Blackbookers
Blacktie Affair
Iden Justasmyrk
Denvers Boy
Cosmic Under Fire
Bonny Wee Laddie
Run of the Night
Cosmic Under Fire, super effort from the 40m backmark to work midrace to get around them and then do plenty of work from that point onwards. Don't think it was the best race I have seen Gareth drive either putting the pressure on a long way from home after working from the handicap just to get into the race. Put it this way, the last 3 quarters were 30.5, 28.8 and 29.7 and I'm sure if they were run 30.5, 29.7 and 28.8 then Cosmic would have won clearly
Drive of the Night
Mark Yole (Flying Jasper), did everything bar lift it over the line. Drove aggressively early to trail through from gate 9 then took a very smart option of trailing the leader as would have finished 1x2 if he stayed in the running line (which the majority of Tassie drivers would have) and wouldn't have run a place if he did that. Actually been very impressed with all of his driving lately
Slaughter of the Night
Todd Rattray (Blacktie Affair), wins this award for the 2nd drive straight on this mare. He simply had to use a bit of initiative and get into the race when horses in front were taking him nowhere. Mile races are dominated by horses on the speed so you must endeavour to get into the race early and thought his biggest mistake was not taking off earlier to avoid anything pulling out in front. Sure the horse may be a tad one dimensional but it is a mile race so its not as big an issue to get going early on. Whilst I wasn't overly impressed by Gareth's drive on Cosmic Under Fire either, Todd wins as he gave his horse no chance at all and when you are on the best horse in the race that simply should not happen. I can appreciate that driving sit/sprint types isn't the easiest thing to do but you have to at least give them a chance
Idiot of the Night
ME!!! - last week I had $50 a win Thabela Brioso @ 30/1 and $30 a win Bayfield High @ 40/1 and didn't have a cent on either this week when winning at odds of $21 and $70 respectively. Needless to say I wasn't impressed.
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Race 1 - C1-C3 Mares, 1609m, mile rate 2.00.0, first half 62.1, last half 57.9
First 2 dominated the tempo and the race, few traffic problems out the back and quick last half impacted the chances of a few
Thabela Brioso (1st), good win, sat outside leader and always looked the winner
Lola Bromac (2nd), had her chance, led and just lacked a bit of zip late
Blacktie Affair (3rd), good run again, didn't enjoy much luck and was 1000/1 from the 800 so did well to get as close as she did
Jet Black Flyer (4th), ran home a bit quick for her but still battled on okay
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Race 2 - C1, 2090m, mile rate 2.02.1, lead time 35.6 (bit quicker than average), first half 64.7, last half 58.3
Winner just in a different class to the rest
Iden Justasmyrk (1st), once he led it was game over and threw in a 28.0 closing quarter to race away late
Crash Cart (2nd), another honest run but thought he was entitled to beat the rest a bit easier than he did given the good trip he enjoyed
Cullens Count (3rd), another good honest run, seem to say the same thing every week so his turn must come soon
Livin In Heaven (4th), better run than it looks on paper after having traffic issues
The Bullionaire (5th), not much luck and forced to lead up the 3 wide train which isn't his go so forgive run
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Race 3 - C1, 2090m, mile rate 2.01.8, lead time 35.3 (bit quicker than average), first half 63.3, last half 59.6
Winner did more work than anything and still too good
Murphys Rocket (1st), confident drive and always looked the winner in the run. Will win better races for sure if he draws to lead
Bide Your Time (2nd), another encouraging run at 2nd start after a long spell. Never shirked the task at all when the winner headed him
Flying Jasper (3rd), perfectly driven to receive every hope, is just a battler but tries hard
Most Happy Jasper (4th), another very good run and probably the 2nd best run in race outside the winner. Love to see him draw to lead in a mile race shortly
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Race 4 - C0, 2090m, mile rate 2.01.4, lead time 36.8 (slow), first half 61.3, last half 59.5
Winner heavily backed and killed them
Royal Alchemist (1st), plenty of money to suggest he was going to run well and miles too good for this lot actually, copped a bit of pressure midrace as well which adds further merit to the win
Brian Buster Brown (2nd), enjoyed a perfect trip and was a shade disappointing in my eyes, not in that he couldn't beat the winner but that the others all got pretty close to him. In hindsight I over rated the form around Biggernbettermax who was beaten at long odds on in race 5
Anoptimist (3rd), honest horse this bloke, lacks a bit of dash but always goes okay when drawn well
King Of Jewels (4th), good run again, not enjoying much luck in races since coming to Tassie
Look Look (5th), ran a lot better than I expected from the draw, will be including in exotics next time for sure
Scarlett Blaze (6th), another who didn't enjoy the greatest of luck, don't sack on this run
Line The Pocket (7th), encouraging debut run, finished level with some decent horses and should derive some benefit
Its A Hoot (8th), was first up and was used a bit early in race and still boxed on okay so fair performance
Melman (9th), wasn't given much hope by the driver attacking for the lead so totally forget he went around
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Race 5 - C2-C3, 2090m, mile rate 2.02.2, lead time 36.7 (slowish), first half 63.8, last half 58.2
First 3 over the line clearly the best runs in race
Bayfield High (1st), huge improvement to win, previous run was okay but to come 3 wide the last lap in a 58.2 closing half and win is metres better than any previous performance and will win again if can repeat that
Biggernbettermax (2nd), had his chance, got it easy early and couldn't get home. He did look flat furing the run though and never travelled which was always concerning. Times over the last 1200 were okay as well so he wasn't terrible despite being beaten @ $1.20
Denvers Boy (3rd), probably the best run in the race leading the 3 wide train up in good sectionals. Just never runs a bad race nowadays
Earl Hickey (4th), soft run on pegs but battled on okay
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Race 6 - 3YO, 2090m, mile rate 2.04.8, lead time 37.3 (slow), first half 63.8, last half 61.0
Pretty average sectional times and a bunched finish throw doubts over the strength of the form
Brezhnev Leis (1st), simply too tough, did a bit of work and kicked back strongly
Noelsgirl (2nd), good run in transit and battled on okay. Wasn't ultra impressive but did pull a bit in the run
Smokin Mustard (3rd), another good run at odds, one to follow from a better draw
Odins Dragon Rider (4th), looked unlucky and probably should have won
Cheryl Mary (5th), good gate speed but will never get a better run in front than here (slow lead time then first 3 quarters > 31 show how slow it was)
Dusty Kalena (9th), manners let him down again, certainly has ability but manners are a real issue
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Race 7 - Discretionary, 2579m Stand, mile rate 2.04.4, lead time 78.4 (average), first half 62.4, last half 58.5
Another bunched finish and they staggered the last 200 metres so formlines very debatable
The Musics Over (1st), strange run, couldn't keep up down the back straight but kept coming when the leaders got tired. Just an honest horse who will never be far away
Cosmic Under Fire (2nd), very good run, forced to work all the way as the speed went on as soon as he worked around them at the 1200 and he came from a 40m handicap to get there
Angus Macgregor (3rd), got a great run to save every inch of ground so was a tad flattered
Topup (4th), every possible hope
Ulos (5th), finished close up but entitled to do more than he did late
Majestic Emperor (6th), similar stary to Ulos
Jumpin Jack Jasper (7th), very disappointing after receiving a great run
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Race 8 - C0, 2090m, mile rate 2.04.0, lead time 37.0 (slow), first half 63.9, last half 60.2
Very average reverse order points race, first 3 over line finished 30 metres in front of the rest so wouldn't like to own one of them
Deejay bromac (1st), lacks speed but finally found a race where he could work into it and grinded out the win
Little Elf (2nd), very stiff not to win after being posted 3 deep the first 600 metres. Be lucky to find a race this weak again but definitely the one to follow from the race
Our Last Knight (3rd), enjoyed a great trip and kept whacking away
Koizora (5th), did some work to find the front but didn't find a thing
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Race 9 - Claimer, 2090m Stand, mile rate 2.07.2, lead time 41.7 (slow), first half 64.6, last half 58.9
Slowly run stand over the short trip made the leader almost unbeatable
Waterloo Bay (1st), enjoyed a great trip in front and never going to get beaten
Bonny Wee Laddie (2nd), very good run and only beaten by tempo early. Has to win at this level soon
The Cherokee Chief (3rd), getting better with every run of late, if he could find the front one day mght sneal away with one
Costa Smerelda (4th), finished up leader's back in a dash home which isn't his go as more a grinder so prepared to overlook
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