VANDYKE HAPPY TO TEST THE WATER WITH ALL INCLUSIVE IN A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE TODMAN LINEUP

By Graham Potter | Friday, March 8, 2024

David Vandyke is arguably one of the most astute trainers in the country.

One of his biggest assets is his patience and the finely measured way in which he brings his horses along, trying not to push any horse beyond its capabilities at any given time, having long since mastered the art of not getting ahead of himself.

Which is exactly the reason why the presence of the Vandyke trained All Inclusive in the Group 2 Todman Stakes at Randwick on Saturday is well worth a second glance.

This is a race ... a natural lead-up to the Golden slipper ... that is absolutely sizzling with talent.

While the slipper favourite Storm Boy is not in the lineup, the strength of the Waterhouse / Bott stable, both in quality and numbers, is still very much in evidence with the three runners they will send out to face the starter.

Straight Charge, who is the pre-race favourite at $2.70, has won two out of three starts, including a last start win in the Silver Slipper.

Espionage is the only runner to have beaten Straight Charge. He won the Group 3 Breeders’ Plate on debut, with Straight Charge 0.30 lengths behind him in second place ... and these two runners reversed their finishing positions in the Silver Slipper where Straight Charge won by a more decisive 1.26 length margin. Espionage is currently quoted at $4.80.

The third Waterhouse / Bott runner is Shangrila Express who won the Kirkham Plate and then the $1 million Golden Gift in his first two starts before having to play second fiddle to Switzerland in the Pierro Plate.

Switzerland is also in the Todman. That win in the Pierro was the Chris Waller trained runners second successive win and he remains unbeaten in two starts ... and does the Team Snowden trained Bodyguard who won the Blue Diamond Prelude in his last start.

The John O’Shea trained Getafix has one win (in a Maiden) from one run to his credit. The Inglis Nursery winner Odinson, from the ever-competitive Ciaron Maher stable, and the two debutants in the lineup, Full Metal Jacket (Gary Portelli) and Verlander (Michael, Wayne and john Hawkes) complete the list of the nine rivals that All Inclusive will face.

Which brings us all the way back to the David Vandyke trained runner.

Vandyke is certainly under no illusions at the task facing All Inclusive.

Talking to Racenet, Vandyke referred to the Todman by saying ... “it almost feels like it's the Golden Slipper without Storm Boy,” which is a pretty accurate assessment.

“He also added, “It's a very good field and we are up against some serious A-Graders.”

There was a ‘but’ at the end of that sentence though, with Vandyke pointing to the improvement All Inclusive has taken since his only start, a debut win in the QTIS Jewel Prelude at Doomben on February 24 ... a win that already had Vandyke excited at the time and left him plotting his path to the Todman without a moment’s hesitation.

Ryan Maloney, who has had so much success with Vandyke ... not least in the team’s alligator Blood days ... makes the trip from Queensland to ride the son of All Too Hard, who was also the sire of the now seven-time Group 1 winner Alligator Blood.

Vandyke admits he does not know whether All Inclusive will step up to the mark, but he also says he is very comfortable taking All Inclusive to the Todman on Saturday.

If nothing else, that says a lot about Vandyke’s opinion of the horse ... which, in turn, as stated at the outset, makes All Inclusive worth a second glance.

Some will say they have got a mountain to climb, but, in reality, all of these two-year-olds are a work in progress who can jump out of the ground one day when you least expect it or mark time when you expect them to be moving forward.

Storm Boy has taken the two-year-old scene by storm, in part because of his solid performances to date, but, also in part, because of the huge media hype surrounding his mega-priced sale to Coolmore.

We will only know if he is as good as he is being touted on Golden Slipper day.

For now though, it is the ten runners mentioned above that will take the two-year-old centre stage on Saturday.

After Saturday, like David Vandyke, we will know more.

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