Hey Mav,

Congrats on another great day . It sounds as though you have the straddy result cornered w/ good odds on St Basil, La Montagna and Daunting Lad. The only other one i'd want for it at this stage would be Hard to Catch. Altho, i'm sure you're content with the ones you've got .

As for the racing today, well....you can't go past La Montagna. Astonishing. Thats all you can say. I don't care if the leaders went too hard or if they're no good, hell i wouldnt even care if they had 70kgs on their back, for La Montagna to put in that sort of a finishing burst was sensational.

The 2yo race was full of interest and well Gold Edition did it again. Shes a tough little filly. Liked the run of Ghetto Blaster a lot. He has plenty of upside and won't be far off in the Sires or the TJ if connections go that way. Silent Power, over a little bit more ground, can win a nice race too....that was a good return.

I'll leave my judgement of the kiwis until they race something decent. Cog Hill won well but beat a bunch of camels. Gaze also won well, but most of the fillies in that race had something against them. You'll see an entirely different affair come the Oaks at Eagle Farm - the long straight and the tougher races.

I love Hard To Catch. He is a great little horse. As i mentioned in my analysis, he just puts in every time he goes onto the track and today he was fantastic. Haven't seen any times for the day, so i can only go on what my eyes tell me, and they say that he beat some pretty decent horses pointlessly. I'd love to have a piece of him coming into the Straddy with no weight, thats for sure.

And who can forget Above Deck. Was just too classy for them. Zahra rode him perfectly too. Didn't get frazzled mid-race when he was back [probably] further than expected. And although i thought he made the wrong move going 5 and 6 deep around the turn, he judged it well (because as AT said, he was on the best horse, and he knew it). I noticed High Academy getting to the line well at the end too, nice effort that. Won't get any prizemoney for it, but to put in an effort like that at WFA must be heartening for connections.

Well, onwards and upwards toward the 10000 and the EF carnival. I can't wait to see some of these top horses in the flesh when they get back to EF, i can tell you.

Again, congrats on the big day today Mav (and big get w/ Countess Bathory btw ).

Sven