Racing: Review for Caulfield and Rosehill on 29 August

Mark “Makybe” Freeman writes:

Victory was ours punters – and stick with the footyalmanac tipsters: we’re fit and in form.

It started with your correspondent wagering Daff’s Monopoly money firmly on Mic Mac’s nose, who duly saluted in the Memsie in a display showing he’s more than capable of mixing with the topliners in stakes races. He jumped to the lead and held them at bay all the way and won with a degree of ease on the line.

But wait there’s more – punters keeping up with the responses on the site would have seen Crio and Budge talking up former star mare Zarita, who was at long odds after two disappointing campaigns. She flew home and nabbed third on the line in an impressive display. Whobegotyou – mentioned in dispatches in the preview – split them, with the trifecta paying $150.

Zarita wasn’t the only cups and plate bound stayer to impress, with the past two Melbourne Cup winners both posting slashing first-up efforts, while Whobegotyou’s effort was again very solid indeed. Von Costa de Hero continued his grand deception, Orange County was disappointing, while El Segundo – while not terrible – didn’t appear to stretch out on a track made shifty after some early rain.

Lonhro’s son Denman brained them in the Golden Rose at Sydney’s Rosehill, with Trusted, Stryker and Hus de Lieften also acquitting themselves well, with some of these on their way south for the Caulfield Guineas a fortnight after the Grand Final.

So to Daff’s bikkies: We’re in back in the black! Well, we’re square anyway. We had $80 the win on Mic Mac, who paid two-and-a-bit of theirs to our one: $3.30 top fluc = $264. Given that we were 160 in the red, it’s all square given we’ve already spent $4 on a celebratory Crownie.

Cheers, punters.

Chris Riordan writes:

Look at the results and you’d reckon on a bagful of cash for the bBookies leaving Caulfield but, though some good profits were reported, it was a day of missed opportunities for many. Punters who bet race-to-race would have left skint, with half the winners (including bolter Figure of Speech) being at double figure odds, but the serious punters weighed in on the other four.

Salinas was a shocker in the first, but, other than another late crunch on the impressive Starspangledbanner, bookies reached the Memsie with a sizeable lead. Mic Mac, however, was really confidently supported, putting paid to those of us querying its short odds at weight-for-age and then First Command turned the screws in the next.

Horses like it ( and “the Banner”) are awful for us as they string wins and loyal profiteers together. Fotunately, though, Von Costa (bloody heap) (in the Memsie) and Here De Angels (in the sprint) are the kind that help bookies run big cars.

Compounding our late afternoon slide was the support in the Golden Rose for Denman … its win was authoritative and costly. Jungle Ruler, probably backable with its likely lead and some sting from the ground, retrieved the ascendancy for most odds makers, but it was a tricky and, for us, unsuccessful day.

I know myself in my small endeavours, I backed Zarita and laid MicMac, then backed Hus Der Lieften whilst laying Denman. Worthy punts but a poor outcome.

Headquarters for the old Craiglee next week and the beginning of end-of-season footy groups and bucks’ parties … and some more good racing.

Comments

  1. pauldaffey says

    Dear racing scribes,

    I’m enjoying following your preview chat every week and then following up on the Saturday.

    Zarita was a very good get.

    When I was a kid, I liked the sound of Zambari. I think it finished third in a Cox Plate.

  2. pauldaffey says

    Just checked. Zambari finished third in the 1973 Cox Plate behind Taj Rossi and Swell Time.

  3. Zabeel is probably the best “Z” I’ve seen (and its influence as a Stallion was immense)but Ziema was only a pimple from being the most famous.

  4. Zarkava won Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last year. But agree Zabeel best I can remember (and he was better than his record indicates).

  5. Crio and Brio,

    I reckon you blokes will remember Zimno Fear.

    I remember at Mossman Bob’s buck’s party at Eagle Farm I had picked out a couple. ONe was a Hayes in a listed race (Almaraad or something like that) which I thougt would be abuot 9/2 and we got 12/1. The boys dismissed it. They were all getting flogged and quenching thier thirsts. I was quenching my thirst but said I was waiting until the last. Just dribbling here and there in the mean-time. Not too much damage. Thought Zimno Fear would be about 12/1. First call from melbourne 50/1. Won. ON the tote it paid $74. It paid for dinner and a lot more left over. Remarkable. No one else had a cent on.

    If only I’d known The Beaver then.

    JTH

    PS Also Zamboanga got me out of strife while down to my last. Handy becasue I would have been home by 2.30 otherwise.

  6. and don’t foget Zazzman

  7. Zeditave

  8. Peter Flynn says

    Reckon Zegna won a Craven A Stakes (Bart still calls it this) late 70’s/early 80’s.

  9. I looked it up. 1981 during its Pure-Pak phase.
    Thought Harmsy might have chipped in here with Zipping.

  10. Actually Peter you raise an interesting point about sponsors and race names. Surely they benefit from an attachment to a “time-honoured” race rather than hijacking the title for a couple of years. AAMI have done well with The Derby but what of races like the Mile Stakes on Final Day?
    The Tancred in Sydney suffered from this syndrome.
    The Craven “A”, as you nostalgically recalled, was in 1960 the VRC W.D. & H.O. Wills “Hallmark” Stakes before taking the blunter name the following year.
    Hallmark Stakes…sounds great, but I suspect a card company would need to kick in a couple of bob to get that race renamed.

  11. Hall Mark was a champion from the 30s who won the Cup between Peter Pan’s 2 wins. Better to name a race after a champion horse than a card company.

    Fair horse old Zambari. Managed to win an Oakleigh Plate (and heap of other top races) as well as place in a Cox Plate.

    What about Zephyr Bay. Beautiful black horse who went like the clappers! Went on to be a successful sire as well.

    Zamazaan – champion sire of many good Z horses.

  12. Zamazaan…wet-track sire extraordinaire.

  13. Zyzxx – champion Scrabble horse!

  14. Budge

    A waste of blanks.

  15. What…no form as a sire?

  16. Peter Flynn says

    Crio,
    The mile race on the last day of the VRC carnival was originally known as the Cantala Stakes.
    My mates and I still go to watch the ‘Invitation Stakes’ at Caulfield.

  17. Do you go on Show Day?

  18. Peter Flynn says

    Been to the last few Invitation Stakes.
    This year I’ve got a gig in Shepparton on that day.

  19. I’ve always preferred to think of it as the Marlboro Cup. Had some quality winners under that banner such as Manikato, Cap d’Antibes, Raffindale, Torbek, Canny Lass, King Phoenix, Rancho Ruler, etc.

  20. Peter Flynn says

    Budge,
    I can see why. Nice list.
    The Craven A Stakes had a decent honour roll:
    Maybe Mahal, Century, Dual Choice and Vain being the main stars from memory.
    Vain winning by a lazy 12 lengths.
    Goodness, are we saying bring back ‘dart’ sponsorship into the Group 1 GG races?
    From memory, Torbek had a reputation as a massive ‘plonk’ horse.

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