Things You Might Have Missed - March 1 So Sassy had a towel/parachute to deal with Image: Racing NSW/Sky Racing
Here s a few things you might have missed in the wide world of racing over the past week.
QUIRKY (from abroad)
Race stacked with colts and entires (Japan)
This is not something you d see in a race in Australia - an open-age contest filled entirely of colts and entires.
Sunday s Group Two Nakayama Kinen (1800m) was open to all-comers, but it turned out to be a testosterone-filled field of 14.
Trusty Japanese racing correspondent Graham Pavey explained that it s certainly not an uncommon occurence in Japan, given the scarcity of geldings.
Hyacinth Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse, awarding qualifications points on a 30-12-6-3 basis to the top four finishers. It is the third of four Derby points races on the Japan road.
A dozen promising 3-year-olds have been entered in the 1,600-meter event, which will take place at 12:25 a.m. EST. The 12-race card at Tokyo also includes the prestigious Grade 1 Mile Championship, in which reigning Hyacinth winner Cafe Pharoah will make his 2021 debut.
Who are the key contenders in the Hyacinth? And which horse(s) might we see compete in the Kentucky Derby 2 1/2 months from now? Let’s dig in and examine the most intriguing runners:
Things You Might Have Missed - February 15 Cox Plate winner Lys Gracieux Image: Getty
Here s a few things you might have missed in the wide world of racing over the past week.
QUIRKY (from abroad)
The race was in Sweden, but the remarkable tote price lobbed on the Super-TAB.
There was a grand total of $57.50 in the place pool - less than one-tenth of what was in the win pool ($607.50) - and one opportunist s dollar has most likely cleaned out that pool in it s entirety.
Mega plunge multi falls just short (UK)
A three-leg multi had many UK punters living vicariously during the week, only for the extraordinary bet to fall just short.
Did you ever get bored watching Black Caviar keep the record intact, without blemish? Or ever think it was mundane that Winx would put 33 together straight, 25 of those at the elite Group 1 level?
No, me either. So why am I posing this seemingly totally rhetorical question now when it would be much easier to fill an end of year column with lists of top horses or achievements to make it easy on myself?
It stems from a piece put together by RSN racing editor Matt Stewart under the headline “Competition and Courage, not dominance, gets hearts racing”. He mentioned the win – 11th in a row, of The Harrovian at Eagle Farm as the most popular winner of Saturday. I’d agree, but it came in the context of questioning how that “courageous win” (and it was), was more stirring than the “relentless dominance of Black Caviar and Winx”.
Things You Might Have Missed - December 14 Unique looking thoroughbred Saluki Image: Reddit/uEMF911
Here s a few things you might have missed in the wide world of racing over the past week.
QUIRKY (from abroad)
You won t see many easier wins than Thebannerkingrebel at Plumpton on Monday.
After the withdrawal of rival Edwardstone pre-race, that left the 3400m steeplechase as a two-horse affair.
And when one of those two, Stratagem, unseated the rider at the first obstacle, the Jamie Snowden-trained jumper just had to negotiate the steeples for the first prize.
There were 11 more obstacles to get over, but the 7YO - having his first start for a new ownership group, having previously been raced by ex-Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick - managed to stay on his feet.