Bit of a dig, but since I'm bored I just thought I'd ramble on about an awesome day of racing. No one needs to bother reading it.
Today was one of the best days of racing seen in New Zealand in the last decade. Labelled 'Super Sunday', the day at Auckland's Ellerslie Racecourse had no fewer than six feature races. With the weather finally co-operating after a less than ideal start to the carnival, international jockeys such as Alan Munro, Scott Seamer and Craig Williams taking part, a perfect track and a big crowd, it was close to perfect even before the first horse set foot on the hallowed turf.
The first race seemed a bit ominous for the favourites as talented hot favourite Temple Hills went down by a neck to a 17-1 shot in Primavera. As it turned out, upsets weren't to be a pattern of the day but the close margins were.
In the first of the day's stakes races, the Eclipse Stakes for two year olds, million dollar Danehill colt Don Garcia went out hot favourite. The 2005 sale-topper won his first two starts in the Central Districts impressively but failed at his third start, with a slight back injury used as an excuse. This was to be his toughest test to date. He loomed up at the 300m outside leader Jesterchine and looked a certain winner. But he just didn't accelerate, finishing sixth seemingly without an excuse as the obviously talented filly Chant recorded her second stakes win.
Boxing Day's Eight Carat Classic for three year old fillies was an amazing race between two top-class horses in Shikoba and Pulcinella, with Shikoba narrowly prevailing on that occasion. Today's Royal Stakes, at 2000m four hundred metres longer than the Eight Carat, was the rematch between two horses so obviously a class above the rest. But again, Pulcinella ran into a filly just slightly better as Shikoba made it 2-0 in their head-to-head clashes.
The City of Auckland Cup was the time for a talented but unproven gelding to rise to stardom.
Zarius. Remember the name. By Zabeel out of a Sadler's Wells mare, the four year old had the breeding. And today, after missing the start badly, he produced an incredible finishing burst to come from last at the 500m to win comfortably, his fifth win in nine starts. Looks the one to beat in the Auckland Cup in March, and the owner has Melbourne Cup aspirations.
New Zealand's premier sprint race, the Railway Handicap, for surely one of the first times ever started with the horse drawn the outside at the difficult Ellerslie 1200m as the favourite. But Baldessarini is just so far ahead of the rest of our sprinters at the moment the result never seemed in doubt, despite the fact that he raced three wide throughout and in the end only won by the smallest of margins. The win was Lisa Cropp's second major win of the day, as she also rode Zarius.
Cog Hill has always been one of New Zealand's most talented gallopers, but he had shown a habit of letting one horse past in the final stages, having recorded 12 second placings in his 21 starts before today's Rich Hill Mile, a race that drew an absolutely top quality field. But with a slight change to his racing gear preventing him from seeing opponents that he would allow to pass, Cog Hill has turned the corner with a big win in the Coupland's Mile at Riccarton and again today, overcoming some bad luck in one of the most impressive performances of what was a superb day of racing action.
Well that was a bit long-winded. Yes, I do hope to be a racing journalist.