| R8 HASTINGS | 21 September 2013 |
| Windsor Park Plate G1 3U OPEN ($175,000), 1600m 1:35.60 | |
| Race Synopsis: Xanadu form reversed on a poor effort this track in the first leg of the Triple Crown to bury this lot and loved the heavy rain that fell late into the card that necessitated the last event (the race after this) to be abandoned.
It is hard to explain the flop of Xanadu prior but she proved too good here and blinkers could now be the making of what is generally a consistent mare.
This race became a G1 event in 2005 and since then including today this second leg of the Triple Crown at Hastings has become dominated by the mare.
Six of the nine G1 runnings now have been female successes.
This century in fourteen runnings the mares have scored eight times with two back-to-backs in Hello Dolly (2001 and 2002) and Seachange (2006 and 2007).
Seven of the twelve runners today were mares.
The weather made Hastings a biased bog on the first day of the Triple Crown and unfortunately today, even after on course hosts were playing weather predictors and proclaimed the rain would have no effect, it most certainly did.
In fact they got it as wrong as humanly possible with decent footing early worryingly not being able to cope with the rain later and this carnival has now seen two differently biased days.
They will be praying for a total decent day for the final leg of the Triple Crown.
The official recording in the New Zealand form database says Hastings today was good but that is patently false and one look of the replay of this feature race will see wet ground and runners scouting deeper.
The visual is damning of such a track condition being allowed to stand and dead would be much more accurate as the time suggested.
More than one rider in this feature reported their mounts slipped so how a good track can be officially recorded is beyond belief for a G1 race (they are supposed to matter being the top shelf for thoroughbreds).
The time recorded of 1:35.60 is not great for G1 but surprisingly it is the fifth fastest time this century though some awful clockings and muddier tracks have come in this race.
It is and never has been a fast run race and no winner this century has ever broken 1:34 for the mile, which should be an absolute minimum at this level one would think.
Mufhasa nearly won this and that will see many dismissing this as a serious G1 form race as he has been on the down for a while and having health issues.
He likes this race having won it last year and been runner up before that but the now 9yo in two of his three runs prior to today finished last and third last.
Nashville ran a respectable race and would prefer more trustable footing like a few in this including just a nose behind him the South Island mare Final Touch.
One runner that ran on okay and looked a next upper is the mare Pimms Time and she should enjoy the 2040m of the last leg of the Triple Crown.
Forgive the mare Full Of Spirit as she was deadest slaughtered very deep and after going back was then sent forward again across the top so was asked to do work twice.
The big flop was Survived and the favourite after winning the first leg of the Triple Crown on a biased bog track never looked a hope today.
His rider angled him back up the middle route halfway up the run home and he plugged closer but the rain on the track made for unsure footing so as said earlier is was most certainly not good.
Survived will appreciate the distance hike to 2040m in the third leg of the Triple Crown and remember prior to today he had never been beaten at home.
His trainer was perhaps over-confident before this and should not make the same mistake as it was track bias that won his charge the first leg of the Triple Crown.
Track bias and footing cost him any realistic chance today.
Survived was behind the eventual winner near the home turn so lost several lengths at the finish too the mare that he in fact beat by a fraction more in the first leg of the Triple Crown.
Confidence is fine but by not recognizing that track bias was the main reason for a win meant not just this trainer but several others had a very false read on just how well their charges went or were going at the time.
It could all flip again in two weeks.
The first three home from the first leg of the Triple Crown did today finish fourth, eighth and ninth, so the fact not one of them could even pay a dividend is alarming in itself
The other runners that finished behind Survived were outclassed at G1 under WFA conditions.
Once again take the form and results with a pinch of salt at this carnival as far as the G1 racing goes with one day having absolutely no bearing on the other whatsoever.
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The 2013 running of the Group 1 Windsor Park Plate.
