4yo B Gelding

Frankel (GB) - Tyranny (GB) [By Machiavellian (USA)]

18s: 4-2-2

He hasn't met with a whole lot of success since arriving in Australia. His first run he got smacked by Winx in last year's Cox Plate. Following that was the Melbourne Cup where he performed quite admirably, finishing in 5th position, 4.5L from the leader. In his 2018 profile I wrote that he was likely handicapped 2-3kg lighter than he should be and thought he might struggle to make the distance; if he drew well and had an easy race it was possible he could be nursed to the line and might nab get a placing. Things didn't quite go to plan when he drew barrier 21 and was stuck 3-wide the trip, but he did reasonably well regardless.

Following The Cup they tried their luck in the Hong Kong Vase, with the field including Cox Plate winner Lys Gracieux, as well as Prince Of Arran, Latrobe and Miracle Dancer. Once again Rostropovich was forced to race wide and weakened in the straight, but he still finished ahead of the others who had come via Melbourne. He was just ahead of Prince Of Arran with a 2kg advantage (he now carries 1kg more in The Cup), Latrobe was 2 lengths back at level weights (as is the case tomorrow) and Miracle Dancer didn't run on.

He headed back to Australia where his training was taken over by Hayes, Hayes, Dabernig. He resumed in the Makybe Diva, finishing the 1600m in 7th place 3.2L behind.

He was gelded before his next run in the Turnbull Stakes, though it didn't turn around his fortune. He was the 9th place finisher over the more favourable 2000m trip, once again pulling a bad barrier. Rostropovich had every chance to do something in the straight but made no impact on any of the other runners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe-vi1yMHcA

His final lead-up was the Caulfield Cup where he tried something different: it wasn't not drawing a bad barrier; he did that again. Caught wide once more, he rode up to be off the leader. The end result was still the same though: showing very little in the straight and finishing towards the tail of the field.

Somewhat amazingly, his rating is still 109 - the same rating as he held going in to last year's race. Even if that rating were accurate, he's carrying 2kg more than he should when compared to Cross Counter. Rostropovich could carry a feather and it probably wouldn't matter, the way he's going.

I think he did well last year on account of a very favourable weight, made even more favourable by the conditions. He appears to be far better suited to 2000m-2500m and will again be tested by the Cup distance. His terrible form of late means he's likely to finish among the last couple.