limited (RASL) detected the prohibited substance as human erythropoietin (EPO), darbepoetin alfa during the screening of out-of-competition blood samples taken from Benelli on June 11 and July 2 and War Dancer on June 11, both horses trained by the partnership of Bevan and Richard Laming, of Cranbourne.

The following charges under the Australian Rules of Racing have been?issued:

(1) AR 175(h)(i) – 3 charges

The Committee of any Club or the Stewards may penalise:?…?(h) Any person who administers, or causes to be administered, to a horse any?prohibited substance:?(i) for the purpose of affecting the performance or behaviour of a horse in?a race or of preventing its starting in a race…

(2) AR 177B – 3 charges

(1) When a sample taken at any time from a horse being trained by a licensed?trainer has detected in it any prohibited substance specified in sub]rule (2), the?trainer and any other person who was in charge of such horse at the relevant?time may be punished unless he satisfies the Stewards that he had taken all?proper precautions to prevent the administration of such prohibited substance.?(2) For the purposes of sub]rule (1), the following substances are specified as?prohibited substances:?(a) human erythropoietin, darbepoetin alfa

AR 80E – 4 charges

(1) Any person commits an offence if he has in his possession or on his premises any substance or preparation that has not been registered or labelled, or prescribed,?dispensed or obtained, in compliance with the relevant State or Commonwealth?legislation.

These charges will be heard before the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary?Board at a date to be fixed.

 

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