Last year’s Melbourne Cup (Aus-G1) winner Protectionist (Monsun) makes his
first start since that victory and his first for local trainer Kris Lees in
Saturday’s Peter Young S. (Aus-G2) at Caulfield.
The 1800-meter event will serve as a gauge as to whether the five-year-old
import will contest the Australian Cup (Aus-G1) over 2000 meters in two weeks’
time; Lees noted Protectionist will advance to that prestigious contest if he
displays enough speed to be competitive over shorter distances.
“He’s in unfamiliar ground in an 1800-meter race,” Lees told Racing and
Sports. “I just want to see him hit the line to give us a bit of a guide as to
where we’re going this preparation.”
Protectionist will face a competitive field that includes Group 1 winners
Happy Trails (Good Journey) and Sonntag (Teofilo).
Elsewhere on the banner card at Caulfield, star sprinter-miler Dissident
(Sebring) is the clear standout in the Futurity S. (Aus-G1) going 1400 meters,
and the four-year-old looks to record his second straight — and fifth overall
— win at the highest level after taking the C.F. Orr S. (Aus-G1) over this
track and trip two weeks ago.
Dissident won another Group 1 over this course and distance in the Memsie S.
(Aus-G1) in August, after which he added the Makybe Diva S. (Aus-G1) over a
furlong further at Flemington. Dissident was second in the Sir Rupert Clarke
(Aus-G1) back over this track and trip Sept. 28, and after finishing sixth in
the Caulfield S. (Aus-G1) over 2000 meters October 11, was put away for the
season. Now owned by a syndicate including Newgate Farm and the China Horse
Club, Dissident was third first-up in the Australia S. (Aus-G2) prior to his Orr
score.
Entirely Platinum (Pentire) finished second in the Orr first-up and should be
fitter for this run. He is three-for-four at second asking. Bull Point (Fastnet
Rock) has been a quirky performer, but at his best can hit the board against
these. He searches for his first win since taking the Manfred S. (Aus-G3) over
this course last February, and was an encouraging fifth first-up in the Southern
Cross S. (Aus-G3) at Randwick two weeks ago. The five-year-old mare Driefontein
(Fastnet Rock) rarely puts in a poor performance. After finishing fourth in the
Magic Millions Cup January 10, she has been second in the Expressway S. (Aus-G2)
January 31 and the Southern Cross two weeks ago.
Godolphin’s Earthquake (Exceed and Excel) enjoyed her finest moment on this
card a year ago when taking the Blue Diamond S. (Aus-G1), and she will look to
extend her unbeaten record at Caulfield in the Oakleigh Plate (Aus-G1).
Earthquake went unbeaten through her first four starts last year, including
the Blue Diamond Prelude (Aus-G3) for fillies here, the Blue Diamond and
Rosehill’s Reisling S. (Aus-G2), and she was second in the Golden Slipper
(Aus-G1). She notched a pair of thirds in Group 2 company in Sydney to kick off
her three-year-old campaign, and won the Thoroughbred Club S. (Aus-G3) when
returning to Caulfield October 11. She was eighth in the Coolmore Stud S.
(Aus-G1) against males to wrap up her spring campaign, and has won a pair of
Canterbury trials in the lead-up to this, and also enjoys a light impost.
Vain Queen (Artie Schiller) was a smart winner of the Mumm S. (Aus-G3) at
Flemington when last seen November 6. Her connections considered a first-up run
in the Lightning S. (Aus-G1) last weekend, meaning she must be in good form, and
she races well fresh.
Flamberge (Exceed and Excel) pushed Chautauqua (Encosta de Lago), one of the
top-rated sprinters in the country, to a short neck when second in the Rubiton
S. (Aus-G2) first-up here two weeks ago. He will need a little luck, however, to
overcome a wide barrier and one of the heavier weight assignments. Fast N’
Rocking (Fastnet Rock) has been consistent since being gelded after his
three-year-old campaign, finishing out of the top three just once in five starts
during the spring, including a win in the Kevin Heffernan S. (Aus-G3) November
15. The four-year-old warmed up with a third to It Is Written (Written Tycoon)
in the listed Abell S. February 6. Shamal Wind (Dubawi) is another who rarely
puts in a bad run, and she won the listed W.J. Adams S. January 26.
At Warwick Farm on Saturday, trainer Chris Waller saddles eight runners —
more than half the field — in the Chipping Norton S. (Aus-G1), and as is always
the case with Sydney’s champion trainer, he has more than a few live chances.
He’s Your Man (Cape Cross) hit his best stride in October, taking the Epsom
H. (Aus-G1) over this mile distance before finishing a narrow second in the
Mackinnon S. (Aus-G1) at the Melbourne Cup Carnival. He resumed with a strong
first-up sixth in the too-short 1400 meter Apollo S. (Aus-G2) at Randwick
February 14, which has produced eight of the runners here.
Another live Waller shot is Weary (Astronomer Royal), who made an immediate
impact upon arriving from Europe a year ago. He won the Doncaster Prelude
(Aus-G3) back in the Australian autumn and was placed in both the Doncaster Mile
(Aus-G1) and All Aged S. (Aus-G1). Weary proved rather disappointing in three
starts during the spring, but seems to have bounced back, with a win to his
credit in the Expressway S. (Aus-G2) January 31 and a third in the Apollo.
Likely to be favored here is the Apollo winner Contributer (High Chaparral),
a Godolphin import who has made a favorable impression in his three Australian
outings. The five-year-old won the David Jones Cup (Aus-G3) first-up at
Caulfield October 18, and was a non-disgraced eighth, beaten four lengths, in
the Emirates S. (Aus-G1) three weeks later. The Apollo, which he won by 1 1/2
lengths, was his first run of the season. Splitting Contributer and Weary in the
Apollo was the Team Hawkes-trained Ninth Legion (Fastnet Rock), a consistent
performer who won the listed Carrington S. first-up January 24.
This event also features a pair of smart mares. The dual Group 1 winner Lucia
Valentina (Savabeel) will go postward as one of the favorites off her
encouraging fourth in the Apollo which, as is the case with most of these
runners, was far too short a distance for her. Three-time Group 1 winner Silent
Achiever (O’Reilly) was fifth in the Apollo and searches for her first win since
taking last autumn’s Ranvet S. (Aus-G1) and The BMW (Aus-G1).
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