Brickbats & Bouquets: Will Romantic Warrior head Down Under?
This is a new column where we look at good and bad performances on the track and hope to unearth a future winner or two.
SHERRINGTON RETURNS IN STYLE
This one caught the eye at Scone on Friday for several reasons and may be a sprinter punters should follow.
A four-year-old gelding by Shamus Award out of Li’l Cashy, Sherrington returned to the racetrack following 12 months off to recover from a tendon injury that could have ended his career.
But patience and perseverance paid off in spades for his connections at Scone when he was confidently backed late from $4.20 to $1.85 before getting the chocolates by three quarters of a length from Milingimbe and Selfie Time over 1300m.
Kris Lees pulled off a terrific training coup to get Sherrington to the post and get his second win from his only two starts, turning him out in great order.
Jockey Aaron Bullock also deserves a bouquet for his 10 out of 10 ride on Sherrington to land his third winner of the day.
He manoeuvred the horse into the one-one sit and rode him quietly until moving three wide on the corner.
Bullock got to the lead inside the 100m and simply urged Sherrington hands and heels with the gelding responding generously.
Sherrington, a $135,000 purchase at the Adelaide Magic Millions yearling sales, won his maiden over 1200m at Tamworth in December last year but had to be put in the paddock with a serious leg injury.
MAGIC MILLIONS CONTENDERS EMERGE
The focus turns to the Gold Coast Magic Millions next month, and bookmakers have reacted to the glowing performances of a few runners from Saturday’s Eagle Farm meeting.
Impressive youngster Star Of Japan remains the pre-race favourite for the featured Magic Millions 2YO Classic at $6, but most bookies reacted quickly to the stylish debut of $1.1 million colt The Godfather, who won the Listed Phelan Ready Stakes over 1000m eased right down.
The Godfather is now a $7 shot for the MM after being $15 prior to his first-up victory for Ryan Maloney.
Peter and Paul Snowden prepare both The Godfather and Star Of Japan, who now heads the market for the $2 million juvenile race.
Despite the ease of The Godfather’s win, he may have been slightly overshadowed by a horse that didn’t get the prize in the Listed Calaway Gal Stakes for fillies won by Malaboom.
Leading trainer Annabel Neasham revealed her MM trump in Empress Of Wonder, a tragedy beaten after charging home to just miss.
Empress Of Wonder’s jockey Chad Schofield had no doubt his filly would have won comfortably had she jumped from a half-decent barrier.
She is MM value at $15 with .
HOW GOOD IS THE WARRIOR?
Fresh from being officially crowned the world’s best jockey, James McDonald has linked with Japanese-owned superstar Romantic Warrior which could bare some rich spoils in Australia next spring.
With American freak Flightline now at stud, racing is looking for a new global star and Romantic Warrior certainly staked his claim with his ninth — and most impressive — victory from his 10-start career in the Hong Kong Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin.
The four-year-old, raced by Danny Shum Chap-sing, stole the hearts of racing fans when he blew away a brilliant international field to win the city’s richest race of the season in emphatic fashion.
I would not mind betting McDonald, who just a few months ago steered classy four-year-old Anamoe to victory in the lucrative Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley, would have suggested to Romantic Warrior’s owner that his horse could win the weight-for-age race next October, with him in the saddle.
Stand by for more news on this.
APPEAL PROCESS AT SNAIL’S PACE
Two and a half years after being banned for two months for his ride on hot favourite Silent Explorer in Cairns in June 2020, jockey Chris Whitely has finally been vindicated and the appeals process exposed as pre-historic.
Whitely took on racing’s officialdom and won, albeit 30 months down the track.
His ride on Silent Explorer was poor, but he was a victim of circumstances and the diabolical way the race was run made it look 10 times worse.
Let’s hope the new appeals panel to be implemented early next year will speed up the process and we never see another two-and-a-half-year debate before we get a final decision.
AUSTRALIAN JOCKEYS WOULD STRIKE
German racing officials have further tightened whip restrictions with jockeys now only allowed to hit their mounts three times during a race.
Could you imagine only being able to hit your horse three times in the Melbourne Cup?
Hoops like Mick Dittman, Jimmy ‘Pumper’ Cassidy and George Moore would be horrified at such a thought.
But that’s exactly what Germany’s racing regulatory authority, Deutscher Galopp, has done, while also introducing even tougher suspensions for jockeys who exceed the new limit.
Under the new rules, jockeys who use the whip four times will automatically be banned for 14 days.
Five strikes will get you a 42-day ban, six strikes 84 days, and seven or more 168 days on the sidelines.
Globetrotting great Frankie Dettori is unlikely to ride in Germany again after he used the whip four times on his mount Torquator Tasso in the Grossier Preis.
His two-week suspension cost him a ride in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Whip-riding rules vary around the world with Australia among the more lenient countries along with Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore having no whip restrictions.
In Britain, jockeys can use the whip seven times in a race; in France, five times.
In Australia, a jockey can use the whip five times (non-consecutive strikes) before reaching the final 100m, then it is up to their discretion as to how often they use it over the last 100m of the race.
NOM FOR TIPSTER OF THE YEAR
And finally, we can’t let this one go without giving our own racing reporter Josh Spasaro a rap for his recent story on trainer John O’Shea’s trackwork rider Elizabeth Kalbfleisch.
Josh alerted HorseBetting.com.au punters in a recent article about two of O’Shea’s horses, with Kalbfleisch saying they were both ready to run big races after he spoke to her at the track.
Those two horses, Kirwan’s Lane ($21 win) and his stablemate Lion’s Roar ($10 place), ran the quinella in Saturday’s The Ingham (1600m) at Randwick.
Kalbfleisch said Kirwan’s Lane was “fresh and ready” for Saturday’s race.
And she added Lion’s Roar was “looking strong on the track”.
“They’re both more than ready,” she said in the interview.
If you copped the tip, you would have cleaned up — especially on the exotics with the quinella playing $561 and the exacta $1373.