The track raced very evenly and we saw an emerging 3YO prove his last start win was no fluke.
Race 4 Sofitel Melb. On Collins-Bm78 1400m
Prebble nailed this race on the leader KIR ROYALE, got away with murder and got the result. Unfortunately LIBERATED GIRL went back and they walked in front. She ran enormous against the tempo without clear room, and will take beating next time out. The first five across the line all went quite well, let's hope they split up.
Runners to watch
14. | Liberated Girl (8) 3yoF (b) Iffraaj x Soltina | |
Race 5 Ecycle Solutions Trophy 1100m
STAR PATROL got properly challenged in this event and he passed that test with flying colours. He's a classy horse who is going to win better races than this. A really good closing run from TREPORTI but it's hard to look past the winner.
Runners to watch
5. | Star Patrol (9) 3yoG (b/br) Starspangledbanner x It's One | |
Race 6 Pfd Food Services (Bm84) 1800m
They ran this hard and it was set up for the run on horses. WELSH LEGEND clearly the superior of those, he was held up in the straight and still far too good. COOLTH and BORN A KING had their chances from the back and simply weren't good enough.
Race 7 Hilton Nicholas Straight Six 1200m
OCEAN BEYOND just had the perfect run and came with a well timed run to get the result. IT'SOURTIME backers are entitled to feel very hard done by, he began cleanly, ended up in a good spot, but BLAZEJOWSKI fell back in his lap and forced him back to last, he charged late but ran out of room, yikes. It was quite a bunched finish so I don't think this was a vintage rendition of this race - I'm wary of the form going forward.
Race 8 Tcl Tv (Bm100) 1600m
TUVALU was softened up a little here, but given the light weight he was still below his best. He perhaps finds the mile a bit much at this stage too. LE DON DE VIE came with a nice run at huge odds to get the result, this stable just masters of imported gallopers once they get time to acclimatize. PROCONSENT and SKYMAN ran on well, SKYMAN is making a bad habit of only doing just that.
Race 9 Off The Track Comm. Trpy-Bm70 1100m
A brilliant ride by Cartwright on ZAC DE BOSS to overcome the inside draw but keep the horse comfortable and ultimately prove too good. MASK UP was excellent coming from the back and he can likely pinch a race like this soon. RED HOT NICC does a lot right tactically and then tries his hardest, he's becoming very reliable.
Runners to watch
18. | Mask Up (16) 4yoG (ch) Real Impact x Montclair | |