Bits and Pieces

The washup from a big weekend in racing, and a look towards the next one – whether you’re seeking reasons/excuses or some mail from left field, or you just need help to make a quid on the punt, read on …

THEY SAID IT

Trainer Greg Eurell, after Apache Cat’s dominant win in the Group 1 Australia Stakes at Moonee Valley on Saturday, following a poor run in the Lightning Stakes two weeks earlier: “There’s only one way you silence the critics in this industry – you win.”

Apache Cat’s rider Damien Oliver on looking around in the straight: “I was waiting for the Hussler.  I thought, ‘Where is he, he’s got to be coming soon,’ but he just didn’t come.”

And Oliver on Apache Cat: “He’s a great horse, too, you know. He won five consecutive Group 1s last season.”

Ron Dufficy, a commentator worth listening to, asked on Sky Channel the morning after the Australia Stakes: “Are we just clutching at straws and looking for answers that are not there?” Yes, he was talking about Weekend Hussler’s failure, his fourth on end.

Dwayne Dunn, after winning on Centurytwentyone at the Valley, despite spending time in hospital during the week to ensure an infection didn’t cost him a finger: “I struggle counting to 10 now; if I lose one I’m in trouble.”

Tim Clark, who won on Hot Danish at Randwick, describes riding the grand mare : “I feel I’m six foot tall and bullet proof.”

WE SAW IT

Good mares almost always give their all, and two did just that in the wet at Randwick on Saturday – the five-year-old Hot Danish, winner of the Breeders Classic, and the three-year-old Samantha Miss, a strong second in the Light Fingers Stakes. And taking it down several rungs from those Group 2 races, the honest eight-year-old Sensational Toy was a brave winner at $7 at Moonee Valley. All were 1200m races.

Palacio De Crystal, a winner for Grahame Begg in Melbourne in the spring, ran first up at home at Randwick in the style of a big race winner in the making. She was a smooth eighth at $31 in Samantha Miss’s race, won by Rock Me Baby.

Apache Cat did more for racing than win a Group 1 on Saturday, winning over the children – and their mums and dads – who got to pat the horse as strapper Ty Poulton walked him around the back ring after the Australia Stakes. The Cat was still there at 5.10pm, an hour after his race, and Poulton stopped each time someone asked for a pat and/or a photo. There were scores of happy racegoers, although one little boy did burst into tears when his dad called the Cat over.

Damien Oliver’s $200 fine for his celebratory gesture was a joke – we understand stewards have to be wary of the dangers of grandstanding and Ollie’s action was before the post, but it was barely a wave, more an acknowledgment. And the jockey who had sneaked a peek at the big screen well before the post, knew he was lengths clear.  A suggestion: Racing Victoria Limited should give the $200 to the bushfire appeal, for which Ollie and Eurell are already doing their bit – Eurell has donated Apache Cat’s burgundy and lime silks  to be auctioned for the appeal; Oliver will sign them.

WE’LL WATCH  IT

To steal from The Who, “She’s a substitute for another girl, She looks pretty tall but her heels are high …” She is Michelle Payne, and she will sub for Clare Lindop on Rose Darmore in the $1 million Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday – Lindop, who rode Rose Darmore when she ran on nicely for third in the fillies’ Prelude (1100m) on February 7, will team with another of trainer Leon Macdonald’s fillies, the three-year-old Augusta Proud, in Saturday’s Listed Redelva Stakes (1000m) at the final meeting scheduled for Cheltenham. Augusta Proud is one of Lindop’s favourites and her 6-9 winning record includes the Magic Millions for two-year-olds on the Gold Coast last March. Payne jumped at the chance to step in at Caulfield when Dwayne Dunn, tipped to take the ride, found a handy substitute of his own – Maka Ena, for his boss, Lee Freedman, second fancy in the stable behind Come Hither, to be ridden by Darley’s No. 1 man in Australia, Kerrin McEvoy.  McEvoy rode Maka Ena, also owned by Darley, when fourth in the fillies Preview (1000m) on January 26. Dunn’s Diamond record is second to none, with four wins in the past four years, and at his only rides in the race. It will be Payne’s first Diamond. TAB Sportbet has Rose Darmore at $51, Maka Ena $31 and Come Hither $10, with Rostova ($2.60) and Real Saga ($3.20) the shorties.

The Group 1 Diamond has top billing at the Heath on Saturday ahead of the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m), the Group 2 St George Stakes (1800m), the Group 2 Autumn Stakes (1400m, 3YOs) and the Group 2 Angus Armanasco Stakes (1200m, 3YO fillies).

 Sydney’s meeting is at Rosehill, with the Group 2 Apollo Strakes (1400m, WFA) the focus.

 Who will get the ride on Mic Mac when Greg Eurell’s “next big thing” goes to Sydney? Saturday’s winner Damien Oliver will pitch for it – and he can persuasive, and he’ll be on stablemate Apache Cat in the Group 1 Sprint, the T.J. Smith (1200m) at Randwick on April 18 – but owner Maurice Messara has told Eurell he wants a Sydney jockey. Glyn Schofield does a lot of riding for the Messara family, but Hugh Bowman will have first dibs, Eurell saying Bowman’s manager had been contacted.