Almanac Horse Racing: Way Out West

 

 

Group 1 racing returns this weekend, as does racing at Caulfield following the recent fire at the course, with the running of the $750,000 weight for age C F Orr Stakes over 1400m. The race is named in honour of Charles F Orr, a former Chairman and Secretary of the Williamstown Racing Club.

Those more seasoned racing followers will link the C F Orr Stakes to being run at Sandown, but history tells us it has in fact been held at all city courses and was first held at the now defunct Williamstown racecourse.

The honour roll of winners is a who’s who of racing but boasts as three time winners the greats in Manikato (1979-81) and Vo Rogue (1988-90). The 2012 race was won by the best of them all in champion mare, Black Caviar, at her only start over a distance greater than 1200m.

This year’s race sees current day star Mr Brightside looking for back-to-back wins in the race and although first up, he is sure to be the testing material.

 

Melton

Harness racing at Melton last Saturday night saw the running of Group 1 races, the A G Hunter Cup for pacers and Great Southern Star for trotters, won by Swayzee and Watts Up Partytime, respectively.

Hamilton driver, Jackie Barker, tasted success on the night when she guided the Emma Stewart trained Miki To Success to an all-the-way win over 1720m in Race 4, the Group 3 4yo Bonanza. Barker is forming a very successful combination with the 4-year-old horse, having also guided him to Group 1 success in the 3-year-old Vic Bred Super Series late last year.

Harness racing this Saturday night moves to Cranbourne with the running of its Group 2 $100,000 Cranbourne Cup, where the field will be headlined by the champion pacer, Leap To Fame, backing up for a third consecutive Saturday night after tasting defeat narrowly last Saturday night behind his older half-brother, Swayzee, in the A G Hunter Cup at Melton. They won’t start at shorter odds than Leap To Fame is sure to be on Saturday night.

 

Watchdog

West Vic greyhound trainers, Kyle and Lorraine Goodwin and Robert Wombell, have a total of 16 runners at Mount Gambier and Warrnambool between now and Sunday.

After his win last Sunday at Mount Gambier, 23-month-old dog, Lie To Me, will be looking to make it three wins on end in Race 11 this Sunday at the same course.

 

Caulfield

Will it be third time lucky for 3-year-old filly Kirribilli in Race 10 at Caulfield on Saturday? After being scratched due to track upgrades on two occasions recently (Sandown Lakeside and Flemington), it’s obvious connections are concerned with her racing on a Good3 surface and so will be hoping the weather and track conditions are in their favour on Saturday, although possibly preferring her to be in an earlier race with the current weather conditions. Jamie Melham has been booked for the ride; she’s drawn well in barrier 6 and so it will be interesting to see if there is any market support for her and whether the weather gods are also in her favour.

 

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