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R8 HASTINGS30 August 2014
Makfi Challenge Stakes G1 3U OPEN ($179,000), 1400m 1:24.08
Race Synopsis: Good things come to those that wait so I Do finally got her G1 win and it came when she is a 7yo mare so hard to accept there is improvement to come and more likely her rivals are not the real deal or forward enough or on the downward slide. The current New Zealand racing handicapper Brett Scelly and his underling George Strickland (cadet) had given this mare way too high a number for a non-G1 winner (up until today) for a while now so the ceiling is coming down fast on this even more glaring error. After the win today he/they moved her up 1 point to 108 and a rival from the race in Veyron, which has won five G1 races, was downgraded by him/them a point from 109 to 108. So we have a single G1 winning 7yo mare I Do alongside a five time G1 winning 9yo male in Veyron. The reason it makes no sense is because logic clearly went out the window therefore denigrating the worth of NZ form internationally as no one will trust (and why should they?) such impossible to accept/believe puffery. Let’s not beat around the bush and state what every other serious racing jurisdiction and internationally accepted ratings company/brand/country/state has right now and knows is fact. I Do and Veyron should not be alongside each other when it is one G1 win versus five G1 wins and remember they are both older gallopers plus the mare gets a sex allowance so it makes things even worse if that has or has not been factored in! G1 racing is about winners and then the next step down is placegetters and so on down through G2 and G3 then Listed. Consistency via placings can only go to such a ceiling then no higher as then it starts making victory not the desired outcome. I Do until this win was the only New Zealand galloper still racing ranked third equal amazingly and she had not won nor placed at G1 or G2 up until this point. After today there is only one ahead of her now and that is the mare Silent Achiever (113). Realism is the key and giving out big numbers for reasons other than earning them makes international race and racehorse proven ratings systems turn away in distrust about what is trying too hard to be conveyed. The track bias today at Hastings was rampant in having to be in or near the lead and at worst turn for home there or thereabouts with the inside to this point a plus. Only one race all day defied it and they went over a half a second quicker than the race directly before so that explained why the leaders tied up late to run second and fourth. I Do was three back the fence and then got crucially one-off near the home turn before getting into fourth turning in. The gap appeared ahead four-off when the rider of Veyron did not try to hold her in as you would likely see or expect in more competitive racing countries at this level. The mare pinged as she can and led at the 100m before hanging on to win ridden out. The time was 1:24.08 and that is nothing to write home about especially when you consider a maiden that won R4 ran 1:24.85 and had up until today placed just four times in fourteen outings. The opening G1 of the New Zealand no surprise went to a female galloper and they in fact today ran first, second and fourth. Of the first eight over the line six were mares. Now facts are facts and a 7yo mare I Do beat by just over a long neck a 6yo mare in Pussy O’Reilly, which is not really considered a WFA versus all comers force. The third runner home and first male, much to the chagrin of what is going around at the moment, was Pure Champion an 8yo reject from Hong Kong. Pure Champion was not considered viable in Hong Kong anymore having finished ninth or tenth in his last seven outings, so coming down to New Zealand was a last throw at the stumps. The fact this older horse can be this competitive is scary and a dose of reality for sure. He was a G3 horse at best in Hong Kong and something similar perhaps a tad higher when raced in Great Britain prior as a younger horse. The chances that a 7yo, 6yo and 8yo will all improve markedly this season is asking a bit much as it does not happen anywhere else so the form has to be taken with a boulder of salt. Pussy O’Reilly if not for being wide the whole way and deeper turning in would have won logically. The eyecatcher and mare that should have actually beaten them all and but for more pressure throughout the race would have buried them for sure was Abidewithme. Her finish for fourth beaten just over a length was nothing short of withering from last turning for home and remember the manmade track bias that was in play today. She is in for a huge season if that run has not flattened her. Shuka a male 6yo finished fifth and only he and the third finisher Pure Champion stood up for the lads in the first eight over the line. He had a fence trip midfield and got off near the home turn with a winding up sustained finish the closing stages. It means the trailer (third), three back the fence (first) and four back the inner (fifth) all showed the advantage of a soft trip to the home turn. Two mares that boomed home wide out from well back that were impossible to miss are O’Fille and Soriano, with both looking for and needing further. Ninth home and getting warmed up late was Zennista with the big mare likely to relish the mile and then 2040m after that in the Hawke’s Bay Triple Crown. Veyron was tenth beaten just over two lengths and went big as he got fair dinkum slaughtered after leaping in the air at the start. He was sent up wide early handy then when momentarily handy the outer across the top got fired up and was sent forward deeper again near the home turn so got no breather at all in the race. Sacred Star was a tad disappointing but boxed on though was missing his usual ping. Nashville was luckless so forgive and he is the male that can challenge the females in the second leg of the Triple Crown over a mile. He was just about to explode after detonation the final 200m and the rider had to grab hold at the 100m when the room ahead was all slamming doors. Survived got asked too much off in the running while Iamishwara does not look a G1 horse under WFA conditions at this point. Xanadu was very disappointing and will have her stable scratching their heads but they nearly won the race with Pussy O’Reilly. Recite was the disgracefully weak effort and the lone detached runner from the bunch over the line in last place so unless a realistic excuse can be found she will find the older horses tough this season at WFA. She was joined across the top to the home turn when trying to get away with a very cheap sectional but will face more pressure and more intense heat when in a field where every runner is seasoned. The plans of her trainer will be in disarray now and she looked anything but a G1 mare this season outside of New Zealand let alone in it. The age and mileage of the first three over the line makes you wonder if this is even a strong renewal of the race and so many runners were in this clearly behind the eight ball for fitness with such a long and wet winter. The youngest runner in the race a 4yo mare ran a distant last and the older females dominated. Silent Achiever a 6yo mare under the current handicapping pair in New Zealand is assessed at 113 (she has won twice at G1 in NZ and twice at G1 in Australia) and so I Do with her first G1 win here is into 108. It seems more wrong when you consider I Do went up one point for the win today from 107 but absurdly she went up two points last December for winning a G3 at Awapuni beating a then 9yo Fritzy Boy and a then 7yo gelding and handicapper Surreal Storm. You cannot make this stuff up that is happening at the moment. I Do was rated 106 at end of last year after a G3 win, so some brakes are being applied now as the ceiling comes into frame quickly now of G1 believability. Another 7yo mare in Viadana, which has won three times at G1 and two of them came this year, is now according to Scelly rated in New Zealand at 107, so she is now behind I Do too. It defies belief and common sense. Until this stuff stops then looking sideways rather than ‘looking forward’ at New Zealand race and horse ratings will continue and an international tier drop could be coming anyway despite these efforts to inflate the numbers of so many to keep up the appearance that depth actually exists. It is counteractive sadly both short term and long term for credibility plus turnover always suffers when you weaken your own standards trying to stay in touch with the bigger boys and girls.

FP
 
Horse
Age & Sex
Trainer
Jockey
WT
SP
 
1st  
10. I DO (NZ)
7yo Mare
ALLAN SHARROCK
OPIE BOSSON
57.0
$4.50
 
NO EXCUSE NEEDED (GB) - FREEQUENCE (NZ)
S A Sharrock & Waikato Stud Ltd
 
2nd  
15. PUSSY O'REILLY (NZ)
6yo Mare
KEN & BEV KELSO
KELLY MC CULLOCH
57.0
$30.10
 
O'REILLY (NZ) - OCTAPUSSY (AUS)
Lady Justine & Sir Patrick Hogan & P J Walker
 
3rd  
5. PURE CHAMPION (IRE)
7yo Horse
LANCE O'SULLIVAN & ANDREW SCOTT
CRAIG GRYLLS
59.0
$31.60
 
FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND (GB) - CASTARA BEACH (IRE)
 L A O'Sullivan Onzm, Mrs B R O'Sullivan, D J O'Sullivan Obe, & Mrs L M A O'Sullivan
 


4th  17. ABIDEWITHME (NZ)
5yo Mare
JASON BRIDGMAN
MATTHEW CAMERON
57.0
$31.40
5th  3. SHUKA (NZ)
6yo Gelding
PETER & DAWN WILLIAMS
MARK DU PLESSIS
59.0
$15.60
6th  13. O'FILLE (NZ)
7yo Mare
W MARSHMENT
NOEL HARRIS
57.0
$53.60
7th  14. Soriano (NZ)
5yo Mare
GRAEME & DEBBIE ROGERSON
RORY HUTCHINGS
57.0
$32.90
8th  12. ZENNISTA (NZ)
7yo Mare
LISA LATTA
HAYDEN TINSLEY
57.0
$81.10
9th  1. VEYRON (NZ)
9yo Gelding
LINDA LAING
ROGAN NORVALL
59.0
$22.60
10th  7. SACRED STAR (AUS)
5yo Gelding
TONY PIKE
LEITH INNES
59.0
$4.20
11th  2. NASHVILLE (NZ)
6yo Gelding
ADRIAN & HARRY BULL
JONATHAN RIDDELL
59.0
$9.60
12th  4. SCAPOLO (NZ)
5yo Gelding
KEVIN MYERS
R J MYERS
59.0
$8.00
13th  6. SURVIVED (NZ)
5yo Gelding
KELLY BURNE
JOHNATHON PARKES
59.0
$20.70
14th  8. IAMISHWARA (NZ)
5yo Gelding
ANTONY KAYE
CHRIS JOHNSON
59.0
$59.50
15th  11. XANADU (NZ)
6yo Mare
KEN & BEV KELSO
MICHAEL COLEMAN
57.0
$10.80
16th  16. RECITE (NZ)
4yo Mare
JOHN BARY
DANIELLE JOHNSON
56.5
$13.00

The 2014 running of the Group 1 Makfi Challenge Stakes.

  • Uploaded on 21/08/2019 1:58:06 PM
  • Category: New Zealand

Tags: 2014 challenge makfi stakes

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