Bits & Pieces

WE SAW IT

First starter Speeding To Win’s second at $4.40 to the $3 favourite Winter King at Randwick caught our eye, and the stewards’ – they hauled in jockey Hugh Bowman to answer a charge of failing to ride out the two-year-old, who was beaten a short neck. They accepted Bowman’s explanation that he had no time to resume riding after, according to their report, “his mount had given the indication that it was commencing to shift out and that he had reacted by stopping riding, placing pressure on the offside rein, turning his horse’s head in and in so doing losing his balance in the saddle”.

Speeding To Win (Gr c 2, Redoute’s Choice-Gone On Sheila (USA), by Gone West (USA)) is trained by John O’Shea and is raced by Trevor Stuckey and Penny Yan, who have had a great run with the trainer with Racing To Win and Reigning To Win. This one is ready to win next time.

Dan Nikolic is back in town. Ulysses ($15 to $12) won at Moonee Valley on Saturday because of a perfectly rated front-running ride that indicated ‘Dan the (travellin’) Man’ can re-establish himself with Melbourne punters after stints in Sydney and, briefly, in Mauritius.

Jason Maskiell is, simply, in town. The top juniors were missing, but Tasmanian Maskiell, now with Mick Price at Caulfield, showed he made the right move when he won the Travis Harrison Apprentices Cup on Running Riot at the Valley.

Ma Ma Machine’s win in the Listed $75,000 Beaufine Stakes (1000 metres) at Belmont put the explosive sprinter in the spotlight with trainer Adam Durrant and apprentice jockey Alan Kennedy – the win was the standout of their treble. Ma Ma Machine (Br g 4, Sir Laurence (NZ )-Mam’selle Gina (by Naturalism (NZ)) has won his past four. Each of his six wins has been at Belmont, where he holds the track record over the 1000-metre trip. Interestingly, before his win at Belmont on May 9, he had only one win from 13; he is now six from 19.

THEY SAID IT

“I’m happy to say that he’s every bit as good as I thought he was,” said trainer Fran Houlahan after Pentiffic (Br g 5, Pentire (GB)-Sailing High (NZ), by Yachtie)) won the Hiskens Steeplechase at Moonee Valley on Saturday. ” He’s a genuine, tough stayer and a great jumper so we’re very excited at the prospect of getting an invitation to Japan (for the Grand Jump next year).” That was the good news for the jumps racing fraternity.

The bad was the death from a fall in the race of  Geeorb (B g 8,Encosta De Lago-Our Saratoga (NZ), by Sky Chase (NZ)), opening up racing’s still-raw wounds from the Warrnambool carnival, where deaths had seen jumps racing temporarily halted. The ‘for’ and ‘against’ clashed physically and verbally at the Valley.

Animal welfare spokesman Elio Celotto said on the ABC: “With the highest death rate since 1994, and a fall rate more than twice of previous years, what further proof does (Racing Victoria) need to stop jumps racing? Perhaps they’re waiting for a jockey to die.”

The next instalment in the debate will come on Wednesday when racing’s jumps review panel will meet to discuss Saturday’s events.

WE’LL WATCH IT

The midweekers get a mention for the premiership races, but the big watch comes on Saturday: at Rosehill (the G3 Missile Stakes, 1100m; plus the Rosebud, 1200m, for pointers to the $1 million Golden Rose, the new Group 1 for three-year-olds to be run over 1400m at the same track on August 29); and at Caulfield (the G3 Bletchingly Stakes, 1200m). They also race at Belmont, Doomben and Morphettville on Saturday.

There are more late nights coming up, with England’s famous Glorious Goodwood meeting on Sky Racing this week, starting tomorrow.