There is a big staying win in Vavasour who, the way she finishes off her races, could end up over 3200m when she fully develops.
Farm Boy is a win waiting to happen and what a brave effort for third by Authentic Paddy under clear topweight of 59.5kg.
?A fair bit of competition for quote of the day at Avondale on Saturday.
No, a prominent racing administrator introducing Sir Colin Meads as Don Clarke didn't take the cake, although a worthy trifecta chance.
Nor did a stood-down, dehydrated, dry-retching Craig Grylls when some clever clogs asked him if he was feeling okay.
The best quote came from Reese Jones riding the leader Crucial when the village idiot walked across the Avondale back straight course proper as the field in Race 2 thundered towards him, getting out of the way of thundering hooves with one and a half seconds to spare.
"Get ... You're going to die," yelled Jones as he brushed past.
In reality it's no joke. The village idiot was a certainty to get killed and so too, probably a couple of the jockeys and horses that would have been hampered in what would have been an ugly scene.
Practically all racetracks are unable to be accessed by the public on raceday and so they should be.
?It's no secret the Auckland Racing Club is looking at its options with the Ellerslie course proper.
This statement will be as popular as World War III, but it's hoped that when a decision is made the solution will be seen as an industry issue and the cost spread.
The reason is Ellerslie is important to the industry as a whole, not just to ARC members and to Ellerslie.
It is the industry's showcase and ideally racing should be held there every two weeks. We must hold the world record for denying a country's major population access to racing on its No 1 racetrack. This nonsense of asking connections to take horses to Ruakaka throughout winter at a cost of $600-$700 from Waikato has to stop.
? In keeping with the last couple of seasons the juvenile talent has enormous depth.
The quinella pair of The Soultaker and Manolo Blahniq from Saturday's $50,000 2YO Stakes are destined to grab headlines all season.
Honours were pretty much shared. The Soulmaker enjoyed a comfortable stack-them-up lead thanks to a lovely ride from Opie Bosson and Manolo Blahniq suffered from racing greenly on debut a couple of places back on the rail.
Matt Cameron had no option but to pull Manolo Blahniq three wide at the 500m. "He was like a raging bull, he was going to get on a heel if we'd stayed where we were."
Cavalluci gave Manolo Blahniq a bump on the home bend, but the colt knuckled down and chased The Soulmaker hard.
The Soulmaker was travelling nicely at the finish and both horses will be worthy challengers in the Karaka Million.
