3 minute read

We review all the key races and ratings from Saturday.

Champagne Stakes – Fireball (113)

Fireball turned the tables on the well fancied stablemate Campione D'italia to win the third leg of the two-year-old triple crown.

Tim Clark gave Fireball a genuinely perfect ride – positioned in the ideal spot given the pace of the race, and also on the fence in run which was a huge advantage all day.

Nine of the ten winners settled fence in run with the rail out and the one that didn't – Captain Furai, settled in the 1-1.

Fireball drew barrier one and had every favour, albeit the favourite did have the fence in run too but just looped a bit wider and couldn't reel him in.

That said, I think Fireball was holding Campione D'italia on the line and was probably the deserving winner on the day.

He's run to a RAS rating of 113 in a very basic time figure which is below average for a Champagne winner – not surprising given the trend of two-year-olds all season.

The winning average this century is 116, with Fireball sitting alongside Captivant and below King's Legacy (114), Broadsiding (116), She's Extreme (116) and Castelvecchio (116).

It is ahead of Nepotism at 112 but he'd done it in much better style with a stronger Timeform rating of 116, similar to Militarize at 115 on the Timeform scale.

Running in a Champagne Stakes at two isn't going to harm these horses progression and race craft, for the ones that head to Brisbane and for those that return in the Spring, but I think we'll see the trend continuing that some of the best two-year-olds won't even race at two.

All Aged Stakes – Beiwacht (123)

Nash got a tune out of Beiwacht to lead throughout and win the All Aged, running to a RAS rating of 123 which matches his Golden Rose peak, albeit in a time figure nine pounds slower .

In behind, it was a bit messy with a few riders seemingly working out that the fence was the place to be – none more so than J-Mac who had an absolute horror show aboard Angel Capital.

It wasn't quite as bad as the trainwreck in the Rupert Clarke but he just never got a crack at them in another frustrating result for connections and backers – they'd now have to think about going to Queensland in desperate search of his Group One.

The Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) and Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) are the logical options there although I'd still love to see him run over a mile.

Sectionally, Jimmysstar was the best run in the race. Adjusted for sectionals, his time rating comes out on top and he did it as the widest runner throughout. He's clearly just needed 1400m to show his best this time in.

I'd love to see Jimmysstar forgo The Everest in the Spring – he can't beat Ka Ying Rising anyway and there should be plenty of options for him at 1400-1600m – even while avoiding Autumn Glow for the majority.

As for the winner – he's just a good, on speed colt at this sort of trip. I doubt they press on to Queensland with him and I guess the Golden Eagle via The Everest is his target in the Spring, but I'm not sure he could beat Ka Ying Rising in the former or Sheza Alibi in the latter.

In terms of All Aged winners, 123 is bang on a high average for this century. That list is topped by Sunline at 129 (x2) and Hay List, while Giga Kick (126), Trapeze Artist (124), Jimmysstar (122), Cascadian (122), Tofane (119) and Magic Time (119) are other recent winners.

The Quokka – Jigsaw (116)

Jigsaw kept the miraculous run alive to win The Quokka at Ascot, now notching up feature wins in Melbourne, New Zealand and Perth.

For this class of horse they had the opportunity to run faster overall. Logan Bates able to cross from out wide pretty easily in the end and while he did run them along, he rode Jigsaw very well again.

On the RAS scale this is a slight dip on his modal rating of 118 but the Timeform number says he's held his form throughout the winning streak.

Rey Magnerio just got a pair further back than ideal and ran on well for second. I wonder whether he does now profile more as a 1400m horse having won the Gold Rush here in the Summer.

116 sits alongside the rating run by Jokers Grin last year, behind Overpass' two victories which rated 119 and 120 in 2023 and 2024 respectively.