G1 John Scott Appreciation – Race Review
Money Money Money, It’s a Rich Man’s World
by Darcy “Dingo” MacPhee
The Jump:
They field jumped as one from the gate, but right after we saw the old man of the field “RED KORNSNAKE” push into the lead, it was difficult to tell if the jockey “D Ledwith” was riding to instructions or if the horse had taken charge of him. I vote for the latter, it seems that OL’ RED had decided today he was going to show the world he is not too old for this racing caper. A group of 4 trailed the leader through the 1st 400 metres in a tight bunch. “TAKAVACHO” tucked in with a nice trail behind the leader on the rails, with “CONCRETE KING” sitting outside him. Pushing on outside these two were “HELP THE ORPHANS” and “YOU HAVE NO CHOICE”, posted 3 and 4 wide they both “had no choice” and as the two horses inside them were happy to trail the leader. These 5 had already started to move away from the rest of the field led by “THE JUST KNIGHT” shading “MARECHAL DAVOUT” to his outside with the rest stringing out behind in order of “FORTY ORDERS”, “CONQUEST DYNASTY”, “BLUEFISH LASAGNE B”, “FAST VIDAR” and “F NOM DE JEU” dropping out to last.
The Half Way Mark:
There was very little change in the field as they travelled down the back to the far turn, with just over 1200 metres to they had reached the halfway point of the race, jockey “William (Bill) McClendon” tickled “TAKAVACHO’S” ear barely rustled his reigns, and the big horse surged forward. “Frankie Gossett” aboard “CONCRETE KING” gave his horse a cut with the whip and a couple of kicks in the ribs and went with him, both pushing underneath the still posted wide numbers 8 and 9 horses. It was about here with 1200 metres to run that OL’ RED’s jock knew he was done and eased up on the old guy, and let him start to fall back through the field. By the 1000 metre mark “TAKAVACHO” got through with “CONCRETE KING” to hit the lead from “YOU HAVE NO CHOICE” posted four wide still being shaded by about a ½ length by “HELP THE ORPHANS” on his inside. The remainder of the field were dropping off the leading pair like flies in a drought, with the one exception of that culinary masterpiece (yuck) “BLUEFISH LASAGNE B” who was the only other horse who looked to be in a forward gear as he started to catch and pass horses in front of him.
The Home Turn:
As the horses come to the turn “TAKAVACHO” gives those behind him a quick swish of his tail as if waving goodbye and quickly puts a length and a half on the second horse. “YOU HAVE NO CHOICE” and “HELP THE ORPHANS” are dropping back but still fighting hard for 3rd and 4th with NO CHOICE gradually getting to ORPHANS on his inside.
As they round the turn the No 5 Horse “MARECHAL DAVOUT” finally gets past the 2 horse “THE JUST KNIGHT” for 5th only to almost immediately be pushed back to 6th where he has sat all race by “BLUEFISH LASAGNE B” who is still pushing on down the middle of the track.
At The Line:
As the horses come to the line it’s “TAKAVACHO” in a canter by over 3 lengths (I swear I saw him poke his tongue out as he crossed the line) from a gallant “CONCRETE KING” who tried hard all race but found the winner a class above today. “BLUEFISH LASAGNE B” kept coming hard down the middle of the track, getting into 3rd about 50 metres from the post some 9 1/4 lengths from the winner, the only horse who had a better sectional time being the winner. “YOU HAVE NO CHOICE” and “HELP THE ORPHANS” continued their race long war all the way to the line, where they both recorded the exact same time with the judge giving “YOU HAVE NO CHOICE” the nod by a mere 0.110 SP for fourth place, just over a length from the 3rd horse. A herculean effort by these 2 horses who ran 3 and 4 wide for the entire 2400 metres of the race.
A further 2 lengths back in 6th where he only plodded along for the entire race was “MARECHAL DAVOUT”. Seventh was “THE JUST KNIGHT” who also just plodded along midfield a rather disappointing race for his connections. In order the next four finishers were “FORTY ORDERS”, “FAST VIDAR”, “CONQUEST DYNASTY” and “F NOM DE JEU” which surprised no-one although I must say I found the run of the 11 horse a little disappointing as he was my longshot tip. The Grand old stager “RED KORNSNAKE” did end up finishing last, and I have had it confirmed that it seems it was the horses idea to charge the lead at the start of the race.
Well, that’s a wrap for the main event today from Headquarters of Australian Racing the mighty Flemington Racecourse home of the Melbourne Cup the first Tuesday of November every year.
We again find ourselves with a nice bankroll safely deposited in the ATM after backing the winner at the lucrative odds of 8/1, my PA Melissa has a grin from ear to ear and a nice bonus in her purse as she drops me back at my hotel before we fly home tomorrow
Good Punting All
Darcy “Dingo” MacPhee
Blah blah blah blah
Great race for Davout first time facing older horses. Finishing in the upper half of the field defying odds and prognosticators. A horse who has never been out of the money seems a more than credible bet to pick up a check in his next graded event where improvement should be found. Vital first step in his 4yo season for this future graded winner.
How disrespectful to the writer. Your horse was plodding along and in fact lost lengths the entire race. Touting in the money accomplishments when most those races had 4 to 7 runners doesn’t translate to much. A chest pounding declaration guaranteeing a check next start in a graded event is again not much. You mean next out when all the big dogs will be in the Saudi turf classic? Yes there will be a choice of graded races with 6-8 horse fields due to the top tiers running in Saudi. You can always write the articles yourself if you have thin skin.