Sportsbet Caulfield Guineas (Group 1)

AUTUMN Boy became the third generation of his sire-line to win the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas on Saturday. In 1999, it was Redoute’s Choice who prevailed in an epic edition. He later sired The Autumn Sun who won in 2018, who in-turn is the sire of Autumn Boy, a third-crop colt.

Settled fifth on the rail after jumping from one in the 15-horse field as the favourite Wodeton settled in the final third, the Chris Waller-trained Autumn Boy angled four-wide on the turn, evading the traffic that blighted the run of Observer closer to the rail.

In free galloping room at the 250-metre mark, Autumn Boy was away, overwhelming the leaders before having enough in reserve to deny the second-placed Admire Mars gelding Planet Red, who was sharp with a late run.

Third was the unlucky Ghaiyyath colt Observer, who is now the early favourite for the Victoria Derby.

Beautiful colt

On Autumn Boy for the first time was Damien Lane. “He’s a beautiful colt, just takes everything in his stride, very easy to deal with and a great turn of foot you need to win these big races. When he joined in, he really joined in. He put the race away pretty quick,” said Lane.

Purchased from the Magic Millions for A$200,000, Autumn Boy has now won three of his five starts for just over $2 million in stakes. “We had been looking to try and find a horse that replicates The Autumn Sun and bloodstock agent Guy Mulcaster found him,” said Waller.

“As soon as I saw him, I thought he was perfect and Charlie (Duckworth) was the same and we found some great owners.

“We’re proud of all the horses that come through the stable. But when we’ve got champions like The Autumn Sun and we’ve got his sons and daughters, it’s pretty special. Last week, Autumn Glow, now it’s a super colt with Autumn Boy; it’s pretty special.”

Sportsbet Might And Power Stakes (Group 1)

“IT was a heist, wasn’t it? But you know it’s a horse race, not a mathematical formula,” reflected Mick Price after Globe, who he trains in partnership with Mick Kent Jnr, led all the way to win the Might And Power Stakes, the first of five Group 1s across the Caulfield Cup carnival.

“So we get up every day and dream these dreams and you know it’s fantastic for the owners, a big bunch and the horse has spent his whole life earning A$600,000 and he just earned another $600,000 in two minutes,” added Price.

Following the scratching of Light Infantry Man, just four faced the starter with the market firmly focused on Treasurethe Moment and Buckaroo.

Taking up the running, Blake Shinn was untroubled in front and allowed to dictate the tempo. Keeping it honest apart from a brief mid-race respite, Globe, stretched to 2,000 metres for just the second time, had plenty in reserve. Treasurethe Moment got to the hip of Charm Spirit gelding just before the 200-metre mark, but Shinn was able to ask for more. Stretching out to the line, Globe won his maiden Group 1 by three lengths over the four-time Group 1 winning Alabama Express filly who shaded the Fastnet Rock gelding Buckaroo.

Utmost respect

“I knew the tactics had to be right to beat Treasurethe Moment and Buckaroo, who I’ve got the utmost respect for,” said Shinn. “And as we’ve seen time and time again in these small fields, it’s quite tactical and an upset can happen more often than not. We went in there with no pressure as the obvious leader. Globe is a natural front-runner, and what a thrill to be able to pull it off. Treasurethe Moment came up to us at the turn, but I knew I had saved something up for the last 300 metres with the run we’d had. I got him to change to his off-side fore about the 250 metre, and then he went into overdrive.”

Sportsbet Toorak Handicap (Group 1)

LEADING all the way, the Snitzel gelding Transatlantic just hung on to win the Group 1 Toorak Handicap for trainer Tony Gollan and made it back-to-back wins following Antino’s victory in last year‘s edition.

Ridden by Mark Zahra, Transatlantic was quickly away from the 1,600 metre start, pushing forward from barrier nine of 10 to find the front.

Challenged bravely by Evaporate mid-way down the straight, the Per Incanto gelding needed a touch more ground, failing by a half-head. Third was the Derryn filly Leica Lucy.

“Mark (Zahra) executed his plan beautifully, he wanted to be aggressive that first 100, negate that barrier. That’s what he did, and that was the winning tactic,” said Brisbane’s leading trainer Tony Gollan.

“He had a plan, he had a fit horse and we got him in at the right weight. Mark did the rest, you know? He’s always had the potential and the ability to go to this level, and the trip away has made him, and he’s a really quality horse. I don’t see why he couldn’t be a weight-for-age horse in the future.”

By Snitzel, Transatlantic is out of the Draci Brahma mare Gust Of Wind who coincidentally was the last horse to defeat Winx when winning the 2015 Australian Oaks. Following that Winx won her next 33 starts!

INTEREST around today’s A$20 million Everest at Randwick has been dominated by Hong Kong superstar Ka Ying Rising, whose grip on the race tightened when he drew barrier seven in the 12-horse field seeing him shorten to $1.60.

Trained by ex-pat Australian David Hayes, the five-year-old winner of 14 from 16 is expected to bring tourism and an avalanche of wagering from Hong Kong with fans keen to be part of his journey, highlighting the savvy move of the Australian Turf Club to lease its $700,000 Everest slot to the Hong Kong Jockey Club for the next three years.

“I think he’s ready to rumble,” said Hayes of Ka Ying Rising, despite rumours circulating on Monday. “He’s the made the progression we thought he would and we’re really expecting a bold showing.”

Chief amongst his rivals will be Jimmysstar, Joliestar and Briasa, the latter pair last start winners and successful over Randwick’s 1,200 metres whilst the only three-year-old in the field will be the Godolphin filly Tempted, now trained by Ciaron Maher.

The Everest will be supported as a HKJC World Pool race, as well as being broadcast globally on sports streaming service DAZN and Fox Sports 1 in the USA.

BEN Allen will be aboard the Willie Mullins-trained Absurde in today’s A$5 million Caulfield Cup.

On the fifth line of betting at $18, this will be Absurde’s first start in the Caulfield Cup on his way to a third start in the Melbourne Cup.

“It’s obviously been a long way between his runs over the last couple of years and it’s (Caulfield Cup) actually a race that would really suit him as well and it’s obviously worth winning,” said David Casey.

“An extra race in between will suit him for a Melbourne Cup, but we’d love to win on Saturday. We are not going in half-cocked, we think we have a good chance.”

Favourite for the 2,400 metre Group 1 handicap is Half Yours, trained by Tony and Calvin McEvoy and by the Irish-bred stallion St Jean.

THE Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Sir Delius was sensationally ruled out of the Melbourne Cup on Friday. He had been favourite after winning the Group 1 TAB Turnbull Stakes in dominant style. The stable still have Vauban to line up, who will be having his third attempt in the race.

At the second declarations stage for the $10 million Cup this week, there were 53 horses still in.

Chris Waller continues to have a strong hand with nine nominations including last start winner Valiant King, who secured his spot after earning a golden ticket via the Lexus Bart Cummings.

There will be a strong international contingent this year with 11 overseas horses remaining in the race, including a first USA-trained horse Parchment Party, by Bill Mott who gained his ticket to Australia after claiming the third Lexus Melbourne Cup Golden Ticket entry from winning the Belmont Gold Cup. Potential Irish runners as well as Absurde, are Al Riffa, Goodie Two Shoes along with Furthur from the Andrew Balding stable and Flatten The Curve from Germany.

There are four more Golden ticket races available to gain automatic entry into the Melbourne Cup, including the Caulfield Cup, Geelong Cup, Moonee Valley Gold Cup and the Cox Plate.