Follow Files: QTIS Jewel 2YO favourite dominates fillies prelude
With the Victorian two-year-old features completed, all eyes turned to Randwick on Saturday for the final lead-ups to the Group 1 Golden Slipper.
There was still a great day of racing at Flemington as well, with the Group 1 Australian Guineas kicking off campaigns for a number of three-year-olds who will look to push on to the Rosehill Guineas in the coming weeks.
With the Adelaide and Queensland carnivals approaching, there were some very nice support cards at Morphettville, Eagle Farm, and Ascot.
Below we have found one runner to follow from each of Flemington, Randwick and Eagle Farm.
Flemington – Australian Guineas Day
Track rating: Good 4
Rail position: Out +2m entire circuit
Race 1: Furphy Trophy (1000m) | Time: 0:58.27
- Horse to follow: Butch Cassidy (2nd)
The first race of the day saw a field of nine two-year-old runners compete in the Listed Furphy Trophy, won by Princess Duhallow, but the run of the race came from the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Butch Cassidy, who came from the back of the field and finished a length behind the winner. It is unusual to see a two-year-old settle at the back of the field and run on strong on debut, particularly from the Waterhouse & Bott training setup, which typically trains front runners. To see this son of Written Tycoon finish so strong and run through the line with a head full of steam over 1000m, he looks ready to go to 1200m the next time he runs.
When to bet: Butch Cassidy has been nominated by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott for the Group 1 Golden Slipper on March 18, but he has only won $33,500 so there is little chance of the colt running in the two-year-old feature. Even though the Group 1 appears to be off the table, if they choose to run this colt in a 1200m race against his own age group in Sydney, we will be following him and backing him to break his maiden.
Randwick – Randwick Guineas Day
Track rating: Soft 5
Rail position: Out +6m entire circuit
Race 6: Challenge Stakes (1000m) | Time: 0:57.19
- Horse to follow: Giga Kick (3rd)
You will struggle to find anyone in racing circles that missed Giga Kick’s run in the Challenge Stakes at Randwick over 1000m on Saturday. Clayton Douglas stated publicly prior to the race that he is “very confident” going into the Challenge Stakes first-up. The reigning Everest champion settled towards the back of the field, giving the leader, and eventual runner-up Eduardo, at least a five-length head start, and finished just over one length behind Passive Aggressive and Eduardo, who were separated by a nostril on the line. After a strong comeback from his lengthy debut racing preparation in which he obviously won the Everest and finished fifth in the Champions Sprint.
When to bet: Clayton Douglas hasn’t kept it a secret that Giga Kick’s target race is the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes on April 1, where he will meet many of his Everest rivals again, and possibly the likes of Passive Aggressive and Eduardo who he met on last weekend. With a solid first-up run under his belt, this three-year-old gelding will be peaking on April 1 and we will be backing him to beat the top sprinters in Australia once again in the TJ Smith.
Eagle Farm – Ladies Day
Track rating: Good 4
Rail position: Out +4m entire circuit
Race 4: QTIS Jewel Prelude 2YO Fillies Plate (1000m) | Time: 0:58.28
- Horse to follow: Mishani Royale (1st)
With the QTIS Jewel 2YO only two weeks away, we saw both the Fillies and Colts & Geldings divisions run and won on Saturday at Eagle Farm, and there wasn’t a runner as impressive as the two-year-old filly from the Les Ross yard Mishani Royale. This two-year-old filly led from start to finish in the Jewel Prelude 2YO Fillies Plate, winning by 1.7 lengths over Within Reason and Rubaahy. After winning the Gold Pearl at the Gold Coast in January, this filly has had two-month freshen, with Les Ross saying after the race that “she is the best two-year-old in his stable” and that he “wanted to bring her back for the QTIS Jewel 2YO as the target race”.
When to bet: With Les Ross saying that this is his best two-year-old in his stable, it tells us that he has a very good opinion of this filly. He also said to the owners if she didn’t win last Saturday it was OK, because she would strip fitter and they were using the race as a paid barrier trial. The QTIS Jewel 2YO is the obvious target and we will be following this very smart filly into that race.