Y10 Meet 3/4

[symphony]

Meet 3

This week saw quite a few improvements in performance from horses across all grades, with quite a few upsets happening across the board. In the Maidens, Eidolon of King's Park Racing put in a stunning performance in the dirt distance division, blitzing the field to win by six lengths - speed and strength unseen in her previous starts. Similarly, older sister Vanquished put in a strong performance in the GIII Aspire Mile later in the day for her first win of the season, bringing her ever closer to GII status, while smart sprinter Phonetica managed to snatch a win from Conquistador in the Darling Mile.

Winchester (Ferndale Farms) was another unexpected winner, drifting in the betting at post time before powering home to win by two in the Reflection Derby. Numerical, a well-known though not very consistent face from Flat Creek Racing, also came out on top after seeing little interest from the crowds, with a length on Dontfearthereaper and Exalted One in a field with little class for the Octagon Stakes. Meanwhile, Veridical saw a little more interest due to past performances in the Investments Plate and did not disappoint, smashing out a two and a half length win.

Champion distance horses Animal Kingdom and He's A Pirate (both from Ferndale Farms) met in the Bourbon Derby this week, both well into preperations for the Virtuity Treble and proceeded to battle it out over the mile and three furlongs, Animal Kingdom coming out on top by a short head with A Thrush's Song (Flat Creek Racing) making a surprising appearance for second with a nose to He's A Pirate.

Summer Stakes Day also fell in this meet, generating a lot of excitement around the track and drawing huge crowds. Tia Dalma was the first to impress with a length and a half in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes over longshot Everybody Says of Flat Creek, who was a surprising second place. As expected though, King's Park were back to take the Summer Stakes Juvenile though, unleashing the impressive Eidolon who seemed to have really found her form last start and reached the wire four and a half lengths clear of Freddy Krueger and Sky High. Windchime, Banshee and Laughing Spirit made it almost impossible to pick in the Run For The Diamonds, all hitting the wire together with a nose to seperate each of them, Windchime just hanging on to win it. To finish up the Juveniles, Gladly Abroad came out in good form to win the Summer Turf Juvenile by a length and a half, over Into the Dark with King's Park trained Spirit Line trailing third by another length.

Tia Dalma and Mindset were strong hopes for the Summer Oaks, both being in impressive form this season, but on the day it was all Vanquished, the chestnut cruising from wire to wire for a two length victory in-hand. The Wild Life and Foxwedge followed with a length between them, with equal favourites Mindset and Tia Dalma a half-length behind, a nose in favour of Mindset for fourth. In comparison, the Summer Turf Sprint went exactly as predicted, Eastern Elements claiming the win with Rocket Away two lengths behind and Phonetica trailing another length in third.

The ever-improving Thatswhenyoushine defied his long odds to take the Summer Stakes, with three lengths over Switch and Black Magic duelling it out for second. And then, it was time for the Summer Turf Classic, with a very classy field taking to the turf for the final Feature of the meet. Honoured Bravery went in the favourite but came through a disappointing eighth, while Animal Kingdom didn't fare much better in sixth. Eastern Expression cruised along easily for a well-earned third, but it was Devil I Am and He's A Pirate who duelled for the top spots and hit the wire first, with the Ferndale colt taking it by a neck.

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Meet 4

Meet 4 started off slowly, with final prep races for the Trebles running in the GIII division and the Waterhouse Plate running for turf sprinters. Phonetica was the first Feature winner of the meet, half a length in front of Conquistador with Ash and Fire trailing by seven lengths and eased off well before the end of the race due to injury.

All too soon it was time for the first legs of the Virtuity Treble; the Temperance Stakes on the dirt and Honesty Stakes on the turf. The Honesty ran first, with a relatively small field stepping out at post time, the absence of Flat Creek strongly felt in the crowd. Animal Kingdom was the favourite by post time, He's A Pirate close behind as second favourite with game filly Wonder the only other one of the field to stand out in the betting. It was a battle between stables right from the gate, with lightning breaks from both Wonder and He's A Pirate to set fast fractions right along the backstretch. Into the final turn, it looked like both horses were going to get caught as the rest of the field closed, but while Wonder was forced to give up, He's A Pirate managed to hold on, with a half length to Conquer the East on the outside, Spirit Line putting in an excellent run to grab third a length behind. Another two lengths back was Glock with Wonder holding on for fifth a head behind and Animal Kingdom trailing the field by three, having been eased off in fear of injury.

Thatswhenyoushine and Boreas stood out in betting for the Temperance Stakes, though it was clear at the break that Thatswhenyoushine would be coming nowhere, the King's Park colt stumbling at the start to trail by two. It was rocket filly Eidolon who seemed to be on form that day, taking the lead at the gates to run half a length in front of Boreas, and not giving him an inch the entire way around. Pioneer and Royal Ambition loomed at the turn, moving up to challenge as Boreas was forced to drop back, but only Pioneer managed to keep going, Royal Ambition also dropping off halfway down the stretch. Classy colt Pioneer tried hard to catch his stablemate but the filly was having none of it, fighting tooth and nail all the way to the wire for a 3/4 length victory. Pioneer ran a valient second, Boreas two lengths back in third with a half length to Royal Ambition. Another half to Switch, with two lengths to Dontfearthereaper down the middle of the track, a nose in front of Parlay. Another half length on her inside came a closing Thatswhenyoushine, a length and a half to Smokey Da Bandit half a length in front of Winchester with In Da Dog House putting in a disappointing run another length and a half back.

The Charity Derby kicked off with He's A Pirate bet down to extremely short odds right before post time, the black colt making an impressive appearance in the post parade and looking right on form in his warm-up. The colt took a clear lead, moving clear of the commotion at the break when Wonder seemed to bump into stablemate Spirit Line, both fillies dropping out of the race to trail the field by three. Glock, Conquer the East and Animal Kingdom bunched up two lengths behind the leader, Animal Kingdom finding it hard to get a run around the other two at the turn. No horse looked to be catching He's A Pirate who passed under the wire four lengths clear without being touched, Glock holding out for second with Conquer the East a neck behind third. Animal Kingdom was a length behind them running wide, the two fillies trailing by two at the back of the field.

Boreas and Eidolon started equal favourites for the Chastity, many fans believing that the filly wouldn't be able to do it, and at the break it seemed like she was gone as she stumbled and blew the start. Boreas broke sharply, battling with Switch and Pioneer briefly before taking a length lead for most of the race, the rest of the field settling behind him with Eidolon trailing and fighting her jockey. About halfway down the stretch the filly seemed to get the bit between her teeth, almost throwing her rider, before taking off after the field and setting burning fractions. At the turn, Switch, Boreas and Pioneer were neck and neck for the lead, moving to the centre of the track as they came into the stretch, Eidolon closing fast in fifth place by a short head. At the head of the straight, the filly looked to be done, but she still had more to give; with urging from her jockey, she put in enourmous effort to close the two length gap between her and the three frontrunners to hit the line together in a four way tie, impossible to seperate. After a long review of the photo the results were finally announced; Eidolon had won it by a whisker, with Boreas taking second, Switch third and Pioneer fourth. Two lengths away in fifth was Dontfearthereaper, a length to Parlay and half a length to Thatswhenyoushine. Smokey Da Bandit ran a length back in ninth, with Winchester a neck to his outside and In Da Dog House trailing by one.

With the first two legs of the Treble already under his belt He's A Pirate went in as the hot favourite for the Hope Plate, followed a way off by Conquer the East and Glock, almost equal in price. At the break, it was filly Wonder who was out in front, He's A Pirate hot on her heels as they settled in a half length apart for the long race, the filly in front and He's A Pirate held back by his jockey. A length behind them came Conquer the East and Spirit Line running even, Glock right behind them on the rail, and Animal Kingdom trailing another length back. Along the backstretch, Spirit Line began to tire, dropping back and giving Glock an opportunity to move up into third beside Conquer the East as the came into the turn. At the front, He's A Pirate began to put pressure on Wonder as they came around the turn and into the straight, while Glock and Conquer the East began to move, leaving Spirit Line and Animal Kingdom behind. Wonder tried to match the colts in pace but didn't have the speed - He's A Pirate zoomed away, followed by the other two fast closing, but the black colt was two clear and accelerating. He hit the line three and a half in front of Glock, with half a length to Conquer the East third. Wonder was fourth two lengths back, then another two to Spirit Line and finally a length to Animal Kingdom. The crowd went wild at the return of He's A Pirate to the winners circle, where he was crowned a Treble victor and showered in pats and kisses from anyone who could reach him.

All too soon it was Independance time, with only a field of four lining up for the final leg of the dirt Treble, it was all Eidolon in the betting. Boreas, second favourite until the announcement that she wouldn't be running, was rumoured to be injured, though not confirmed. Some commotion was caused at the gate by Eidolon rearing and catching Royal Ambition with a hoof, but both horses were soon cleared to run and loaded into the gate. Eidolon broke faster than ever, clearly in the lead with Pioneer trying to give chase and Thatswhenyoushine and Royal Ambition settling in behind them, the latter looking to be a little off-pace. The two frontrunners set blazing fractions through the first mile, tiring a little to more reasonable speeds at the eight furlong marker. With the pace-setters beginning to drop back, Thatswhenyoushine took his chance to move up on their outside, running two wide from the rail next to Pioneer, Eidolon still holding the inside and the lead by a mere head. Seeing Thatswhenyoushine as they moved into the turn, Eidolon lay her ears back, gathered herself up, and kicked off, completely ignoring her jockey as she shot easily into a length lead, running madly and not looking back. The colts were left in the dust as she did nothing but accelerate, opening a six and a half length lead down the stretch from Thatswhenyoushine second, with another two lengths to Pioneer in third and finally Royal Ambition having a hard time in fourth three lengths back