THE PETLEY REPORT: TRACK CONDITIONS PROVE A BRIDGE TOO FAR FOR ENABLE IN THE ARC

By Jack Petley | Monday, October 5, 2020

Champion UK mare Enable found the track conditions right against her and the best she could do in the Arc yesterday was sixth with the race going to Scottsass, trained by master trainer Frenchman Jean-Claude Rouget giving him his first win in Europe's Premier race. The race was robbed of the Aidan O'Brien stayers taking part due to contaminated feed which turned in positive tests. Thus, Serpentine and Sovereign did not take part.

Trainer John Gosden said plans for Enable would be decided after Teddy Grimthorpe reports to Prince Khalid Abdullah. "That will decide whether she has one more race or is retired," said Gosden. But Gosden did say there was every chance that Stradivarius would stay in training.

Swiss Skydiver became the sixth filly to win the Preakness in the US with a great win at Pimlico beating the Kentucky Derby winner, Authentic by a long neck in a great battle to the line.

John Size looks to have an exciting four-year-old in Excellent Proposal, winner at Sha Tin. “His temperament is good, he's sound and he has the ability," said the champion Australian born trainer. And Joao Moreira says he sees no problems in the young galloper getting the Hong Kong Derby distance.

Also in HK, Casper Fownes gained his 900th Hong Kong winner and Zac Purton and Douglas Whyte combined for their first success as jockey and trainer. Purton and Whyte were great rivals on the track with Purton eventually ending Whyte's 13-year stranglehold on the Premiership.

Blake Shinn was also in the winner’s circle on David Hall trained Plikclone.

Meantime Cklassique Legend has taken over as favourite for the Everest at $5 with Gytrash and Libertini has tightened considerably to be at $6. Nature Strip, after his defeat on the weekend, now sits at $7 after being hot favourite for some weeks. Gytrash, I gather, turned in brilliant gallop in training at Warwick Farm on the weekend. He will be ridden by Kiwi Jason Collett and Collett

Collett has gained the ride on the David Payne Flight Stakes winner, Montefillia in the Spring Champion Stakes. After that dashing win over the Chris Waller filly Hungry Heart she has been promoted to second favourite in the early betting for the big three-year-old race with the very impressive Team Freedman three-year-old Love Tap at $2.50. Hungry Heart sits at $6.

The Team Hawkes three-year-old Ole Kirk is the early favourite for the Caulfield Guineas at $4.50 then $6 Kings Legacy with the unbeaten Waller three-year-old Mo'unga on the next line of betting.

For the 1000 Guineas Instant Celebrity is the firm early favourite for the big Classic at $2.80 then $6 Hungry Heart, $9 Personal, $11 Agreeable, Aidensfield and Odeum.

If he runs you won't get rich on Russian Camelot for the Caulfield Stakes, where he is mere $ 1.50 then $5 Arcadia Queen, $8 Humidor, $15 Gailo Chop, and with the Kiwi The Chosen One at $26.

Junipal is the early favourite for the Toorak at $5.

William Pike has gained the Caulfield Cup mount on the Hayes-Dabernig international stayer, Port Guillaume.

I see that Farnan is back on track for the Bott-Waterhouse yard and he runs this weekend in the Roman Consul.

Jamie Richards told the NZ Racing Desk that " so much planning had gone into getting Probabeel into the Epsom Handicap with the right weight, very much like the old school NZ trainers, like Colin Jillings, Dave O'Sullivan and Jim Gibbs, used to do when targeting major handicaps. Thankfully with a lot of help we have been able to pull off the win." Now Richards has to decide whether the mare heads south for the WS Cox Plate or stays in the north for the $7.5 Golden Eagle. That win on the weekend took her earnings to a very healthy $2,371,478 after David Ellis purchased her out of the Waikato Stud draft for $380,000. She has now won 8 of her 18 starts.

TAB bookmakers reacted to that dashing win by the Makfi filly Matchmaker in the Canterbury Belle Stakes at Riccarton on the weekend by promoting her to second favourite behind the very smart filly Miss Aotearoa in the $1000 Guineas. She will stay in NZ until after the Guineas but eventually she will be sent across the Tasman to Chris Waller.

That was a very impressive win in the Hawkes Bay Guineas on the weekend at Hastings by the Baker-Forsman three-year Aegon, who came from almost last on the home bend to gain the narrowest of wins in a blanket finish. He was ridden be Leith Innes who won the Guineas back in 2012 on the sire of the three-year-old, Sacred Falls, who then went on and won the Gr1 NZ 2000 Guineas at Riccarton. Co trainer Andrew Forsman said the smart three-year-old would be sent south for the Guineas but would perhaps have his next run in the Sarten Memorial at Te Rapa. "We will give him a few days off first," said Forsman, who is also a part owner of the three-year-old having gone to $150,000 to take him out of the Waikato Stud draft at Karaka in 2019.

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