Storming the pick for Charlton Memorial
STORMING, AN 82-1 upset winner on October 25, faces an old rival, MR AMBASSADOR, in this afternoon’s Cecil C. Charlton Memorial at 1300 metres.
MR AMBASSADOR beat STORMING, by almost four lengths, at 1200 metres on July 1. However, she was slowly into stride from post position one and lost ground when crowded at the half-mile, which gave her no chance of getting back to a speedy MR AMBASSADOR on a fast track.
Claimed by Oneil Markland from Phillip Thompson, for $550,000, on October 7, STORMING returned 18 days later to stun everybody, her trainer included, by beating Anthony Nunes’ down-in-class ROYAL ASSAULT and Wayne DaCosta’s LITTLE BIG HORN.
After making his move on the inside leaving the three-pole and running miles wide into the lane with Obrien White, STORMING ran out an easy winner, posting 1:06.3 on what was clearly a fast track. However, the fact that she beat ROYAL ASSAULT and LITTLE BIG HORN, with not much stable confidence, showed how improved she had returned, after two and a half weeks, under Markland’s care.
It’s left to be seen whether MR AMBASSADOR has retained his form at his new barn. Formerly trained by Wayne DaCosta, the five-year-old gelding has been taking orders from Paul Charlton since claimed for $600,000 on August 1 when beaten by GOLDEN GLORY at 1300 metres.
MR AMBASSADOR has raced three times since, twice placing fifth among overnight allowance runners, which should make him a winner among claimers. However, he did race on an $850,000 tag between his overnight allowance runs on a wet track, finishing ninth of 11 runners at 1400 metres.
With STORMING now breaking from the outside with possibly a wet track in her favour, having beaten ROYAL ASSAULT on a similar surface, she has a great chance to turn the tables on MR AMBASSADOR.
She really ran well for her upset victory, leaving ROYAL ASSAULT standing at the furlong pole, going 1100 metres. The additional furlong will suit her even better.