Forget The SA Cup,The Bendigo Cup the beyond the black stump pacing cup the biggest Cup on the weekend was the Fremantle Pacing Cup. A brilliant exhibition of speed and endurance on the part of I'm Victorious with master reinsman Mr G.Hall Jnr winning another G1. Didn't Washakie feel the heat? The lack of comments is typical of this forum.
I was to pre occupied focusing on the S.A Cup with Trigger being in it.
That was a great tough win by IV! Looking forward to seeing IV race against ITMQ in the autumn season.
Will IV head across to the East, for any of the feature racing?
I reckon he will Smoken and he'll be a tougher competitor next time. It was by far the best Cup race over the weekend and a great drive by Junior.
I can only guess Rod, but I reckon 90% of people on this forum are in the eastern states and based on the time difference the Freo Cup was pretty much on at midnite!!! Maybe part of the reason???Originally Posted by Mighty Atom
Great run I'm Victorious good to see that success for his Trainer, well done.
Look out Rod, now here comes the "however"!!!!!
Pole horse leads unchallenged, IV goes to death, Johnny McCarthy thinks he's driving Pure Steel or a Washakie of 2-3 yrs ago and sits 3wide outside IV for last 900-1000... IV and leader have a small battle, IV too good.
Now let's compare to the pre race build up of a horse lookin to win the same Group 1race for the 5th time to equal the great Gammalites record and this horse is now 11years old...
He runs in the death and gets to the lead but locks wheels around the turn (unscripted drama!!!) fights back, gains a little ground on new leader in straight, the horse he battled with all the way down the straight with in the same race last year (de jevu) but goes down by just a head. Now there's a race and it was a Group 1 too!
Yes Ash, Great theatre surrounding Smoken Up's attempt to win his 5th SA Cup and it's a pity he didn't, No disrespect to Carribean Blaster. I sat up and watched the Fremantle Cup and thoroughly enjoyed it. Im Victorious put in an effort Trigger would have been proud of sitting parked for the last 1600 or 1700 before taking out the Cup in a real gutsy effort. Not sure what John McCarthy was thinking popping out way to early on Washakie.
Yes, it was a great race the SA cup and would love to have seen Trigger win it ; just unfortunate that he had trouble with the turns both at Horsham and Globe Derby at that vital moment where you can't afford to give away an inch. Not taking anything away from Caribbean Blaster, a fitting reward for his close second to SU last year. South Australia's night of pacing and being great supporters of Lance Justice and Greg Sugars I'm sure they had a great night.
I'm Victorious 1:56:5 over2536m Carribean Blaster 1:57.7 over 2230m. Not difficult to see the better class of race.
I hear what u r saying Ray, but times don't determine the "class" of a race, or that it was a better race to watch.
If an MO at Menangle run a mile in 1:52 and the FFA that night run 1:53.1 is the MO a better class race?
The problem is Ash that the SA Cup was the same as last year - a two horse race with the same result, except reversed - and the same as last year the rest of the field could hardly be called G1 horses. The Fremantle Cup had 3 horses that would not be regarded as G1 horses. Should the SA Cup with a 125 thousand stake be a Group 1 race just because it is the states premier race? - debatable. Two tracks, same circumference but the speed of the horses show which was the more exciting race. To answer your question if an MO ran a 1: 52 mile and a FFA a 1: 53, I would regard the FFA a rather disappointing race. It appears it's all about speed these days looking at the number of mile races at Menangle and Albion Park, not only mile races but all distances.
Can't agree with that sentiment about time being an accurate reflection of quality, Rod. If they times weren't displayed, I doubt many could detect a significant difference between a race run in 1:57 or 1:54 with the naked eye.
I still reckon someone needs to head out with a tape measure and double-check the length of Gloucester Park. The times run there are sometimes almost unbelievable for the size of the track (and the horses aren't THAT good).
Having said that, I agree the Fremantle Cup had some more depth ... quite a few SA Cup runners weren't genuine Group 1 class IMO.
But obviously Smoken Up, Caribbean Blaster and, to a lesser degree, Abettorpunt have shown they can match it with the very best.
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