The Good
Given a hair-raising ride by Sam Clipperton, Scorching Legend was the most spectacular of Bon Ho’s four Legend successes last week. Rarely does a winner come from so far behind to take a 1250 metre Canterbury event, albeit a maiden, as he did on Friday night.
Scorching Legend, being developed by Les Bridge, 87, who was keeps around 15 horses under his canny eye, was 16 lengths off the lead at the 600 metres, still last, and zig zagging to the outside 200 metres out, yet able get up in the last bound.
Had the Two Darn Hot gelding missed Clipperton would have been grilled by stewards over the tactics. After all Scorching Legend jumped well and was taken back. Bridge rated the effort with an Athol Mulley special. Mulley, a saddle great, was noted for his saddle patience. While seemingly negative Clipperton was in control. Remarkably he currently plies his trade more provincial than metropolitan confirming the strength of the rider ranks.
Buoyed by Classique Legend and Celestial Legend, Bridge, is Ho’s most successful trainer to date and, with Quartz Legend at Kembla Grange on Saturday, completed a low key double while the owner had a double on the program with Energetic Legend (Maiden), trained by the Hawkes conglomerate. Chris Waller completed a good day for Ho with Dazzle Legend (Lauren Parker) at Newcastle.
While the Saturday majors at Newcastle and Caulfield basically went to the well healed, Newcastle, always more bread and dripping than champagne and caviar, showed there is still a place for the battlers. Peter Nestor’s Blue Guitar ($50) took the Highway and Scott Asprey, with only three horses in his string, conquered with Uzziah, a $5,000 purchase, in the Ausure Insurance.
After the race Aspery cracked it for tears – emotion and pain. Earlier in the day he had been kicked by another horse and had a fractured arm, ending in hospital on Saturday night.
Perhaps Blue Guitar was long odds but Nestor, from Dubbo, has taste for looting bookmakers. Recently he pulled off a long-price plunge with Sneak Preview at Dubbo on September 29. Sneak Preview started at $71 but there wasn’t a bookmaker on the course that didn’t lose on the race. The memory still haunts David Baxter, the leviathan fielder from Wellington.
Asprey continued the trend of Newcastle, or Broadmeadow as it was once titled, producing top trainers as well as the local newspapers racing involvement. The Newcastle Herald, home base for outstanding scribes including Val Harland, Sam North, Terry Radley and the last in a fulltime racing position Geoff Wilson, sponsored The Hunter. And the Max Lees Classic for two-year-olds was a reminder of one of the greats.
The Bad
Lees trained the champion two-year-old Luskin Star about whom Val Harland, on the Newcastle Sun, the afternoon stablemate of the Newcastle Herald, declared as the best horse he had seen – on track gallops before he raced. So last week was GOOD with Newcastle but Caulfield came up BAD despite a stronger program.
Aeliana, ridden by James McDonald, should have won the Group one Caulfield Guineas but was downed by under a half-length. Usually under these circumstances the jockey is the fall guy. But JMac has no qualms about owning up to a bad ride and stressed Aeliana fell afoul of the Caulfield hoodoo and should get the benefit of any doubt. Many Sydney horses just don’t handle the Caulfield turn although it was been upgraded and modified since it took the spark out of the champ, Kingston Town, the longtime example of its negativity for Sydneysiders.
However Jimmysstar, the $3.2 strong fancy in the Rupert Clarke Stakes, is a Caulfield specialist and ended up tenth under Damian Lane with the one gate later divulged as the problem. The gelding was held up for clear running in the straight and went to the line “under a canter”, according to the jockey. Wise guys predicted he would need “luck” from the barrier draw. Lane had 1400 metres to find it and didn’t. Bad ride or circumstances beyond his control? You be the judge.
The Ugly
Does it get any UGLIER than Mike Tyson, 58, being hammered by Jake Paul. The sweet science turned sour and had no comparison to what intrigued me going back to the Sydney Stadium era at Rushcutters Bay or TV Ringside.
Flashbacks to Jimmy Curruthers, Lional Rose, George Barnes, and John Famechon. Later Geoff Fenech in Bill Mordey promotions. Pierce Egan coined with science implication in 1813 which AJ. Liebling restated in the 1940’s, stimulated by, amongst others, Sugar Ray Robinson. Brutal yes, but there was appeal about a couple of classy middleweights. Consider viewing TV Ringside’s Kahu Mahanga and Tony Mundine now replaying on You Tube if there are any doubts.
But only embarrassment highlighted Tyson, gruesome but hardly a legend, being wupped and 80,000 in Las Vegas paid to see it live. Obviously there could be a future in cock fighting and bear baiting.
