By Scott Bailey
G1 Sharp EIT The All-Star Mile 1600m
The All-Star Mile has quickly carved its own lane on the autumn program and this year’s edition looks a genuine chess match at speed over the Flemington mile. Race 7 at 3:40pm is worth $2,000,000 at weight for age, and with the track rated a Good 4 the race shapes as a true tempo test where the winner will need to travel and then produce under pressure.
Tom Kitten brings the profile of last years All Star Mile winner. The Freedman stable has him in good order, Craig Williams takes the ride, and from barrier seven he should get the sort of stalking run that suits his pattern. His best form says he is right at home when the race is run properly, and he can build through his gears rather than be forced into a stop start sprint.
Buckaroo has the Waller polish and the right rider in Mark Zahra, and there is a hard edge to his recent efforts that suggests he is close to landing a big one. Barrier six gives him plenty of options, and if the mile becomes a contest of strength late he is the type who can keep finding when others hit the wall.
Treasurethe Moment is the wild card with a serious résumé and a lighter weight at 57 kilos. She has been mixing it with the best across the spring and summer, and from barrier nine Ben Melham can afford to be patient early and let her roll into the race when it matters. She is a multiple Group 1 calibre mare, and in a race like this class can show itself quickly once the pressure goes on. She has been hit and miss and sent out at short quotes, but her best is good enough in this.
An interesting jockey booking is Hugh Bowman who flies into Melbourne from Hong Kong to partner the talented mare Stefi Magnetica. She has one mile win on her resume, and the former Stradbroke winner was beaten four lengths behind the star Autumn Glow. She should have plenty of improvement second up.
The intrigue is how it is run, because Pride of Jenni’s presence always threatens to turn any mile into a high-pressure chase, and that sort of tempo can expose the bluffers while elevating the genuine milers. If the race is truly run, Tom Kitten, Buckaroo and Treasurethe Moment all look live chances to be the ones still standing and sprinting inside the final 200.
G1 Yulong Newmarket Handicap 1200m
Flemington’s straight six has a reputation for telling the truth. There is no place to hide, no bend to slingshot momentum, just 1200 metres of open turf where speed, timing and courage are tested in full view of the grandstand. That is why the Newmarket Handicap continues to hold such weight in Australian racing. It is a sprint with history in every blade of grass and a handicap that ensures even the most brilliant horses must earn their moment.
The race has been run for generations and has always been a measuring stick for elite sprinters. Champions have etched their names into the honour roll by mastering the Flemington straight under pressure. It is a contest where weight, tempo and positioning can turn the script upside down in seconds. That unpredictability is what makes the Newmarket one of the great spectacles of the Australian autumn.
This year the spotlight naturally falls on the boom colt Tentyris, a horse who has quickly developed the kind of reputation that travels faster than the horses themselves. His Lightning Stakes victory last month was the performance that turned whispers into conviction. Settled near the tail, still spotting the leaders a significant head start when the race began to unfold, he unleashed a closing burst that few horses in the country could replicate. In a matter of strides, he swept past seasoned Group 1 sprinters and left the impression that he is not simply talented, but something genuinely special.
Those kinds of performances do not go unnoticed, and the Newmarket now presents the next examination. A handicap can be a different beast entirely. Tentyris carries 57 kilograms and jumps from barrier twelve in a race where twenty plus runners can spread across the straight like a moving wall. Mark Zahra will need to time the colt’s run with precision, because while the Lightning showcased his brilliance, the Newmarket often demands patience and composure before the decisive burst.
The opposition ensures this is far from a one-horse race. Baraqiel sits at the top of the weights and has proven himself a serious sprinting force, while War Machine arrives with a Group 1 résumé and the experience of racing at the highest level. Angel Capital and Sepals both bring class and depth of form, and Caballus has the type of racing pattern that can make him dangerous if the race unfolds in his favour.
Among the lighter weighted chances, My Gladiola is hard to ignore after chasing Tentyris home in the Lightning and receiving significant relief at the weights with champion rider Craig Williams booked to steer. Benedetta is a seasoned mare who knows her way around Flemington’s straight course and will be hoping the tempo allows her to surge late.
Another intriguing storyline surrounds Wodeton, the three-year-old who carries the minimum weight of 50 kilograms for the powerful Coolmore and Chris Waller combination. The ride will be taken by Irish jockey Wayne Lordan, and his presence in Melbourne has come after a journey that was anything but straightforward. With travel complications unfolding in the Middle East, Lordan was forced to take a circuitous route to Australia, ultimately travelling via the United States before finally touching down in Melbourne to honour the commitment.
For Wodeton the Newmarket represents a chance to measure himself against hardened sprinters while enjoying the advantage of a feather weight. With Coolmore flying Lordan halfway around the world to take the mount, the intent is clear. They believe the colt deserves his opportunity on one of the biggest sprinting stages in the country.
Yet the narrative continues to circle back to Tentyris. When a horse produces the kind of closing burst, he displayed in the Lightning Stakes, expectations naturally rise. The Newmarket Handicap has always been a race capable of turning a talented sprinter into a star, and if Tentyris can replicate that devastating acceleration down the Flemington straight he will not simply be adding another Group 1 to his record. He will be adding his name to a race that has defined Australian sprinting for generations.
