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Leopardstown staged the first day of Irish Champions Weekend on Saturday and despite a cloudy afternoon, the ground had been upgraded slightly to Good. Two Group 1 races dominated the card - the first was the Matron over 1600m for the fillies and mares. This looked an intriguing clash between the Irish 1000 Guineas winner FALLEN ANGEL, returning after a 111 day break and PORTA FORTUNA, who, in her absence had gone on from finishing second in the English 1000 Guineas to convincing wins in both the Coronation and the Falmouth. PORTA FORTUNA heads to America and a run at the Breeders Cup after winning a third Group 1 in the fillies and mares division. I'm not sure Tom Marquand wanted to be wide on the home turn as he was but she was just too strong quickening ahead from 300m down to win well by a length from FALLEN ANGEL, who will probably go to the Queen Elizabeth II at Ascot on the back of this very encouraging return.  SOPRANO ran a career best in third for a filly who has moved all the way through from handicaps. YLANG YLANG ran like a filly who wants a bit further and I expect 2000m will be her next stop (perhaps at the Opera at Longchamp).  The winner is American-owned and I'm sure there will be plenty of American breeders hoping to use her but her status as champion filly miler was confirmed by this dominant display. The feature of the first day of Champions Weekend was the Irish Champion Stakes over 2000m. A small but quality field was headed by Dante winner ECONOMICS who remains a colt of potential rather than proven ability unlike AUGUSTE RODIN who is, after all, a Derby winner. GHOSTWRITER had shown strong form in defeat in Group 1 races such as the Eclipse and the Juddmonte while LUXEMBOURG brought experience and the Japanese contender, SHIN WARRIOR, brought the potential of an Arc performer.  A tremendous race and as thrilling finish as ECONOMICS had to dig really deep to hold the late challenge of AUGUSTE RODIN. The winner looked a superstar when winning the Dante at York In May and is now delivering on that promise. He may well go to Ascot for the British version but presumably they won't risk him on really soft or heavy turf. AUGUSTE RODIN won this last year and probably ran close to that mark - Ryan Moore probably didn't want to get into a battle with Tom Marquand on the winner but the truth was AUGUSTE RODIn was outbattled in the final 150m. He lost very little in defeat in all fairness and time may tell he ran into a very good one. SHIN WARRIOR did his Arc prospects no harm at all with a running on third and if they can get decent ground in Paris in three weeks he'll have a real chance of bringing home the sushi at long last. He edged out LOS ANGELES who finished fourth having been outpaced when the pace quickened but ran home very strongly and it may be this time next year LOS ANGELES will be the one challenging for the lead. GHOSTWRITER was prominent into the straight but couldn't live with the closers and in the end finished fifth but this was still a decent effort to be only two lengths behind the winner. They ran 2 minutes 3.2 seconds for the 2000m (two seconds below standard) and I suspect they started slowly and quickened all the way through to the line which shows just how well the first and second ran in a race whose pace probably didn't suit either of them. A great afternoon for Tom Marquand winning both Group 1 races and establishing himself in the top rank of international jockeys. On the undercard, the Group 2 Champions Juvenile over 1600m only had four runners but three looked closely matched. Ballydoyle ran DELACROIX (Ryan Moore) and BERNARD SHAW (Declan McDonagh) against Jessie Harrington’s GREEN IMPACT who had beaten DELACROIX on his second outing (and DELACROIX’s debut). Slightly against the run of play, GREEN IMPACT confirmed places seeing off both the Ballydoyle runners. BERNARD SHAW made the pace but Ryan Moore was always pushing and shoving on DELACROIX who just couldn’t go the gallop. Shane Foley went for home on GREEN IMPACT with 300m to go and hard though Ryan tried, while he got past his stable mate, he couldn’t land a glove on GREEN IMPACT who won cosily. The Group 2 Solonaway over 1600m looked on paper a match between the William Haggas-trained MALJOOM coming back from 2000m and the Aidan O’Brien-trained DIEGO VELAZQUEZ who looked rejuvenated back at 1600m in the Meld after no getting home over 2400m. In the end, this was textbook by Ryan Moore keeping DIEGO VELAZQUEZ close to the pace and quickening off the home turn to win well. Tom Marquand sat lost on MALJOOM after missing the start and you can’t make up that kind of ground on a tight track like Leopardstown and, strongly though he finished, he was only sixth and I can only think a stiffer 1600m would suit. The winner is decent at this level. POKER FACE finished a respectable fourth for the Crisfords while FLIGHT PLAN, having set the gallop, faded in the final 250m as often happens to pace setters up the final incline.

He's in a 1400m Listed which on paper looks quite a warm race. He's off 110 but isn't top rated as NOSTRUM runs off 113. It's two years (nearly) since NOSTRUM was third in the Dewhurst and obviously if he reproduced that he'd be past the post. He has had wind surgery since running second in the Criterion at Newmarket in July and the question is whether the surgery will help him re-discover his best form. ENGLISH OAK has been beaten in the Lennox and the Hungerford (1400m Group 2 races) and the drop in grade should help though this is really a Group 3 race in all but name. WITCH HUNTER is an old favourite in these races and always finishes well from off the pace. He was just behind NOSTRUM at Newmarket and in front of ENGLISH OAK at Newbury - he would be my each way play in this. On Saturday, ten go in the Group 2 Mill Reef over 1200m. The Gimcrack second and third, SHADOW OF LIGHT and SYMBOL OF DESTINY, re-oppose. The latter has won a Group 3 at Kempton since but I still think the former will hold the form. POWERFUL GLORY could be anything while BRIAN was only three quarters of a length behind SYMBOL OF DESTINY at Kempton and this track suits. My idea of the winner is SHADOW OF LIGHT but BRIAN could be the each way play.

Fatalities were quoted in deaths per thousand but, no I didnt record them. From memory Cambridge performed better than other NZ synthetic tracks and they were looking in to why. They also said NZ compared favourably with overseas jurisdictions.  You could perhaps request actual statistics from NZTR.

I'm taking the evens

Wow $888.88 on J Dunn. No prize for guessing who bet that!

Sand at the beach gets firmer as it gets wetter. Is a sand-based track the same? (I'm talking out my arse here and giving as much benefit of the doubt as I possibly can.)

Kah was suspended for three weeks after being found guilty by the tribunal of not taking a gap on her mount, Let’sfacethemusic, to improve her position in the McNeil Stakes on Saturday, August 31.   Jockey Jamie Kah appearing at the Victorian Racing Tribunal.© Jason South The penalty will start on grand final night, September 28, meaning Kah will miss the Turnbull Stakes, the Caulfield Guineas and the Caulfield Cup. But she will be allowed back more than two weeks before the Melbourne Cup as she attempts to become the second woman after Michelle Payne to win the race.

Found Guilty - here is a story on the result:  Melbourne Cup ride in jeopardy as star jockey found guilty (msn.com)  

Yip we were releasing it after mot to not take anything away from their meeting here we go. 6th October our cup meeting,  600 dollars punting , usual 60 bucks min per race unfortunately still.no fixed odds , 10 races count first $3000 entain deposit and entry into Addington challenge on show day , second Addington entry ,,not 100% on other prizes I'd like prize for turnover . Catering vouchers for up to 4 people and beverages per entry at no charge.

1. Caulfield R1          5. 8, 14 2. Caulfield R6          6, 8, 11 3. Caulfield R7          1, 3, 9 4. Caulfield R8          2, 3, 8 5. Caulfield R9          1, 2, 10 6. Randwick R4        14, 16, 17 7. Randwick R5        6, 11, 14 8. Randwick R6        4, 12, 14 9. Randwick R7        1, 2, 6 BB 10. Randwick R8      3, 6, 7 BB Hi John as we are away visiting family for the weekend, any scratchings will just have to go with the "rules" Last week, trying to pick losers, I actually managed to pick 5 winners. This week with  2 races less but one more choice in each race, mathematically speaking I should be able to pick 7 or 8 winners! But of course I will need a Trifecta or two plus a number of Quinella's to be any chance of winning. Let's see what happens  😂 Thanks as always to you and Scooby.

Search me. No idea.

Seems strange to me Tuesday moisture content was 23.1% and it was a soft 5, but now its got more moisture 24.8% and it is a Good 4????   Thursday Afternoon Weather: Cloudy Track: Good 4 Moisture Meter: 24.8% Rail: True Rainfall: 7.5mm Rain Last 24 Hours Irrigation: 10mm Being Applied Tonight Weather and Track updated at 3.37pm Thursday 19 September   Withdrawal Morning Weather: Showery Track: Soft 5 Moisture Meter: 25.2% Rail: True Rainfall: 7.5mm Rain Last 24hrs Irrigation: Nil Weather and Track updated at 8.29am Wednesday 18 September   Nomination Morning Weather: Showery Track: Soft 5 Moisture Meter: 23.1% Rail: True Rainfall: 9mm Rain Last 24hrs Irrigation: Nil Weather and Track updated at 8.40am Tuesday 17 September

Thursday Afternoon Weather: Cloudy Track: Good 4 Moisture Meter: 24.8% Rail: True Rainfall: 7.5mm Rain Last 24 Hours Irrigation: 10mm Being Applied Tonight Weather and Track updated at 3.37pm Thursday 19 September  

1. Caulfield R1            8-11-14 2. Caulfield R6            1-7-11 3. Caulfield R7            1-9-15      BB 4. Caulfield R8            6-7-11 5. Caulfield R9            2-5-12 6. Randwick R4          6-10-12 7. Randwick R5          6-11-16 8. Randwick R6          1-2-14 9. Randwick R7          4-5-6      BB 10. Randwick R8        2-3-6 Already I'm many lengths from the lead ! Needing a Trifecta or five here. 🙂 Thanks for this comp, John & Scooby.

Will Entain be running odds on who is first to get caught. Hot joint fanvs J. Morrison Dunn....1/5 M Williamson........evens     B.Orange...10/1 B Barclay 20/1 😆 🤣 😂         

Neil, you refer to 200m sectionals from the start of the race. What is your source for these? are you timing them yourself?

Careful now. They just spent a lot of money investigating that sought of thing but came up short. Don't think the one under investigation would want to go through that again!  

Nigel can you give us some info regarding this please. Looked at the Methven Trotting Club website which looks very sad and out dated. There was an interview on it with runners in the 2020 Methven Cup featuring interviews with a couple of scumbags  

Maybe they will sort out the results the day before at home 😄

Somebody else might have the cats and the dogs, but Trump is toast. Pets on toast anyone?