Flemington - Champions Stakes Day Review

CHAMPION STAKES DAY REVIEW

 

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CHAMPIONS SPRINT

 

RACE QUALITY: 104.2

WINNER RATING: 105.4

TEMPO: + 3.9L

RACE SHAPE: + – –

 

OVERVIEW

OVERPASS and ESTRIELLA broke best from low draws, working immediately to the outside fence. The early section was run at “Above Average” fractions, going 3.9L above standard to the 800m point. They did slacken through the mid-section, holding spot on evens from the 800m to 400m.

The winner, SUNSHINE IN PARIS jumped on par, dropping in just behind them. She held her spot through the mid-section before ducking back to the middle/inside, buoying off her even mid-section, going 2.5L+ over the final stages.

The dynamics in the race were marginal. With the margin spread from leader to tail being 4.6L, it was a mostly compact field, all travelling very close to standard through the first section.

RIGHT TO PARTY recorded the best acceleration and late figures, building throughout. BELLA NIPOTINA maintained her “tough” tag, travelling and holding above standard throughout the race, dropping only marginally through the final stages. She recorded the best Sustained Speed score in the race.

 

SUMMARY:

SUNSHINE IN PARIS and BELLA NIPOTINA headed figures coming into the race, and depending which angle you took, I think you could have comfortably landed on one or the other.

I landed on BELLA NIPOTINA, being the seasons’ stalwart sprinter, taking the scalp of SUNSHINE IN PARIS in their two prior meetings through The Everest and The Russell Balding.

The main weighting was the map and her versatility. Whichever way the race panned out, I had her in the finish and her consistent figures to the field instilled confidence. The query of her Flemington form was a non-factor for me.

SUNSHINE IN PARIS resumed with a bang in the Sheraco, and the sustained acceleration in that race was where you could mark her up.

I for one did not have her jumping and settling so close to the speed. The slacken through the mid section certainly helped her cause.

RIGHT TO PARTY has elevated herself as a genuine sprinter to be noticed going forward. Her three peaks (99.2, 100.2, 100.8) prior to the Champions Sprint were all well below the required figure to win, however her acceleration and late strength could have held a lot more weight when doing the form, particularly down the straight.

STRETAN ANGEL is the only other runner worth mentioning. She had the lowest figures coming into the race this prep, however, there could have been some speculation on her hitting her top 4UP, akin to last prep in The Goodwood (1200m) Group 1. Arguably her ratings were better going into that run, however it is an important point to recognise, that the overall figure is not the be all and end all. She was very good through The Silver Eagle against slow fractions, coupling that with the switch to a good track, there was certainly enough there to forecast significant improvement.

 

CHAMPIONS MILE

 

RACE QUALITY: 105.2

WINNER RATING: 106

TEMPO: -0.7L

RACE SHAPE: – + –

 

OVERVIEW

The winner MR BRIGHTSIDE broke best, with BROADSIDING the outside next working across. PRIDE OF JENNI and MY OBERON kicked up underneath leaving a clump for the first two furlongs before they sorted their order.

Maybe not surprising that they didn’t go at breakneck fractions with Melham taking over on PRIDE OF JENNI. However, I don’t think anyone could have forecast they would in fact go below standard in the first section (-0.7L) and still maintain that through the middle section (-0.6L).

 

SUMMARY

PRIDE OF JENNI was not winning the race, I was confident of that leading in, however I am adamant that she has to be ridden as fast as possible early/mid to stave off the elite.

Citing a sprinting stalwart (Bella Nipotina) in the Champions Sprint, to now a middle-distance warhorse, MR BRIGHTSIDE again put his name among the elite. In similar vein, he never breaks the clock or records unfathomable figures, but his quality comes in consistently hitting G1 ratings.

His acceleration, coupled with sustained speed ratings make him a very rounded runner. ANTINO clearly recorded the best acceleration figure in the race, and his performance score: 106.4 exceeded his final figure: 105.2, which is a strong indicator going forward. I expected he would regress off an enormous new peak in The Toorak, and he did, but not back to his baseline. He is at another level now.

 

CHAMPIONS STAKES

 

RACE QUALITY: 105.4

WINNER RATING: 108.4

TEMPO: +3.9L

RACE SHAPE: + – –

 

OVERVIEW

Good speed early with NUGGET breaking best, immediately searching for cover, ELIYASS and DUKE DE SESSA pressing, ROYAL CHAMPION and DENY KNOWLEDGE working over from outside draws. The race was set up for something to come over the top, and of course, that is what happened.

 

SUMMARY

VIA SISTINA was $1.01 on her last start romp, recording the biggest figure I have in my database: 119.7. She was always coming back off that figure, but even taking the middle through her performances in Australia, you could confidently expect a 107+, which had her winning by a margin. She was again electric, accelerating from a little below standard early, to 5.3L+ and then holding that through the final section.

WITHOUT A FIGHT returned very well, recording the biggest acceleration figure, but did tail through the final section, pointing to conditioning due to the way the race was run.

ATISHU ran to her best and I am happy to maintain she is a better miler. FUTURE HISTORY boxed on well, even sort of run, this level might just be a bit beyond him.

 

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All ratings and figures are derived from in house Racing Intel ©️ database, built on premiere racing software “Rapro”, using verified times supplied by Daily Sectionals.