KEY POINTS:
Opinions vary enormously on whether the form from Saturday's $70,000 Waikato Guineas will have a major influence on the Derby.
The $700,000 Mercedes Derby at Ellerslie is less than four weeks away and there have been some dramatic market moves after Stolen Thunder and Uberalles failed to reach the placings at Te Rapa on Saturday.
Uberalles finished sixth and Stolen Thunder ninth, both horses clearly affected by the on-pace bias presented throughout the Te Rapa programme.
Mark Walker was dismissive of the track after Uberalles failed to make any ground in the home straight.
Stolen Thunder's co-trainer Lance O'Sullivan came away happy that his horse is still right in Derby contention, despite producing an effort that, on paper, looked well below what most were hoping from the Derby second favourite.
"The back markers couldn't get home all day," said O'Sullivan. "There are some who don't believe in track bias - let me tell you, I rode for 23 years and there is such a thing as a bias."
The Te Rapa running rail for the previous meeting had been set wide and taken back in for the Saturday meeting.
That protected piece of inside track produced a fast strip and horses that drifted out wide in the home straight seemed to struggle in every race.
Stolen Thunder was taken wide on the bend and even though only ninth was making ground in the closing stages.
"I believe he ran the fastest last 200m of the race and he did it on the part of the track that was the slowest," said O'Sullivan. "We weren't disappointed, we came away thinking he was right in the Derby."
The TAB bookies were not thinking along those lines - they have drifted Stolen Thunder from $7 to $9, although he remains second favourite to Magic Cape.
"We've tightened Magic Cape in from $5 to $4 simply because we believe there hasn't been a run by any of these 3-year-olds to match Magic Cape's Wellington Stakes win," said chief bookie Paul Lally.
Lally eased Uberalles from $10 to $11, drifted Brut Force from $7 to $10 after being beaten in an easier event on Saturday and shortened Blimey O'Reilly from $41 to $18 for his win in the Waikato Guineas.
The fact that Stolen Thunder was making ground late on Saturday convinced O'Sullivan the horse will manage the Derby distance.
"He'll run the 2400m okay, in fact, he'd run it uphill into a head wind."
Saturday's mixed results can only have pleased Magic Cape's trainer Shaune Ritchie as he counts down to the country's premier classic.
Magic Cape will have his final Derby lead-up in the $100,000 Championship Stakes at Ellerslie on Saturday week.
To keep him ticking over for that Magic Cape will do an exhibition gallop over 1600m at Ellerslie races today, accompanied by South Island Derby hopeful Namidi.
"There's four weeks between the Wellington Stakes and the Championship Stakes and I can't send him into 2100m that fresh.
"He's dead lazy when he works on his own so having a partner will help and he'll wear blinkers as well."
