Auckland Cup

[Messenger]

A BIG card with the first of the 4 biggies kicking off at 3.36 AEDST
Mark and Barry Purdon have 7/11 starters in the Cup

https://infohorse.hrnz.co.nz/datahrs/fields/123102fd.htm#field-54416-race-9-dl

[aussiebreno]

$3.90 available Thefixer worth a bite.

Mach Shard $5place, overs if ends up 3 fence seen what he can do ID final.

I guess Self Assured should be winning though. Was probably more tightly touted than Ultimate Sniper not long ago.

[Messenger]

Plenty of meets around the country tomorrow but Albion Park is the only one complimenting the big Auckland races (although the biggest is a good half hour after their last)

I cannot understand why the rescheduled St Arnaud meet is not being run later instead of the hot weather times it has been allocated - no doubt we are letting the TAB and Sky dictate
The change to tomorrow was done early enough for them to promote it across digital media if they were going to feature the NZ meet as part of their day
(not really much driver doubling up with Melton necessitating plenty of time between Vic's meets and the couple could easily have been covered)

[Messenger]

The All Stars won All 4 of the Big Ones - Ho Hum

https://infohorse.hrnz.co.nz/datahrs/results/123102rs.htm

[Showgrounds]

Self Assured stamped his foot on his claim as Australasia's best pacer by winning the Cup. His sheer speed prevented Thefixer from having much sprint left at the finish after a cold sit.

And only bad luck will beat Amazing Dream in a follow race their this season, she is a complete little racehorse who wins anyway she has to.

Enjoyed watching all the races.

[Messenger]

The big 4 were very on pace dominated which is why I probably like Amazing Dream's effort best (and the 2nd by Bad To The Bone)

What about the domination of Bettors Delight. In the 3 big pacing races, he sired the trifecta, the trifecta, the quinella !

While in the trot, Majestic Son sired the trifecta!

[Showgrounds]

Smooth Deal's run in the Sales final was terrific after being pole-axed early. He will be here for the Vic Derby, Self Assured for the 4yo Bonanza and Hunter Cup. Amazing Dream stays home, has the Sales Series, the two Oaks, Nevele R Series and the Harness Jewels. All worth 100 -150 grand, so she stands to boost her earnings somewhat by the end of July.

[teecee]

Smooth Deal's run in the Sales final was terrific after being pole-axed early. He will be here for the Vic Derby, Self Assured for the 4yo Bonanza and Hunter Cup. Amazing Dream stays home, has the Sales Series, the two Oaks, Nevele R Series and the Harness Jewels. All worth 100 -150 grand, so she stands to boost her earnings somewhat by the end of July.
Agree with all you say except I have heard that Self Assured will not go to the Hunter Cup using the Bonanza as a qualifier to the Miracle Mile (his main target).

[Showgrounds]

Agree with all you say except I have heard that Self Assured will not go to the Hunter Cup using the Bonanza as a qualifier to the Miracle Mile (his main target).

Not so sure, Cup has not been ruled out despite contrary reports.

[aussiebreno]

Agree with all you say except I have heard that Self Assured will not go to the Hunter Cup using the Bonanza as a qualifier to the Miracle Mile (his main target).

4yo Bonanza qualifies him for the Chariots, which in turn qualifies him for the Miracle Mile.

[Messenger]

The 2020 edition and the All Stars finish on a perfect note
Massive runs by the placegetters

http://www.harnesslink.com/Australia/All-The-Very-Best-From-All-Stars

http://www.harnesslink.com/News/Mark-Purdon-gets-perfect-farewell

[Showgrounds]

The 2020 edition and the All Stars finish on a perfect note
Massive runs by the placegetters

http://www.harnesslink.com/Australia/All-The-Very-Best-From-All-Stars

http://www.harnesslink.com/News/Mark-Purdon-gets-perfect-farewell

The extremely delighted winning owner thought Spankem was a sure thing, I told her the last 100 metres would be telling. It was. Amazing Dream's first crack at open class horses was the NZ FFA, where she stayed pocketed three back the pegs and never saw daylight. She ended up in the same position yesterday but was always going to get out over the two-mile trip. Once she torched past Copy That it was a slug-fest to the line and her huge heart got her the win.

Three individual Cup winners from three individual starters in the past four cups is a great story in itself. All were her own yearling sale selections. Would that not be a great promotion for the breeding industry both sides of the Tasman?

Spankem was, again, outstanding in defeat and Copy That is top class, if fallible. Read any story about the Cup on the Lincoln Farm's website and you get the impression Copy That's connections are not the most gracious group in defeat. Four days out from the Cup trainer Ray Green was inferring Amazing Dream, who had never had a standing start race, was likely to interfere with his horse. As it was she, Copy That and Spankem all led the charge for the lead. Copy That began to pull and for a while appeared to take control of its driver McKendry. After entering the home straight McKendry is said to have positioned the horse behind Spankem supposedly to use the sprint lane. To me, it appeared to hang in as it had halfway up the straight its previous start.

Once Copy That ducked in Amazing Dream ran past him. That is what my recently Specsavers tested eyes told me.

Go back three starts to the Franklin Cup and watch Copy That coming off the back straight with about 1500 metres to run. He mixed his gait and momentarily appears to gallop behind. These are only small observations but he is not the model racehorse, yet, that his connections and page sections of the media paint him to be. It's these little moments that cost you Group One wins.

Amazing Dream? I have always raved about her and she again justified my high opinion. 27 starts, 17 wins (7 Group Ones plus 2 Sales Series finals), 8 placings and $850k in stakes already. She will be eventually sold as a broodmare. What is she worth?

It was a great race to watch, make sure you watch the replay if you didn't see it.