Mad Monday: Randwick Review

For the time poor...

This table provides a race-by-race snapshot of how each event at Randwick on Saturday was run and won. Using sectional time data benchmarked against historical standards, it delivers an easy-to-digest breakdown of early speed, late speed, and an overall race rating – giving you a clear picture of tempo and performance at a glance.

Moment Of The Day – Joliestar (R9)

It was a battle market-wise all week between Private Harry ($2.15) and Briasa ($3.10), but the star of the show said “hold my beer”. Scratched out of the Theo Marks on race morning last week, Joliestar turned up here in the G2 The Shorts and put 1.16L on her rivals in a real Everest warning shot. She returned a career-best WFA figure, 105.2 (TopRate).

From gate 9, the sedate tempo to the 800m was her friend. It let her travel wide without burning, only spotting the leaders 3.8L at the 400m. Her late speed rose to the top, reeling off the 7th best L600m of the meeting to storm over them.

She now heads straight to The Everest with a month to freshen. The question: can she be as explosive late if the first half goes quicker? We’ll find out Everest day.

Steer Of The Day – Zac Lloyd on Idle Flyer (R4)

Idle Flyer had panels on them but the win was set up by Zac Lloyd’s intent. From a sticky 9, she began well, Lloyd pressed on to land 1-1, then was shuffled to the leader’s back.

In the straight, he waited, then eased off the rail and off heels to let her rip late. With a fraction more room she wins by a margin.

Race was won early through aggression.

A Shooting Star – Fangirl (R8)

Randwick, good track, 1600m – that’s Fangirl’s recipe. She made it 4 wins at the track/trip and moves to 35: 11-7-5 for just over $10.5m in prizemoney.

She started $2.05 after the key scratchings of Gringotts and Royal Patronage. This took some speed out of the race but also allowed Fangirl to settle a touch closer in transit. The front-running ride by Nash Rawiller was near inch-perfect – he clicked up the tempo in the middle stages, building strongly into the race. This exposed Fangirl a long way out, but her tenacity and turn of speed rose to the top.

She still spotted Lindermann 2.1L at the 200m mark before inch by inch wearing him down to win. What we learnt out of that win is we won’t see her run at Caulfield again. What a star she is.

The Flashing Light

• R4 – Idle Flyer: Won well; with more room in the straight, she could have scored by a good margin. Rating of 93.8 suggests stronger wins are ahead.
• R5 – Adelaide River: Two solid runs over 1400m and 1600m set him up for the G3 Kingston Town Stakes over 2000m, finishing 3.9L back. Likely to target this week’s Colin Stephen Quality over 2400m.
• R6 – Queen Of Clubs: While the Tea Rose wasn’t standout, Queen Of Clubs impressed with the best last 200m in the race, sneaking up the inside.
• R9 – Lindermann: Back in outstanding form, posting consecutive strong 1600m efforts. Best ridden like Nash did on Saturday.

“They” Knew – Punters Got The Cash

R7 – With Your Blessing: $4.80 into $4.00 late and the punters were rewarded with a perfect ride by Alysha Collett who led all of the way. Props to John Thompson, what a preparation the mare is having.

They Left It In The Bag

• R4 – Dance To The Boom: $5.50 into $3.20 late. From barrier 4, got caught in a poor transit position and never featured, but finished okay.
• R5 – Vauban: Well backed, started $2.20, but a brutal front tempo saw him fade badly in the straight.
• R6 – Tupakara: $4.00 into $2.50 late, perfect run in transit, but hit a wall late as Apocalyptic charged home.
• R9 – Private Harry: $2.10 in G2 The Shorts; knuckled slightly early and never threatened, finishing 5th.

What You May Have Missed

Ceolwulf Bleeds From One Nostril
He started $3.80 in the 7 Stakes and again ran consistently, beaten 1.97L. The wash-up saw him pull up bleeding from one nostril. He’ll now have 14 days off plus need to trial in front of stewards to confirm he is fine to return.

Trial Mix-Up – Gunfighter Road
In a bizarre event at Nowra on Sunday in Race 3, the Warren Ganderton-trained Gunfighter Road opened $20 before being crunched into $5 after a stablemate was wrongly called the winner of a recent 920m trial at Moruya. The official sheet had listed Gunfighter Road finishing 6/6 beaten 7.71L, which sparked the mix-up. Punters who jumped in early weren’t rewarded, with the “overs God” stepping in as the 3yo finished 2nd, beaten 2.3L.

Gringotts Saved For Shannon Stakes After Temperature Setback
Gringotts was a late scratching from the 7 Stakes on Friday afternoon. It was later revealed the gelding had a slight temperature and will now be aimed at the Shannon Stakes over 1600m at Rosehill.

Ka Ying Rising Touches Down in Australia
As key rivals put their hands up and down for The Everest on Saturday, it was the $1.60 favourite Ka Ying Rising who touched down in Sydney ahead of his $20m target. Based at Canterbury quarantine, he’ll complete the standard two weeks before having one official trial leading into The Everest.

Tactics Questioned – The Tea Rose

The Tea Rose looked a strong race to the eye after Apocalyptic descended on her rivals despite a plain run in transit. But on review, the race only rated fairly at best. The overall time for the 1400m was 6L slower than the G3 Bill Ritchie.

Bar the winner Apocalyptic, and Queen Of Clubs, you’d struggle to take anything from that race into open grade. The push is now onto the Flight Stakes, where Apocalyptic is $21 with Bet365.

Historically, the Tea Rose has been the proven launching pad into the Flight Stakes – Funstar (2019), Montefilia (2020) and Never Been Kissed (2021) all came through this race before winning the Flight. The difference this year is the lack of depth in the figures, suggesting Apocalyptic will need to find another level to replicate that pattern.