Racing: Mufhasa on track for Ryder Stakes

The good news for the Mufhasa camp is that Rosehill will be firmer on Saturday than it was last weekend.

It was a surprise to many that Rosehill's official start to the Sydney Turf Club's A$3.5 million Golden Slipper carnival was a yielding track officially rated at 4.

Australian Racing Retro panel member Ron Dufficy, a stickler for reviewing conditions accurately, gave the track a slight bagging on Sunday's programme.

When fellow panel member Richard Freedman defended the cut in the famous track, Dufficy, in essence, said: "Fine, provided it's like that for the rest of the carnival [for form followers]."

It won't be.

Rosehill has not adopted the same policy as Flemington, which generates a dead track rating for the start of every raceday.

Sydney Turf Club course curator Lindsay Murphy told the Herald yesterday he takes full responsibility for the condition of last Saturday's surface.

"The previous Saturday the track was very 'leaderish' - it was difficult to come from too far off the speed [and win].

"It was thought that was because the track was very firm, although I'm not totally convinced of that.

"So I thought with three major Saturdays in a row coming up and good weather forecast right through, I'd start out with a track that was not rock hard, but to be fair I probably gave it one watering too many.

"It wasn't intended to stay at a 4 - we always look to aim for a good 3 - but the day was very humid and there was very little drying.

"When I walked the track at 11 o'clock my shoes got wet, that's how little drying there was."

For many horses, it's not so much a case of what the footing is and how they will handle it, it comes down to how that footing changes the pattern of racing.

It was noticeable at Rosehill on Saturday that although horses could win on the speed, it was very difficult to lead around the inside rail and win - Mufhasa's speciality.

Mufhasa showed his liking for that type of racing when he simply blew the opposition away in the $200,000 Fully Fledged @ Fairdale WFA Classic at Otaki a couple of weeks ago.

He likes taking it to his rivals with extremely fast sectionals in front, running the sprint out of them.

On Saturday, Mufhasa tackles the A$400,000 George Ryder Stakes (1500m).

In the same race last year, he was beaten a head and three-quarters of a length by Vision and Power and Black Piranha on an unsuitable heavy track.

Two weeks later, he finished 16th of 18 behind the same quinella result in the Doncaster Handicap at Randwick.

Mufhasa will once again be ridden on Saturday by Sam Spratt.

After his second last week, Black Piranha again looks a tough opponent.