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Horses to follow from Morphettville on Saturday.
With the carnival now only two weeks away, if Saturday's meeting was just an interlude to what lies ahead, we are in for a treat. There were strong winners, a few hard luck stories and, importantly, several horses worth adding to the blackbook.
The first is the two-year-old Czech Out from the Gordon Richards & Damien Moyle yard, who looks a perfect Breeders Stakes prospect on Oaks and Sangster Day. Sent out at a huge price in the Listed Without Fear Stakes, he looked every bit of it early after being slowly away from a wide draw. He struggled to keep up, and Taylor Johnstone had to push him along mid race just to stay in touch. He straightened 7.5 lengths off the speed and, on a day when most winners came down the centre, Johnstone ducked back to the inside to save ground, which is traditionally the inferior lane at headquarters. Czech Out knuckled down, made big inroads and kept coming to grab third at around $11 a place, beaten only 1.2 lengths.
Still a maiden and likely to go around at another big quote in a fortnight, he has lifted his Racing and Sports peak by 11 pounds and is clearly still working it out. Home in 34.06 on a soft track that was edging towards heavy, he was the fastest finisher on the card and produced a strong time figure. His sectionals scream that he will relish the rise to 1200m in the Breeders.
Two more worth adding to the blackbook came a race earlier in another sprint, and they were the first two home in Swiftie Harriet and Dobbinair. Both were well found in the market and ran right up to expectation, finishing full of running after settling near the tail and spotting the leaders six lengths at the turn. Swiftie Harriet matched her RAS peak and was only first up, so she has plenty to build on. Dobbinair was only a touch off his peak third up and should be at his absolute top next time. Both look well placed to find another handicap in the coming weeks and will take beating when they do.