Platinum Racing

THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT OUTSTANDING racehorses that remind me constantly that I am not really Member's Stand material. That was again driven home to me yesterday as wonderful racemare Hot Danish lugged 61kgs and me to victory in the Gr 3 Research Stakes (1200 metres) at Rosehill.

I never held it together very well in the Kingstown Town days, I remember vividly spending the last 200 metres of the Goerge Main Stakes at Randwick on my feet punching the air attached to an elderly man in a green uniform and pith helmet trying to seat me and teach me some member's stand etiquette.

Similarly I remember not ever having met before or since, the bloke I was hugging and jumping up and down with at Moonee Valley when Manikato won the Moir Stakes just 40 minutes after "The King" had won his third Cox Plate. It was for me the day from heaven and I was almost hyperventilating.

I thought I had perhaps slowed down with age, or perhaps I have seen that many races on SKY Channel now I have become pretty de-sensitised to the excitement that outstanding racehorses engender in me. Besides in my office at home there is not much atmosphere and the dogs just scatter and give me a filthy look if I occasionally relapse.

But yesterday the big crowd and this bonny mare got to me. When she surged past the leaders at the 200 metres the public kicked the football and rose as one to cheer her home. But the "punting Mexican wave" halted at the boundary of the Members. But showing all the verve of old and some vigour that I am sure was in contravention of the modern whip rules, I lost it, straight to my feet to make sure she still had some vocal support over the final 50 metres.

Most of those giving me the "once up and down" would have thought I was even loopier if they knew I did not have a bet in the race! They probably thought I had my last, and then some, on her. They best not be sitting next to me in the Hill Stand when she wins the Gr 1 Myer Classic on Derby Day!

BRITISH FILLY DAR RE MI won her third Gr 1 race in succession when she overpowered the favourite Stacelita to take the Prix Vermeille over a mile and a half at Longchamp today for trainer John Gosden and jockey Jimmy Fortune.

The filly has now been elevated to 10/1 for the Arc, to try and become the second successive three year old filly to win the French weight for age classic after the freak filly Zarkava last year.

Before today, Stacelita had won five races in succession and with Christophe Lemaire aboard was expected to be too good for her rivals. However, after having every chance sitting behind her pacemaking stablemate Volver, she dashed clear before being collared by Dar Re Mi 100 metres out who finished too powerfully.

IT WAS A RED LETTER DAY FOR GODOLPHIN at Doncaster yesterday when they led in the quinella in the final British Classic of the season - the Gr 1 St Leger. It has been a long wait for the juggernaut's first European Gr 1 of the season and an even longer wait for another classic victory but it was not without some element of surprise.

The stable sent out two runners, Kit Wood, the heavily backed 6/4 favourite with stable jockey Frankie Dettori aboard. Dettori was chasing his sixth win in the classic. Mastery, the Italian Derby winner, by far the lesser fancied of the two runners was ridden by Ted Durcan. Durcan drove Mastery to the lead in the final stretch and in a surprise to most punters he fought on too well to defeat Kit Wood narrowly.

Godolphin has had 40 Gr 1 winners worldwide since their last British classic success. The last of their previous four St Leger winners was Rule Of Law who won for Aussie jockey Kerrin McEvoy in 2004.

Trainer Saeed Bin Suroor said he was not surprised at Mastery's win. 

YEATS TURNED IN A DISMAL PERFORMANCE when last in the the Gr 1 Irish St Leger at The Curragh yesterday.  The race was won by the Aga Khan-owned and John Oxx-trained Alandi (3/1). Alandi was ridden by Mick Kinane to give the legendary Irish veteran hoop his sixth Gr 1 of the season, four coming courtesy of wondercolt Sea The Stars.

In a driving finish Alandi held on to win narrowly from Clowance, ridden by Kevin Manning, with Godolphin's runner Schiaparelli, ridden by Olivier Peslier a close third. Jockey Seamie Heffernan said Yeats did not handle the firm ground and would not let down in it. Aiden O'Brien who was at Doncaster said the horse "is capable of that" and said he would see how he pulled up before considering taking him to Longchamp on Arc day.

AS PREDICTED IN MY COLUMN LAST WEEK champion Hong Kong apprentice Matthew Chadwick took up exactly where he left off last season with a winning treble, all for his master Tony Cruz, on the opening day of the Hong Kong season at Shatin today. This kid is just a freak apprentice and is certainly the best apprentice Asia has ever produced, that I have seen.

Horses just travel so sweetly for him and he has got one thing going for him that a lot of senior jockeys don't. He is not frightened to take it up on horses if they want to snag and pull horses' heads off. Matthew is not afraid to back the clock in his head and again today that fearless attitude to taking horses to the front came to the fore when two of his winners, All Time High and Terrific Bretheren, led throughout to score.

He and Cruz were the undoubted star of the show today but John Moore also trained a winning treble and his stable jockey Darren Beadman rode two of them with apprentice Derek Leung riding one.

South African-cum Aussie, Jeff Lloyd rode the winner of the feature race when he scored on Nightline in the Chief Executive's Cup. In a driving finish, the Almond Lee-trained galloper prevailed narrowly over Tuscan Spirit (Doug Whyte) and Medic Power (Matt Chadwick).

SHANE DYE clocked up another winner at Champs Del Mar in Mauritius yesterday when he landed Firebolt a winner. The win of the Gilbert Rousset-trained galloper was Dye's 24th for the season - and he is equal leader in the jockey's prem,iership with G.Faucon.

The "master of trhe universe" has an amazing strike rate as he has only 115 rides to clock up the 24 winners - an average of 20.4%. Aussie jockey Matty Cahill also rode a winner at the meeting on Prairie Fire.

SINGAPORE CAN BE VERY VERY PROUD of the effort of Jolie's Shinju in yesterday's Dato Tan Chin Nam (1600m) at Moonee Valley. Perhaps she was a bit underdone and for that reason jockey Ronnie Stewart did not set the fast clip many expected. But she raced exceptionally well to finish third to two top class gallopers in Whobegotyou and Mic Mac.

She will more than pay her way in Melbourne on that performance. There is little doubt that Jolie's Shinju and Rocket Man are two talented gallopers with the capability of taking Singaporean racing to the world. Rocket Man is among the best three or four turf sprinters in the world and Jolie's Shinju is capable of winning at Gr 1 level internationally, particularly in mares company.

THE ANNUAL GULARGAMBONE Cup meeting was held yesterday in the tiny Central Western NSW hamlet between Dubbo and Coonamble. The main race was taken out by Local Bred with Coonamble apprentice Kacie Chater on board. In fact the girls rode four of the six winners, with Melissa Brown landing a double and Tracey O'Hara also returning to the winner's list after a lengthy injury lay off.

Orange apprentice James Geppert was the only male jockey to strike a blow, riding a double on the card.

JERILDERIE ALSO HELD ITS CUP meeting in south-western NSW yesterday and Wagga galloper Dusty's Shadow, trained by Wayne Carroll and ridden by Brad Clark, took out the feature. It capped a big day for the Clark family as Brad's younger brother Tim had earlier ridden a winning double at Rosehill.

Cowra jockey Mick Travers took the riding honours at the meeing winning on Alpha Proxima for Jerilderie trainer Ross Purcell and Ragpicker's Dream for Tatura (Vic) trainer Gary Sherer.

FRIDAY'S BALLINA CUP WAS a real home town affair with local trainer Kevin Nipperess taking oput the race with All Our Way, ridden by his long time friend Neil Paine.

Neil has travelled much of northern NSW and South East Queensland to ride for Nipperess over a long period of time. They both would have got a real kick out of landing the north coast resort town's feature race.

GEE READY TO LIFT IS A terrific staying mare. Her win in the Kingstown Town (Gr 3 2000m) at Rosehill yesterday with the topweight of 57kgs was a ripper. The race was run at a frantic pace and the daughter of Belong To Me was off the bit as long way from home and was being very hard ridden by Glynn Schofield coming to the turn.

But she was very brave and dug deep to cut down the favourite Voice coach close home. Absent Friends had little luck in the race as he was coming home hard between horses when Voice Coach veered out suddenly forcing Nathan Berry to stop him dead in his tracks in the last 100 metres.

He may not have won but he would have certainly finished third and a damned side closer.

RACING TO WIN CAPPED THE FAIRYALE day for the cheapies at Rosehill yesterday as he took his prizemoney to near $5m and added another Gr 2 Theo Marks to his owners' Trevor Stuckey and Penny Yan's mantlepeices. The 40K purchase has been a nob racehorse and yesterday he showed that he has not lost any of his zest for racing as a seven-year-old.

Ridden a gun race by Hughie Bowman the grey charged between horses at the 200 metres from well back to win running away from Rock Kingdom and the ever disappointing Triple Honour.

He and Hot Danish, the stars of the day, were both very cheap racehorses.

MY MATE DARREN BARR had a great day out yesterday when his old horse Emooki Street cracked it for a win at the Victorian provincial meeting at Cranbourne.

Darren won a race recently at Ballarat with Jedephrae so his trainer Darry Cannon has got the horses racing well.