VICTORIA HANDICAP - 1400M [Group 3] 28 Mar 05 - Caulfield
 

1 BEAUTIFUL GEM Lee Freedman
2 BLESSUM Danny O'Brien
3 BOTERO (NZ) Robbie Laing
4 COUNTRY LODGE Mathew Ellerton
5 DE GAULLE LANE (NZ) Colin Alderson
6 GREAT IS GREAT Greg Eurell
7 INFINITE GRACE John Symons
8 LLANGA (NZ) Tony Vasil
9 MEDIUM SWING John Symons
10 MERLOT NOW Darryl Hewitt
11 MONO ROCK Gary Kennewell
12 MR. MURPHY Lee Freedman
13 NICONERO Tony McEvoy
14 OFF WHITE Mathew Ellerton
15 RECAPITALIZE Mathew Ellerton
16 RED HANNIGAN Lee Freedman
17 REGENT STREET (NZ) Peter G Moody
18 ROMAN ARCH Robbie Laing
19 SMOKING BARREL Leon Corstens
20 SONGS OF VIENNA John Moloney
21 UMBER Kelvin Smith
22 VALEDICTUM Danny O'Brien
23 YOUTH John Hawkes

Merlot Now (My fav Horse) is coming to town ....This horse is flying and has big show in this,,
Some real good horses here so i'm hoping for some nice odds :)

I've made a pack to back this horse in every race it ever runs in...so far i've been on this horse from the outset..i remember backing it (after i heard about his good barrier trial) in a maiden ..he ran 5th or 6th or something (very Unlucky) and his next start he was thrust into an Open race ..and was unlucky in that race as well..Thought D Hewitt must of seen something in this horse to throw him into a race like that..
I stuck with the horse for 6 more starts before he finally saluted...I remeber before i had my IAs account that i backed it at the tab ..it was paying $13 about 3 mins before it jumped ..it ended up paying $3,25....so obviously i wasnt the only one watching this horse..the next start Hewitt throw him into another open race this time he was paying about 50/1 up here but shortened to about 35/1 and won in the last stride...the Tri paid $5000..i won a stack that day....it was the same day pantani won the Adelaide cup ..
He had a year off,,,(not sure why) would love to know if anyone does,,,,
He came back and hes won his last 3 races very well,...
Sparkling now his half sister (owned by Leyton hewitt) has also been very good to me..she's won 4 of her last 7 starts but has real good excuses why she hasnt won all 7...

Hope i haven't bored you all with this story.. if i have i'm sorry :)

ps
interested to know if anyone has backed a horse through its entire career..

They should've run Regal Roller in this, he's got no chance in Sydney. Who cares if he gets the grandstand, still a much better option then the All Aged stakes, which he CAN'T win.

Weights will be interesting. 2 of my faves are in this; Niconero and Great is Great. I actually backed Great is Great in the Doncaster at $34.00, but the scratching on Saturday ruined any chance he had anyway :(

Also two of my faves aswell. Niconero, strong 4th last start against strong opposition.

Weights
 

No Horse Trainer Weight

1 GREAT IS GREAT Greg Eurell 58
2 ROMAN ARCH Robbie Laing 57
3 RED HANNIGAN Lee Freedman 56.5
4 YOUTH John Hawkes 56.5
5 MR. MURPHY Lee Freedman 56
6 DE GAULLE LANE (NZ) Colin Alderson 55
7 BLESSUM Danny O'Brien 54
8 REGENT STREET (NZ) Peter G Moody 54
9 INFINITE GRACE John Symons 53.5
10 BEAUTIFUL GEM Lee Freedman 53.5
11 RECAPITALIZE Mathew Ellerton 53.5
12 VALEDICTUM Danny O'Brien 53.5
13 SMOKING BARREL Leon Corstens 53
14 MERLOT NOW Darryl Hewitt 53
15 LLANGA (NZ) Tony Vasil 52
16 COUNTRY LODGE Mathew Ellerton 52
17 NICONERO Tony McEvoy 52
18 MEDIUM SWING John Symons 52
19 SONGS OF VIENNA John Moloney 52
20 UMBER Kelvin Smith 52
21 OFF WHITE Mathew Ellerton 52
22 BOTERO (NZ) Robbie Laing 52
23 MONO ROCK Gary Kennewell 52

ROMAN ARCH

Current EW fixed odds
 

Youth $7.00
Beautiful Gem $7.00
Recapitalize $8.50
Niconero $8.50
Red Hannigan $9.00
Valedictum $10.00
Roman Arch $11.00
Llanga $11.00
Merlot Now $14.00
Country Lodge $14.00
Infinite Grace $17.00
Songs Of Vienna $18.00
Blessum $21.00
Regent Street $21.00
Smoking Barrel $23.00
Umber (1E) $23.00
Off White (2E) $23.00
Mono Rock (3E) $31.00

Final field Paddy, not sure if you missed or you were coming back later :)


1 GREAT IS GREAT Greg Eurell L Nolen 12 58
2 ROMAN ARCH Robbie Laing N Callow 1 57
3 RED HANNIGAN Lee Freedman S W Arnold 11 56.5
4 YOUTH John Hawkes D Gauci 10 56.5
5 BLESSUM Danny O'Brien Steven King 8 54
6 REGENT STREET (NZ) Peter G Moody J Benbow (a) 13 54
7 BEAUTIFUL GEM Lee Freedman S Baster 2 53.5
8 INFINITE GRACE John Symons 6 53.5
9 RECAPITALIZE Mathew Ellerton C D Symons 5 53.5
10 VALEDICTUM Danny O'Brien Steven King 14 53.5
11 MERLOT NOW Darryl Hewitt J Bowditch 15 53
12 SMOKING BARREL Leon Corstens P Mertens 19 53
13 LLANGA (NZ) Tony Vasil A Findlay 9 52
14 COUNTRY LODGE Mathew Ellerton 18 52
15 SONGS OF VIENNA John Moloney R Debono (a) 16 52
16 NICONERO Tony McEvoy G Childs 4 52
17E UMBER Kelvin Smith 7 52
18E OFF WHITE Mathew Ellerton 17 52
19E MONO ROCK Gary Kennewell Dale Smith 3 52

13) Llanga
4) Youth
7) Beautiful Gem
10) Valedictum

Thanks suds :) did forget.

I still like Merlot Now here,,think he's on the way up where as alot of these are on the way down..
Give a chance to Infinite Grace as she'll put herself in the race ..if the swoopers get in each others road she'll be there.

Beautiful Gem gets in well at the weights, and is drawn perfectly. She'll go forward and make her presence felt. Is ultra consistent and i think backing her e/w you could do much worse. Another raffle race but she'll give us a great sight.

11] MERLOT NOW
16] NICONERO
7] BEAUTIFUL GEM
14] COUNTRY LODGE

If no start then

No 14

COUNTRY LODGE EW

Early scratchings - (1) Great is Great & (10) Valedictum

(4) Youth
(15) Songs Of Vienna
(7) Beautiful Gem
(8) Infinite Grace

Current fixed odds
 

No. Horse Win

004 Youth $5.50
007 Beautiful Gem $5.50
016 Niconero $7.00
009 Recapitalize $9.00
013 Llanga $11.00
003 Red Hannigan $13.00
002 Roman Arch $17.00
008 Infinite Grace $17.00
014 Country Lodge $17.00
015 Songs of Vienna $17.00
018 Off White 2em $17.00
006 Regent Street $21.00
011 Merlot Now $21.00
017 Umber 1em $21.00
005 Blessum $26.00
012 Smoking Barrel $26.00
019 Mono Rock 3em $34.00
001 Great is Great Scratched
010 Valedictum Scratched

16-NICONERO
4-YOUTH
11- MERLOT NOW
9-RECAPITALIZE

7 BEAUTIFUL GEM
2 ROMAN ARCH
17 UMBER
3 RED HANNIGAN

NICONERO
BLESSUM
YOUTH
RECAPITALIZE

Track good, scratched 1 - Great Is Great, 10 - Valedictum, 14 - Country Lodge, 15 - Songs Of Vienna, 17 - Umber & 18 - Off White

INFINITE GRACE
LLANGA
SMOKING BARREL
MONO ROCK

Current fixed odds
 

No. Horse Win Place

016 Niconero $4.50 $1.85
004 Youth $5.00 $2.00
007 Beautiful Gem $6.00 $2.25
009 Recapitalize $9.00 $3.00
013 Llanga $11.00 $3.50
003 Red Hannigan $13.00 $4.00
002 Roman Arch $15.00 $4.50
008 Infinite Grace $15.00 $4.50
006 Regent Street $17.00 $5.00
011 Merlot Now $17.00 $5.00
005 Blessum $21.00 $6.00
012 Smoking Barrel $21.00 $6.00
019 Mono Rock 3em $26.00 $7.25
001 Great is Great Scratched Scratched
010 Valedictum Scratched Scratched
014 Country Lodge Scratched Scratched
015 Songs of Vienna Scratched Scratched
017 Umber 1em Scratched Scratched
018 Off White 2em Scratched Scratched

Market movement
 

No. Horse Was Now

016 Niconero $7.00 $4.50
004 Youth $5.50 $5.00
007 Beautiful Gem $5.50 $6.00
009 Recapitalize $9.00 $9.00
013 Llanga $11.00 $11.00
003 Red Hannigan $13.00 $13.00
002 Roman Arch $17.00 $15.00
008 Infinite Grace $17.00 $15.00
006 Regent Street $21.00 $17.00
011 Merlot Now $21.00 $17.00
005 Blessum $26.00 $21.00
012 Smoking Barrel $26.00 $21.00
019 Mono Rock 3em $34.00 $26.00
001 Great is Great Scratched Scratched
010 Valedictum Scratched Scratched
014 Country Lodge Scratched Scratched
015 Songs of Vienna Scratched Scratched
017 Umber 1em Scratched Scratched
018 Off White 2em Scratched Scratched

red hannigan
youth
beautiful gem
roman arch

Closing fixed odds market
 

No. Selection Win Place
016 Niconero $4.00 $1.75
004 Youth $5.50 $2.10
007 Beautiful Gem $6.50 $2.35
009 Recapitalize $9.00 $3.00
013 Llanga $9.00 $3.00
002 Roman Arch $13.00 $4.00
003 Red Hannigan $13.00 $4.00
008 Infinite Grace $17.00 $5.00
011 Merlot Now $17.00 $5.00
005 Blessum $21.00 $6.00
006 Regent Street $21.00 $6.00
012 Smoking Barrel $21.00 $6.00
019 Mono Rock 3em $34.00 $9.25
001 Great is Great Scratched Scratched
010 Valedictum Scratched Scratched
014 Country Lodge Scratched Scratched
015 Songs of Vienna Scratched Scratched
017 Umber 1em Scratched Scratched
018 Off White 2em Scratched Scratched

Great run by Merlot Now ,,only the barrier beat him.,,,
lost a stack but he'll win a few more races this one...

I agree Maverick I was on it there today and it was extremely unlucky if it had of drawn a decent barrier it probably goes very close to winning that race

I thought he was a good e/w chance...been copping a bagging for tipping it on other sights ,,even though he beat thier tips...from a wide barrier coming from last on the turn..
Seems people don't rate SA horses or thier jockey's...Bowditch could hold is own against anyone in OZ..so could Lorensini and Gatt ...and Spiterie ,,

if he had to be beat i'm glad it was Roman Arch..the horse never runs a bad race and deserved the win after being so close last week and alittle unlucky..

I rate Gatt and Bowditch big time to be honest I amnot a big fan of SA racing and very rarely bet there but I certainly don't completely write off horses just because they come from there this horse certainly does have above average ability will be good to see how it goes now if it sticks around in melbourne not sure what sort of plans they have for him.

Races well fresh..so they might give him one more go depending on how he pulls up and then give him a rest and target something in the spring..
You should look at SA racing...i think the smaller pool of horses there makes it easier to rate the form..i have a huge success rate there..alot to do with Merlot Now and Sparkling now but great figures regardless..and i always thought i was a Brisbane expert...( i have a shocking record in Melbourne by the way...no wonder he couldn't win today)

Race result
 

05 CARLTON DRAUGHT
VICTORIA HCP
1400 Metres
2:40pm
2ND LEG EXTRA DOUBLE
1ST LEG QUADRELLA

WIN/PLACE
2 9.50 3.00
9...............4.40
16...............2.20

QUINELLA (2-9) 75.70
EXACTA (2-9) 129.30
TRIFECTA
(2-9-16) 908.70
FIRST 4
(2-9-16-5) 12,961.70
EXTRA DOUBLE (7-2) 113.80
SPECIAL DIV. (7-SCR) 8.00

(2) ROMAN ARCH (N.CALLOW)
(9) RECAPITALIZE (C.SYMONS)
(16) NICONERO (G.CHILDS)
(5) BLESSUM (S.KING)

SCR - 1,10,14,15
17,18
Quadrella Sub = 16

Nicely done william, just the 1 selection, all you needed ;)