Sydney takes centre stage on Grand Final Saturday with the Golden Rose, a lucrative ticket to stallion barn riches for the winner, the main attraction.
In so many ways this is now the classic Australian group 1, especially for three year olds. In the old days future stallion prospects would be expected to prove themselves over the classic distances of 1600 metres to 2400 metres.
But the Golden Rose and it’s 1400 metre trip is now the sort of race that breeders – and the yearling market – appears to love.
To be fair, any horse that wins this race has to have plenty of class, a lot of speed but enough stamina to ensure he is not just a precocious short course runner.
But it just seems there are a plethora of races for not just three year olds but older weight for age gallopers over this sort of trip leading to a certain sameness in the programme.
As can be expected in a race of this sort all of the top trainers and owners are represented. Godolphin is double handed, with market leaders Broadsiding and Traffic Warden while Coolmore will be hoping the Gai Waterhouse trained Storm Boy can justify the huge price (a reported $50 million) they paid when buying him after his Magic Millions two year old Classic success last year.
Waterhouse is actually triply represented as she also fields Anode and Mayfair, while champion trainer Chris Waller teams up with Nash Rawiller and Emirate, who can be expected to improve on his first up fifth behind Traffic Warden and Anode in the Run to the Rose.
Broadsiding, who will be ridden by James McDonald, is attempting to win this race first up after a three and a half month spell.
The son of Too Darn Hot – who was a champion European two year old in his racing days and has made a great start to his stud career – was a slow burner as a juvenile and didn’t get into the winner’s stall until his fourth start when he was able to tackle a longer distance, winning the listed Fernhill Stakes over 1600 metres at Randwick.
From there he went from strength to strength and rattled off another three wins including two at group 1 level in the Champagne Stakes and the JJ Atkins Stakes, the latter during the Brisbane winter carnival.
This trip is likely to be on the sharp side but he is a classy contender, will probably sprint well fresh and whatever he does here he is likely to show improvement further into the spring: should he win here connections might fancy a tilt at the Cox Plate over the sort of 2000 metre trip which would look to suit him ideally.
Certainly his trainer James Cummings was bullish about his prospects.
”He’s been going beautifully, we are delighted with the way he’s prepared for the Golden Rose first-up. He wasn’t afforded a long break, we kept him ticking over and kept it all up to him to be ready to go first-up over seven furlongs.”
“We got it right that he couldn’t beat his stablemate Traffic Warden in the Run To The Rose. The right approach with Broadsiding was to have him first-up at seven furlongs and we have him spot-on in lung and limb, ready to do combat.
“All we can do is have confidence in our process and we are confident we have him where we need to have him.”
Stable companion Traffic Warden was excellent first up when landing the Run to the Rose but he might have a battle on his hands to confirm the form with Storm Boy, who was slowly away that day and then had to work very hard to get to the front before fading late. He should jump better here and get a more effective run, and if he does he will take the world of beating. Victory here could set him up for a tilt at the $20 million The Everest.
Melbourne racing took the spotlight on Friday night with the Grand Final eve meeting at The Valley where Pride of Jenni once again put on a showstopping performance to run her rivals ragged in the Feehan Stakes, reversing her most recent defeat at the hands of Mr Brightside.
Declan Bates once again showed what a good judge of pace he is aboard the Ciaron Maher trained mare, judging the fractions perfectly to have enough left in the tank so that she could coast home the last 50 metres as Craig Williams and Mr Brightside chased in vain.
These two have established one of the turf’s better more recent rivalries and that looks set to continue throughout the spring as they could clash in the King Charles Stakes in Sydney and the Cox Plate back at The Valley.
Victorian racing takes a back seat on Grand Final day but there are still two good races highlighting the Sandown programme in the shape of the Sandown Stakes at group 3 level and the Tile Importer Handicap. In the latter Berkley Square will be looking to build on his last start Flemington success and while Craig was an impressive winner at Caulfield he does look rather a short price stepping up to group class after winning at Benchmark 78 level last time.