Is this year’s Stradbroke simply a race between the three year olds? I don’t think it’s over just yet, but gee they look like a very talented bunch!
Saturday week ago we saw Sea Siren a very promising daughter of Fastnet Rock come out and blow the older horses away at WFA in the BTC cup 1200m, and on Saturday Mental stood up for the Darley team, while Pampelonne toyed with his rivals at Scone in the Guineas.
Three year olds do have a good record in the 1400m feature and the main concern is getting them into the field. Sea Siren has ticked that box and Mental will most likely get a penalty which should see him make the field (not official). The very impressive Pamelonne on the other hand is around 43rd in the order of entry and even with a lot of horses likely to pull out that may not get him into the field. Tim Martin has floated the horse up to Brisbane today and is toying with the idea of running in the Doomben 10,000 on Saturday. A few people have said that ‘he beat nothing’, but his win was outstanding and with the right run in the Stradbroke he is more than up to the task with the 50.5kg he has been allotted.
Mental got in to prohibitive odds before he too sent out a warning to the Stradbroke contenders with an arrogant win in the Fred Best Classic. As he did in his previous start, he was asked for an effort and the race was over in around five strides. Snowden is usually pretty reserved, but he seems very upbeat about Mental and we should all take note (if you haven’t already).
Sea Siren may well be the best of them but she will be asked to do a bit more than the boys as she will have to carry 52.5kg. She has really jumped out of the ground her last couple of runs and you’d think she will improve on the BTC cup win. She can also handle all track surfaces which is a big advantage over the Brisbane winter!
It is shaping as a great race and I hope that all three of the exciting three year olds run as it looks a great battle. Sea Siren and Pampelonne like to roll up near the pace, while Mental would be around midfield waiting to pounce. I think it is far too early to write of the older horse and some of them are also going very well at the moment. Woorim has 56.5kg and getting to the big Eagle farm track and hopefully some pace on would suit him perfectly. He was unlucky in the race last year and Rob Heathcote would love to go one better. Wealth Princess was awesome on Saturday and she is probably leading the charge of the older horses at present. That was only her second start from a very long layoff and she should take even more improvement from the outing.
**Just a mention as I forgot to throw it out in the ‘Wrap up’. It was a big day out for the resident tipster ‘The Prophet’ with both tips winning on Saturday at $9 and $6 the win. I have been contacted by a few punters that were very pleased, so I hope he helped a few people out. It’s always nice to get a winner, but two from two at those prices is a great get!
