You can't do more than win, so congrats to Beautide again, but over all disappointing..
Just goes to show what a Monster Smoken Up is to have run 148.5 and 149.9 from pillar to post..
Maybe people's expectations are to high in regards to matching or bettering
Smoken Up's time, including myself. It is obviously a very very hard thing to achieve!
Now I see why Lance said on rsn radio, he would have really preferred for the miracle mile to have been run a fortnight after the Cordina Sprint... He really knows his horse!
I reckon that 1.48.5 will be the benchmark for a while, the 1.50 mark will be chipped away gradually but to crack 1.48.5 will take a super performance. At least 5 or 6 of the field off 10(including the emergencies) are capable of cracking 1.50 in the right conditions, 2 have already done it. It was certainly a super performance when old Trigger ran that time.
There are some tough critics on here!
I thought it was a fantastic race. The time was the 4th fastest mile ever recorded in Australia and a race record. The drive on Beautide to win was tactically astute, the effort of Christen Me to kick clear from the chair was huge and the lead up to race with the hype around Smoken Up quite exciting. If its all about times why not make the MM a time trial?
I'm with you Mitch...I wonder what is expected here, some sort of Miracle. I thought it was a grand race, no walk in the park. Most got a fair shot at their chance, Restrepo excluded. I will always be wondering what if FAR stayed on the markers, would it have been different. At the time when Luke pushed off, I thought it was the right thing to do, no driving for luck there, gave it every chance...but Beautide sticks to the markers unimpeded and duly wins and pretty bloody emphatically at that. Saw the guts of Christen Me, confirmed TTL and Menangle just don't mix, cannot say a bad word against SU (Lance has already given us the background), IV was no disgrace and Mach Beauty was surrounded by depth.
Just because they don't run sub 50 is a pretty poor reflection on the regard held for these great horses. James Rattray looked pretty happy about it all when he crossed the line. I was happy that the best horse on the night won the race.
Belinda Mc's training performance on the night was unbelievable. Great night and a great call by Fred. 10/10 all round.
Gotta agree with everything Mitch said there, the fastest MM in history, widely acknowledged as the possibly the best field ever assembled, won by an absolute superstar on the way up with the aid of a beautiful drive........with regards to breaking the 1:48.5, I think we might need to remind ourselves about when other barriers were broken through and how long it took to lower those standards, barriers like 2.00 mile and 1:55 mile. We may see Smoken Up's 1:48.5 broken in the next few years but don't expect it.
Went down last night, great atmosphere for Menangle, great result for the Rattray family.
Cheers,
Dan
Hi Mitch, It certainly was a great spectacle, I was just a little disappointed with the time, but that's a personal thing I guess. As you say, it's not about the time, it's about the spectacle. What I really like is apart from Beautide's great win, was that the horses came from all over the country and NZ which is great for the sport.
I was no doubt harsh Mitch but I still don't think it was memorable. Unless you have backed the winner IMO you remember winners that run the opposition off their legs, or do it super tough, or flash home out wide - Beautide was impressive but it was the equivalent of a sprint lane win (never memorable). It was a great field but the hype was greatly assisted by SU running time last week. If it wasn't about time it would be run over a longer distanceOriginally Posted by Mitch
per un PUGNO di DOLLARI
I believe quick times has everything to do with it, it is the Miracle Mile after all, hence all the hype during the week, & as Messenger said, that was due to Trigger running 149.9. The hype wasn't about running in the 1.50's..
Beautide did a Baby Bling, & good luck to him, but memorable it will be for the hype during the week, not the race. Now i will always be wondering what could have been if Smoken Up was up to scratch, which clearly he wasn't. That's life
Typical Lance Justice. However it beats his old chestnut "he only got beaten because I went too slow in front". Last week he had Mach Beauty sitting on him, nothing to his outside. This week he had Christen Me to his outside with For A Reason and Beautide stalking = chalk and cheese. The old boy was overwhelmed this week.
The 3 best horses in the race dominated. Time is for people in jail.
Best horse won. Gutsy drive to go to the fence, although the way the race panned out I reckon he still wins with cover from CM.
As to the race being boring/uneventful, i haven't seen anyone query the speed of the mobile. (apologies if someone has and I missed it). At that pace (mobile) a horses gate speed is of absolutely no significance. If the mobile was to always travel that quick we'd have as many pole markers leading as Gloucester Park does......my opinion anyhow.
Congrats to Beautide team as well as the McCarthy juggernaut.
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