Cover image courtesy of Georgia Young Photography
Only two lengths separated the three juvenile races across Sydney and Melbourne last weekend after a ratings deep dive. But none of the trio rate close to the current 2-year-old clubhouse leader, Wodeton (Wootton Bassett{GB}).
On Saturday, Rosehill hosted a pair of Group 3 features – Canonbury Stakes for the colts and the Widden Stakes for the fillies. Respective winners Blitzburg (Snitzel) and The Playwright (Written By) led and proved too strong. But the day suited on pace runners nearer the fence with none of the 10 winners coming from further back than 5th at the 600m and none came wider than lane 7.
Blitzburg was handed the race with his rivals allowing the Snitzel colt to jog through the first section more than 4l below standard. He was then able to scoot home his last 600m in 33.52s, a time that is almost 4l above standard making it very difficult for his rivals to reel him in.
On the contrary, The Playwright ran them into the ground. Her first section was 8l quicker than Blitzburg leaving her last 600m more than 2l below standard when clocking 34.44.
On times, there was 1l between them in favour of The Playwright but Blitzburg received a 2l bonus given the race shape in the boys contest.
However, The Playwright carried 3kg more than Blitzburg and should they meet in a Golden Slipper or one of its many lead-up races, the filly would get 2kg off the colt meaning she’d get a 5kg turnaround in the weights. With respect to this we settled on The Playwright rating 1l superior to Blitzburg.
Inkaruna’s upside
Down in Melbourne, Inkaruna (I Am Invincible) took out the G3 Chairmans S. (1000m) in 56.92, which is the best part of 8l inferior for this grade. But again we saw a dawdling tempo where the leader, No Limitation (Exceedance), ran the first 400m more than 6l below standard.
Inkaruna clocked her last 400m in a slick 21.32 ranking 4th for the entire meeting and indicative of a horse that should’ve clocked a faster overall time. After bonuses, she rated 1l inferior to Blitzburg but we note she has far more upside at this stage - particularly if she can mend her tardy getaways.
As mentioned off the top, Wodeton remains the clubhouse leader following his 3.5l victory at Rosehill last month. His debut win rated 90 on our database, which is 5l superior to any of the three juvenile winners from last weekend. That said, there have been numerous performances rating between these figures and 2-year-old racing is all about who can make it to the Golden Slipper at their best.
She’s Bulletproof shines, rising stars emerge
The run of the day last weekend belongs to She's Bulletproof (Shooting To Win), who is a great example of the cheapest tool available – patience.
Her trainer, Charlotte Littlefield, has nurtured her charge resisting the temptation to go deeper than three runs in a prep in all bar one of her campaigns thus far. She's Bulletproof’s victory in Saturday’s Bellamaine Stakes over 1200m at Sandown was a clear career peak and she smashed the Group 3 standard by 4l, clocking the best last 200m of the meeting. We have little doubt this mare can beat better quality fields given she rated 94, which pending on what turns up, could make her competitive in a Newmarket Handicap.
Out of that race, keep an eye on Tashi (Sebring), who resumed for Peter Snowden. She conceded not only race fitness but also a 4l head-start to She's Bulletproof at the 600m. Given the late splits of the winner, Tashi was set an impossible task so expect her to improve sharply next time.
Another Sandown winner that went to a new level was Entrusting (The Autumn Sun), winner of the BM70 1800m contest for 3-year-olds.
Coming off an unlucky second at Geelong, Entrusting clocked the best last 400 and 200m of the meeting when producing a rating that was 5l superior to his previous mark. He looks a highly progressive colt that we’d love to see in a G2 Autumn Stakes over 1800m on Blue Diamond Stakes day.