IN FLIGHT bagged a valuable G2 victory on Day 2 of The Championships and the times suggest there might be even more to come from this mare.
Always highly regarded, IN FLIGHT dominated the winter of 2025 with Listed and Group 3 victories in three different states.
But she was unplaced in 4 runs since albeit she was only 1L off the winner in the G1 The Galaxy prior to Saturday’s victory.
What looked a mad dash to the line was supported on the clock. IN FLIGHT posted the 5th fastest last 200m of the day to get within 1L of standard time for G2 races. And when you consider she gave standard time 8L at the halfway point, this win was better than it looks on paper.
The question is where to go now? Sangster Stakes in Adelaide for mine – best chance she’ll get to win a G1. Obviously we know she is more effective on rain affected tracks so it would also make sense to go wherever it is wet.
MELTDOWN kicked the week off with a tough effort over 1800m at Eagle Farm on Wednesday. He led them up on a day where only 1 leader held on. Setting a slightly above average tempo, MELTDOWN proved he thrives in a race of this shape still running his last 200m in benchmark time. I would even suggest this galloper could adopt PRIDE OF JENNI tactics – unlike most gallopers he doesn’t bottom out, just keeps plugging at a respectable speed.
OBSIDIAN DREAM resumed at Gosford on Thursday and struck a quick race. The filly drew wide and settled towards the tail as the leader ripped through the first 500m 3L above standard. Her last 600m was 3.5L above standard and her last 50m was visually her best. The signs are there to suggest this filly will appreciate a tad further, perhaps a bigger track?
While IN FLIGHT was preparing for her G2 victory at Randwick, BANG ON TIME broke her maiden at Newcastle by clocking the 5th fastest last 200m of the day. She’s got some patient owners and they might be rewarded as the sectionals suggest she will only improve with more distance.
SILVER D’OR made his debut at the same meeting but finished last and no doubt needs more time and trip.
On Sunday at the Sunshine Coast, MEASURE UP did a good job to finish 5th over 1000m. Perhaps to punters, he was a shade disappointing given his SP was $4 but we think he might be better over a tad further and this was a starting point with only upside to come.
PONTEVICO also made his debut at the Sunny Coast and despite racing greenly was good through the line in his 1000m maiden. The problem is this was the weakest of 5 x 1000m races on the card. He would need to find another weak maiden to be competitive.
SIR DELIUS was the star of the show at Randwick becoming the first horse to beat AUTUMN GLOW. There was a lot of discussion about the omission of PRIDE OF JENNI from the race and how that meant AUTUMN GLOW would get her chance to see out a strong 2000m. People weren’t counting on LIGHT INFANTRY MAN going through the first 1400m around 11L above standard. That said, it was his only chance of winning – he has proven multiple times his best results are on a fast tempo.
On our database SIR DELIUS ran the highest 2000m figure since VIA SISTINA in the 2024 Cox Plate. And given his dominance the post-race discussions switched to Racing Victoria vets. They ruled him out of the spring after he failed the Melbourne Cup scan. Adding to the woes for punters was the fact they took the scan prior to the Cox Plate. And even though this scan is for Cup horses, RV had little option but to remove him from the Cox Plate as well.
The burning question – did they make the right call?
Some will argue SIR DELIUS had time to rest/recover and is now fit to race. How do we know that he is recovered?
The only logical response is the horse is racing and winning. But he was doing that in the spring before the scan. What’s changed?
There is not a single shred of evidence that SIR DELIUS would scan any different now to the spring. Yet the horse was removed from the two biggest races of the Melbourne spring carnival.
The axe I’m grinding here isn’t to hang the RV vets and remove scans. It’s a plea to RV to review your processes/criteria used to rule a horse out. Make sure you are getting these calls right.
The Melbourne Cup is an Aussie tradition – make every effort possible to get the best field assembled each year.
TEMPTED recorded the highest rated Arrowfield Stakes victory we have. She clocked 1.08:00, which is 0.10 seconds faster than KA YING RISING in the Everest. Raw times on different days must be treated with caution and we had the Randwick track last Saturday racing about half a grade faster than Everest day, but make no mistake if it wasn’t for SIR DELIUS, she would’ve posted the standout win of the day.
Nic Ashman is a form expert who has developed his own times rating system to assess races. He is the host of The Beaten Favourite podcast and appears on several other racing media outlets. For a more detailed summary of the past weekend’s racing, you can listen to ‘The Monday Podcast’ episode by The Beaten Favourite HERE.