| R9 HASTINGS | 01 October 2011 |
| Nzbi Spring Classic G1 3U OPEN ($234,000), 2040m 2:06.24 | |
| Race Synopsis: The winning time of 2:06.24 is the second slowest ever run in the race since it became a G1 over 2040m.
The race first became a G1 and run over 2040m in 1996 and was won by Love Dance.
Only the 2:08.42 9 (on dead rated footing) by Vosne Romanee in 2009 has been a slower run contest.
The third slowest time ever run was 2:05.03 in 2004 by Balmuse, when the odds on favourite Starcraft worked to the lead midrace and got run over into a distant second.
All other winning times have been 2:03 and change or 2:04 and change in sixteen runnings so far, with the exception being the race record of a blistering 2:02.16 set by Cent Home in 1999.
Jimmy Choux won by almost two lengths without even being asked to lift and had many lengths in reserve to call upon.
They could never outsprint him home being such a proficient miler and already a winner in 1:33.53.
This was more than a soft kill, as it showed the gap between a youthful genuine G1 WFA performer versus very few proven older rivals and the rest at best handicappers.
Hastings again had a leader/on pace/handy inner/outer bias with seven of the ten race card falling to leaders (4 winners) and on pacers/handy outer/inner (3 winners).
The track was rated dead early but improved throughout the day and the race contested before this was a Ratings 80 run and won over 1400m in 1:21.89, so the footing was fine.
It was no surprise to see two of the other three proven WFA gallopers fill the minor placings in Red Ruler and Hold It Harvey, while the failure of Booming was the second biggest shock of the race.
The biggest shock and perhaps a clinical tell on the overall race rating and depth was the solid finish for fourth by New Moon, which is a six-year-old winner of just three races.
New Moon had never run in anything stronger than a Ratings 90 or further than a mile but could finish fourth here at G1 under WFA conditions and be beaten just three lengths.
Red Ruler the runner up is a seven-year-old that in eighteen starts in Australia, admittedly all against G1, G2 and G3 opposition, has only been able to fill a place twice.
Jimmy Choux has already won at G1 in Australia before hence the burn he handed out to his rivals here on the way to the Cox Plate and possible further glory.
| |
| FP | Horse Age & Sex | Trainer Jockey | WT SP | |||||||
1st | 10. JIMMY CHOUX (NZ) 4yo Horse | JOHN BARY JONATHAN RIDDELL | 57.5 $1.40 | |||||||
| THORN PARK (AUS) - CIERZO (NZ) | ||||||||||
| Chouxmaani Investments Ltd Syndicate (Mgr: R D Wood) | 2nd | 2. HOLD IT HARVEY (AUS) 7yo Gelding | TERRI RAE JAMIE BULLARD | 59.0 $4.00 | ||||||
| KING CUGAT (USA) - DALY CHARM (AUS) | ||||||||||
| M R Shepherd | ||||||||||
| Jun 06, National Yearling Sale 2006, Widden Valley, $16000, TERRI RAE, NEW ZEALAND | 2nd | 3. RED RULER (NZ) 7yo Gelding | J G SARGENT CHAD ORMSBY | 59.0 $6.00 | ||||||
| VIKING RULER (AUS) - RANSOM BAY (USA) | ||||||||||
| R J Arculli, A R Meehan & G B Sargent | ||||||||||
| Jun 06, National Yearling Sale 2006, Widden Valley, $16000, TERRI RAE, NEW ZEALAND Jan 06, 2006 Premier Yearling Sale, Cambridge New Zealand, $60000, MR J SARGENT, MATAMATA | ||||||||||
| 4th | 9. NEW MOON (NZ) 6yo Gelding | TONY DEVCICH JASON JAGO | 59.0 $82.70 | |||||||
| 5th | 6. BACK IN BLACK (NZ) 6yo Gelding | J J STEFFERT SAM SPRATT | 59.0 $28.70 | |||||||
| 6th | 11. DAWN GHOST (NZ) 6yo Mare | J G SARGENT JASON WADDELL | 57.0 $40.80 | |||||||
| 7th | 8. SEAFLYTE (NZ) 6yo Gelding | VANESSA HILLIS CRAIG GRYLLS | 59.0 $64.00 | |||||||
| 8th | 5. EL SANTO (NZ) 9yo Gelding | SOPHIE HARGREAVES LISA ALLPRESS | 59.0 $62.00 | |||||||
| 9th | 4. TITCH (NZ) 7yo Gelding | KEVIN MYERS OPPIE BOSSON | 59.0 $16.10 | |||||||
| 10th | 7. DON DOMINGO (NZ) 7yo Gelding | GRAHAM RICHARDSON MASA TANAKA | 59.0 $36.80 | |||||||
| 11th | 1. BOOMING (NZ) 7yo Gelding | JEFF LYNDS VIN COLGAN | 59.0 $8.20 | |||||||
The 2011 running of the Group 1 New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance Spring Classic.
Tags: 2011 bloodstock classic group insurance new spring zealand
