Suspension sours Opie’s big day
Five highlights from the weekend:
One: How good is Melody Belle?
Karaka Million winner Melody Belle made Saturday’s four and three-quarter length thrashing of the Group II BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes field look so easy it makes you wonder just how good she can be? The Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards-trained filly is a $3 favourite for the A$600,000 Group I JJ Atkins Stakes (June 10). Richards believes there is some improvement in Melody Belle ahead of the JJ Atkins and thinks stepping up to the mile will only help her. Saturday’s stylish victory for the Group I Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes winner took her career earnings over $867,000 and with a winning stake of $408,960 in the JJ Atkins she may well be a million dollar earner at two. Not bad for a $57,500 purchase.
Two: Punter confidence dented at Eagle Farm?
Brisbane Racing Club officials say the logistics of moving Saturday’s meeting and possibly the final day of the Brisbane winter carnival on June 10 to Doomben are not viable despite the heavy track chipping out badly on Saturday. Officials say shifting to the smaller venue would cost the club and the industry millions. It’s a fair point when you consider hospitality packages are already booked and would not be able to be honoured at the smaller venue of Doomben plus crowd numbers would obviously shrink. But how many millions will be lost when punters lose confidence and surely the two meetings will do much more damage to the track? A forecast for fine weather all week in Brisbane will help track staff and enable them to use the roller but the jury is out on how much improvement can be made in seven days.
Three: Suspension cuts deep for Bosson
Opie Bosson’s opportunity to ride at the Queen Elizabeth II Cup meeting in Singapore has been lost following a suspension at Eagle Farm on Saturday. Bosson, who won the Group II BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes aboard Melody Belle and also ran third aboard the Chris Waller-trained Counterattack in the Group I Kingsford Smith Cup, was handed down an 11-day careless riding suspension for his ride on Egyptian Symbol in race six. The pair finished second in the race but the suspension quickly soured that. Just days ago, the Singapore Turf Club granted a one-day visiting jockey’s licence for Bosson to ride at the Queen Elizabeth II Cup meeting on 4 June. Bosson will also miss Queensland Oaks day at Eagle Farm on June 3 but importantly the suspension ends on June 7 meaning he will be free to ride Shocking Luck in the Queensland Derby and and Melody Belle in the JJ Atkins Stakes (June 10).
Four: How bad are short odds for turnover?
When the nine Group I Harness Jewels races are run and won on Saturday one of the most interesting parts of the wash up will be the day’s turnover. Of the nine races, there are seven favourites at $1.90 or under. Four of them are at $1.24 or under. One does wonder how much that will hurt turnover? The beauty of the Jewels concept is that punters can see the best of the best in the juvenile ranks but the dominance of short price favourites will put plenty of punters off. The flip side of the coin is this year’s Jewels will be like heaven for punters who like multis, pick six and quaddies and there are financial incentives. A terminating pick six is guaranteed at $100,000, the early quaddie will start at $10,000 and all nine races will have a first four pool that starts at $10,000. With arguably more dominant favourites than any other year of the Jewels, the on and off-course turnovers for 2017 will provide an interesting gauge of where one of the code’s flagship days lies with punters?
Five: Change is as good as a holiday
Friday night’s Monte (aka saddle trot) at Alexandra Park is the prime example of why the racing industry needs to embrace change as well as honouring tradition. All three racing codes in New Zealand are mindful of nurturing tradition, as they should be, but tradition will never attract the 20 somethings. The Monte was picked up by mainstream media, punters lined the fences to watch it and it has been a talking point all weekend long. The Amazing Chase concept from the greyhound code is another initiative that should be applauded.