Pegasus 9

James should have kept that up his sleeve. But eagle eye observers had probably noticed anyway.

The suspension, which still involves a 2 meeting penalty, will now commence on Tuesday 2 April 2024 and expire on Friday 5 April 2024, on which day he can resume riding.

As you will see I did put my hand up and correct my error so don't be on stand by mate , I make plenty of errors and often not slight , so just let me know in a seemly time frame and in lower case and I will correct myself .

She wants a bit of give in the ground too for The Oaks.

And it'll be an easier ride for the jockey if they can teach the horse that Flemington is a left handed track. He seemed to think he was still at Ellerslie until the last couple of hundred metres 🤣

That’s exactly why I would love to see him do it, come the first Tuesday in November. 
Oh what a ride they are on. 

Would be great to see, obviously very patient owners and want to play the Long. game so to speak, a lot of water under the bridge before the cup, hopefully he stays sound in mean time, but imagine that if he was to win, bred owned and trained in nz, been along time between drinks.

Thought this was interesting:
“She was all out and I remembered that in New Zealand when I rode her when I changed the whip over, she took off,” McDonald said. “She did it again today.

I think I might need a bit more work than just re shod

Racing.Com

Impressive for sure. Reminded me of Kiwi. 

A very good win today by Orchestral and James.  Congrats. I would love to know what was said by JMac to Nash on the line. 

I would also like to thank Scooby and Say No More for a great comp. Congrats to all winners and all the teams and thank you to my team. I seemed to struggle a bit so I may need to be re shod for the plate comp. But it’s all good fun. 

Exactly what I was thinking.. looking at his stride/action over the last 50 metres or so was identical.  check it out.

An even better win by Mark Twain at Flemington. Not many stayers have a turn of foot like that. 

You can find out here: https://www.racenet.com.au/news/orchestral-wins-2024-group-1-vinery-stud-stakes-at-rosehill-20240328?fbclid=IwAR1HSBqeiRfTqtsCXVJ73ZFsFzQv

Impressive last-start Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) winner Pulchritudinous will continue her racing career in Australia following her sale this week.
The Chad Ormsby-trained filly has been the subject of interest from prospective buyers from around the globe, care of her commanding Oaks victory, which came just eight days after a strong win in the Gr.2 Lowland Stakes (2000m).
The daughter of Wrote will join the stable of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott after a deal was brokered by bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo in conjunction with the Waterhouse-Bott team.
The winner of three of her seven starts, the staying-bred three-year-old flagged her ability last spring when winning a 1400m maiden at Tauranga, but has taken giant strides more latterly as one of the elite members of the three-year-old crop.
With the Lowland Stakes postponed and relocated to Taupo this year due to the abandonment of the Hastings meeting on which the fillies feature was originally carded, plans for Pulchritudinous to join the Waterhouse-Bott stable sooner were thwarted.
“She’s a filly that we have been following closely based on Rob’s (Waterhouse) form,” Bott said.
“Rob has helped us buy a lot of horses out of New Zealand in the tried-horse space, which have been very good to the stable over a long period of time. This is a filly that Rob identified pretty early. We actually tried to buy her after the Lowland, but the (short) time-frame (to the Oaks) didn’t allow vetting in time.
“From Rob’s data standpoint, it was no surprise to see her come out and win the Oaks and we were lucky we had great support on the filly and were able to secure her for the stable.”
Waterhouse and Bott are keen to assess the filly when she arrives next week, but given the close proximity to the Gr.1 Australian Oaks (2400m) following a sale-pending few weeks, other three-year-old targets are more likely.
“She will arrive over here on Monday and we will keep going with her this preparation,” Bott said.
“With the timing of the Australian Oaks it might be a bit of a tight turnaround.
“At this stage we are looking at all of the Group One targets for three-year-olds in that middle distance range. The Australasian Oaks (Gr.1, 2000m) and the South Australian Derby (Gr.1, 2500m) are now worth $1 million each and then there is the Queensland Oaks (Gr.1, 2200m) and Queensland Derby (Gr.1, 2400m) as well.”
Bott said the eyes and ears of respected bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo were a significant assist and they were buoyed by his positive feedback.
“I was at Tauranga the day that she won (in October) and I thought she was most impressive that day,” Cataldo said.
“She presented as a great type. I thought she was a real classic style of filly. She came onto the radar that day and I had been watching her ever since and tried to buy her straight after the Lowland.
“Hence I thought we were always at the front of the queue and I’m delighted she will be joining Gai and Adrian. She’s a stunning filly with plenty of upside.”
Pulchritudinous was the first Group One winner for Chad Ormsby, who only trains a small team and is most-noted as a trader of horses under his Riverrock Farm banner.
Ormsby purchased the daughter of Wrote out of Milan Park’s 2022 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 2 Yearling Sale draft for $32,500 as a pinhook prospect for the Ready To Run Sale later that year, however, she failed to meet her $50,000 reserve.
Ormsby backed his judgement in the filly, who he always envisaged would be a middle-distance type, and brought in partners including Chris Grace, Jason Walker and his mother-in-law Jane and her partner Darren Roach to race the filly.
“It is bitter-sweet to sell her, but that’s the business we’re in,” Ormsby said. “As much as it didn’t feel quite right to sell her, it is the right thing at this stage of our career and pathway we are taking. We move on to the next one hopefully.
“I’m delighted for our owners as they all jumped on board with the hope to sell her at some point and the fact that we did get a Group One out of her sealed the deal and we were able to enjoy that along the way. It’s a case of having the cake and eating it too.”
The hands-on horseman said the New Zealand Oaks would long hold fond memories, with his young family on-course to witness the Group One triumph. Additionally the fact he selected Pulchritudinous as a yearling and was able to take her through to being a Group One winner was particularly special.
Ormsby wished the new connections well and believes there is plenty of upside.
“She has hit a rich vein of form and with fillies when they hit that form they can be very hard to beat,” he said. “I feel like with time there is a lot more in store for her and from what I feel even in this last week, she is a filly I think will mature into a Group One winner over a mile.” 

Also, hope Michael Dee is in the saddle on the first Tuesday in November!!  Mark Twain hopefully get a nice lightweight in the Cup, and Michael Dee is naturally a lightweight rider!!

In a word WOW .. hope he stays sound for the first week in November. Congrats to James and Wellwood team .. brilliant day

A very good win today by Orchestral and James.  Congrats. I would love to know what was said by JMac to Nash on the line. 

Great to hear that Prowess may be making a surprise comeback. Recovered brilliantly from her laminitis apparently.

I would also like to thank Scooby and Say No More for a great comp. Congrats to all winners and all the teams and thank you to my team. I seemed to struggle a bit so I may need to be re shod for the plate comp. But it’s all good fun. 

I want to thank my McGinty team mates for a fantastic run in the comp , thanks to Pogo and Little Tramp for pulling out some highlight results and to Memphis for regularly supporting my average results .
This has been a fantastic comp to be part of and I'm sure everyone is looking forward to the next few weeks .
A big shout out to SNM ( John ) for his fantastic efforts updating every race promptly every week , you're a Legend .
I like many hope this sort of comp will be something that happens again in the future .

Thanks everyone for the support of our comps...thanks team mates sorry we miss the big dance but more fun to come....congrats to our opponents today and thanks over the many weeks to SNM your help is really appreciated more than you know...these comps are undoubtedly the best available...congrats to all the finalists.