VIA SISTINA is on track to sweep the Group 1 features this autumn despite tasting defeat for the first time since September last year.
Her third placing in Saturday’s Group 2 Apollo Stakes (1400m) was full of hidden merit. The race set-up beautifully for her stablemate, FANGIRL, once she landed in front of VIA SISTINA, who missed the start. This, coupled with a pedestrian tempo made it near impossible for the Cox Plate winner to prevail.
LINDERMANN led averaging just 12.13 seconds per 200m split through his first 800m. That is almost 10L below standard for this grade. The field came home in 22.08/11.24 – the second fastest last 400m and 200m of the day and VIA SISTINA was the quickest home in the Apollo.
FANGIRL had a 2L head start on VIA SISTINA when they approached the 400m and despite the latter reeling off a slick 10.62 and 10.94 for her last two sections, FANGIRL wasn’t stopping.
VIA SISTINA’s figures suggest she has come back in super order and with an even start and just a touch more tempo, it’s unlikely any of these will hold her out in the G1 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) on March 1. The $2.50 currently on offer there is a good leg for a futures multi.
The only race that came home faster at headquarters was the G2 Expressway Stakes (1200m). This has to be the slowest run sprint race we’ve seen at Randwick in a long time. If you thought the Apollo was slow going at 12.13 lead speed for a 1400m G2 race then how about the 12.45 they clocked as an average speed through the first 600m of this 1200m contest? That is roughly 21L below standard for this grade and it was nothing more than a dash up the straight. MAGIC TIME’s electric 21.16 for her final 400m snatched the race and ranked number one for the meeting. Worth noting OLENTIA ran the same last 400m split but was further back. She might be one for next start if she finds a wet track.
Down in Melbourne we saw SKYBIRD yet again show tremendous straight-line speed when she took out the G1 Lightning (1000m) at Flemington. This mare has been stretched out over further and was possibly suited by the slow tempo, where the first section averaged 12.30 (soft track), around 3L below standard. A helter-skelter 1000m might have seen SKYBIRD run off her legs but here she was allowed to balance up and be within striking distance. But the race rated poorly and despite what was visually something to behold, the clock wasn’t impressed.
Meanwhile, a set of blinkers and a cold ride was all it took for Proven Thoroughbreds mare CARTWHEELS to find the winners’ circle again. The daughter of TRAPEZE ARTIST won 2 of her first 4 starts but had gone winless at her next four runs despite consistently placing. That all changed at Friday night’s Sunshine Coast meeting when she was the only horse to come down the outside and win. The first 7 races were won by horses in lanes 1 to 6 but CARTWHEELS with the shades on first time, used lane 10 when producing the 5th fastest last 600m of the night to score a big win. She is now 2 from 2 at 1200m.
Then on Saturday afternoon we saw the highly progressive ROCK THE SUNRISE tackle his toughest test to date at Eagle Farm. Coming straight from a Grafton maiden win, this son of FASTNET ROCK took on 3YO Open company over 1400m, a distance we feel will prove well short of his best. The fast tempo suited him and ROCK THE SUNRISE was able to wear all bar one down to finish second. He was suited by horses winning off the rail with no winner all day winning inside lane 5. Will likely see him over a mile next start and should he win there that could set him up for a sneaky Queensland Derby campaign in the winter.
Earlier in the week, HANG FIVE resumed at Ipswich and he looks set to chalk up another win this campaign. The winner of 5 from 23 overall came of age last prep winning 3 races, which is some feat for a five-year-old that won as a 2YO. He’s never won first-up but got within 2L of standard time on Wednesday and rated nearly 5L better than what he did when resuming last prep.
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.