Open Affair in Victoria, as the mares prepare to get randy

Welcome to the preview for the first ever running of the The Randy Vet, Grade II stakes over a mile and three sixteenths for the 4yo+ fillies and mares.  Perfect, clear dry weather recently has given us a Firm Turf surface, for this red hot field to compete for the healthy prize purse of $300,000.  Eight mares will do battle here this weekend, in what should be a fiercely contested affair, with no clear winner emerging from the form analysis.


PP1 LOST RELATIVE(IRE) (KRIS KIN x AWESOME AGAIN x SEEKING THE GOLD)  trotter10 15/1
Improving type, who gets another chance in the big league, having been dropped back to allowance company her last 7 starts.  Her previous 2 efforts have been very encouraging, both over this distance; firstly with an easy win in NSW when started odds on favourite, and last time out when she ran a career best SP98 and finished the race off strongly for 3rd place in Ireland.  She was a dual stakes winning 2yo over sprint distances, but looks like she is wanting more ground now that she is 4.  Has a big task in front of her to jump from allowance class to a Grade II, but should be placed handy enough to be thereabouts if she’s able to keep on improving.

PP2 NEW BOLTON(KY)  (DYNAFORMER x CARSON CITY x GREEN DESERT) paddy 5/1
Twoofus stables has a potential monster in the making here, having had only a few tries on turf with mixed success, this 4yo mare made the switch from dirt last start and put in a total blinder with an SP107.  Had been running very competitive speeds on dirt over similar distances to what she gets here, but just kept running into a few that went better every time she was drawn into a stakes.  Had a set back when she tried a marathon distance and was out gunned, but bounced back over 9 furlongs last time when returning to a more suitable distance.  A single stakes win to her name back in her 2yo days suggests she has trouble matching it in better classes, but the change in surface might have rejuvinated her, so she is certainly a danger.  

PP3 LEMANS CHAMP(AUS) (TESTA ROSSA (AUS) x HAP x SADLER’S WELLS) jockster3 6/1
Very competitive mare who in 11 starts has a worst result of 4th place.  Has been kept down in allowance class until now, following on from a massive SP110 last time out, which was her 5th straight run hitting over 100, and pushed her earnings to over $100k.  Main concern is that the 9 1/2 furlongs may be a shade too long, with her best results coming over a mile.  Has 2 wins over 9 furlongs, but the opposition was not nearly as strong as here.  Should settle towards the back of the field, and chase them home, and a repeat of last start should see her being very competitive if she sees out the trip.

PP4 NO PROMISED LAND (FUSAICHI PEGASUS x SADLER’S WELLS x BUCKPASSER) kaif099 5/1
Veteran mare who found it tough here at this track last start in the Grade III Eloquent Lady Handicap when she weakened throughout to finish 8th of 10.  Before that, she was running in the American division, where she had success in the Wavering Screen Challenge against a field of 4, and the Easy Star Stakes against a field of 5.  Depsite the short fields, her speeds can’t be dismissed, hitting a 106 two starts ago over this trip, and an all time career best of 109 shows she cannot be taken lightly.  Fired off a gallant second place finish in the Grade I Princess Di Cap back in August last year, which shows she should have the class to match it here, provided she can bounce back from her last start disappointment.

PP5 CALLISTO OF CIRRA(ENG) (DUBAWI (IRE) x TESTA ROSSA (AUS) x UNFUWAIN) bfc 3/1
The morning line favourite has been doing some awesome work of late, and looks perfectly placed to add some graded silverware to her already impressive stash of trophies.  It grew as recently as last time out when she collected the Seattle Rallying Stakes, with a sweeping run that saw her hit the front soon after entering the home stretch and then holding off all challenges to just last for a 1/4 length win.  4 other stakes wins had been scored in her 7 runs prior to that, and the successful campaign was kick started with an impressive 3rd in the Grade I Del Webb Oaks.  Has only failed to hit the board at one of her last 13 starts, and comes in here with the credentials to look the winner at some stage.

PP6 HAMMER DROP(GB) (POWERSCOURT (GB) x CAERLEON x HAIL TO REASON) odin 9/1
Classy 5yo mare who has been running fairly consistently of late, with the exception of her last start failure in the Five Star Bungee Handicap where she appeared to not handle the yielding surface.  Before that she had 3 nice allowance wins from 5 starts, with the other 2 results being 3rd placings in listed stakes races.  Drops back in distance a bit here, having been going around over slightly longer trips of late, and this might be the change up that ignites her back to the career best 106 she ran over this journey when she first switched stables back in late 2007.  Will probably settle right at the back of the field, and be finishing the race off strongly, but faces a tough challenge to run some of these down.

PP7 THE WITCHING HOUR(JPN) (FANTASTIC LIGHT x DANZIG x PRIVATE ACCOUNT) buffy8 4/1
A 50% winning strike rate is a formiddable statistic for all facing up against this mighty mare.  If 11 wins from 22 starts, and almost $1mil in prize money isn’t impressive enough, she comes here off a last start defeat, which means she is due to win again this time out.  Grade I winner, who is likely to head forward on the speed, and either lead or camp right on the leader applying pressure throughout.  Two starts ago she managed her career best speed figure of 110, which followed the easiest of allowance wins when she started the shortest priced favourite possible.  Will be hard to run down, and has the bonus of D Evans (34%) in the saddle.

PP8 DANGEROUS WATERS(KY) (A.P. INDY x NORTHERN DANCER x BUCKPASSER) billiam40 7/2
Royally bred mare who has come on in leaps and bounds recently, winning 4 of her last 5 starts.  This has followed a relatively low-key start to 2008, where she went almost a full year without getting a win on the board.  Has notched recent wins over both THE WITCHING HOUR(JPN) and NO PROMISED LAND in graded company at her last 2 outings.  Travels here from Louisiana, coming off a career best SP114, which is the highest of any of her rivals.  Is likely to drop out to the back of the field and make a charge home late, so jockey J Kohlmorgen (18%) will need to time his run perfectly, but she definitely has the class to run these down.

In summary, the 3 favourites going from gates 5, 7 and 8 look to have a slight class edge on the others here, and I would expect the winner to come from that trio.  But the rest of the field all look to have some claims, and it would not surprise if one or two of them could sneak into the trifecta and upset the main players.