Punters post-race: Saturday racing in review, January 23 by James Lamb, Luke Sheehan & David Hocking Artorius dominated his rivals at Sandown Image: Getty
A Freedman-trained 2YO stole the show at Sandown, a Kiwi star enhanced her reputation even further, and we saw an all-time sick beat in Sydney. Star Performer
Levante in the Westbury Classic (Ellerslie R3)
Wins don t come much bigger than that of Levante s over the ditch at Ellerslie in the G2 Westbury Classic. The Ken Kelso-trained daughter of Proisir looked like she was in all sorts of bother at the 600m mark when dead-last in the 10-horse field, with plenty of lengths to make up and seemingly having hit a flat spot. But Collett then swung her out to the middle of the track upon straightening and asked Levante for the ultimate effort. It took a bit of riding to get her going but once she hit top gear the star Kiwi mare launched out of the ground to sweep past her rivals and score a surprisingly soft win
Racing review: Randwick and Flemington A Set the default text size A Set large text size
Replay A Set the default text size A Set large text size
The focus for this review will be Randwick and Flemington on Saturday, along with an early look towards the Magic Millions this Saturday.
Randwick
Not a strong Highway
Pinnacle Prince does have a boom on him, but from what I saw on Saturday, he might be better suited over the short course. He won, but just, and the horse that was taking ground off was Portuguese Tart, a winner of three from 36. The last 400 metres was 23.89 and the last 200 metres was 12.35 and relative to the day, that was ordinary. I don’t want to be following this lot should they run in a similar Highway soon.
Zarastro and stablemate Coastwatch, both expensive yearling sale purchases, clash in the Precise Air Handicap (1200m).
Only Zarastro is eligible for next month’s Magic Millions at the Gold Coast after the Waller team secured the I Am Invincible colt for $1.05 million at last January’s sale. Fastnet Rock colt Coastwatch cost $750,000 at the Inglis Easter Sale.
The Form: Complete NSW Racing thoroughbred form, including video replays and all you need to know about every horse, jockey and trainer. Find a winner here!
Hugh Bowman will ride Zarastro for Chris Waller at Randwick on Saturday. Photo: Mark Evans/Getty Images