Memories of the disappointment of Saturday's washout at Randwick were erased in an instant when the postponed nine-race card was run in beautiful autumn weather in Sydney on Monday. Some stunning performances made the day special.
Memories of the disappointment of Saturday's washout at Randwick were erased in an instant when the postponed nine-race card was run in beautiful autumn weather in Sydney on Monday. Some stunning performances made the day special.
The Chris Waller-trained Kermadec looked a 'giant' as he ploughed through the heavy ground to win the 150th running of the Doncaster Mile from 19 rivals. It was only the three-year-old's eighth start but he brushed aside some of the most experienced racehorses in the country to win by a length and three-quarters.
Kermadec is a son of the Darley stallion Teofilo out of a mare by the Japanese stallion Fuji Kiseki, a son of Sunday Silence. The strength the colt displayed in the home straight points to 2,000 metres being well within his compass.
Godolphin started the day on a winning note when Furnaces outclassed his rivals in the Kindergarten Stakes, over 1,100 metres. The son of Exceed And Excel had previously finished an encouraging sixth to Vancouver in the Golden Slipper Stakes.
John O'Shea and James McDonald then looked likely to make it a quick-fire double for Godolphin but Farolitos failed to catch the Peter Moody-trained Hi World by a short neck in the Carbine Club Stakes.
After the dominance of Kermadec in the Doncaster, the remaining three G1s on the card also featured outstanding wins. Pride Of Dubai, a son Street Cry, sat wide throughout but fought back after being headed in the home straight in the Sires' Produce Stakes to win for Hugh Bowman and the Snowdens.
New Zealander Mongolian Khan fought tenaciously to hold off the Godolphin colt Hauraki by three-quarters of a length in the Australian Derby, in a race that was made a staying test when Tommy Berry drove Ruling Dynasty fast around the outside 1,000 metres out and caught many by surprise.
But perhaps the most incredible win of the day was recorded by Chautauqua in the TJ Smith Stakes, over 1,200 metres. This sprinter trained by Team Hawkes sat last into the straight but flew home to get up on the line by a nose under an inspired ride by Tommy Berry.
Round One of the Championships may not have drawn the projected crowd figures because of the postponement, and the atmosphere was slightly subdued throughout, but the action on the track was outstanding. Round Two is scheduled for Randwick on Saturday.
Elsewhere for Team Godolphin, the most encouraging news of the weekend came from Kiaran McLaughlin, who sent out Frosted to land the Wood Memorial, over nine furlongs, at Aqueduct. The Darley home-bred had disappointed badly at Gulfstream previously but this put him back in Kentucky Derby contention.
Frosted, who has always been well-regarded by Godolphin, won comfortably by two lengths in the time of 1min 50.31secs. "We changed everything this time," McLaughlin explained, "including the jockey. We had to get to the bottom of what went wrong in his previous run. He just stopped."
Joel Rosario, who earned fame for his exploits aboard Animal Kingdom, had the ride this time.
The Bob Baffert-trained Dortmund made it six from six when taking the Santa Anita Derby on the West Coast but the veteran trainer still has American Pharoah to run in the Arkansas Derby next weekend. He could end up saddling the first two favourites at Churchill next month.
Carpe Diem won the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland to give him an impressive total of 164 points and a confirmed spot in the Derby line-up. Todd Pletcher is confident he will have the colt spot on for the big day.
Finally, a word about Godolphin's treble on the Lingfield all-weather at the richest meeting conducted on the surface. The royal blue colours have been to the fore in the series races all winter.
John Ferguson, bloodstock advisor to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, said: "We have supported the concept from day one. We believe there will always be a place for high-class all-weather racing in Britain, and we find it useful in bringing our young horses along, and also in keeping the yards going in winter."
Tryster, one of the Good Friday treble, was the star of the Godolphin all-weather challenge and it will be interesting to see how far he can progress on turf in 2015. Some good judges are predicting he can make it to G1.
