3 minute read
Everybody knows that the colours of Christmas are red and green and tangerine. Te Akau Tangerine in particular, and the Kiwi-cum-Cranbourne-based outfit might just be set to celebrate the Standish season with a string of sack-stuffing winners.
Imperatriz, among Timeform's top three mares anywhere in the world, has been the headline act in the yard's trans-Tasman transition but beneath the fanfare the foundations remain fortified.
Back home the yard have had 72 winners from 301 runners over the past six months. A strike-rate of 24% has them outperforming the market and well ahead of the 18% they struck at in the corresponding timespan last year.
There isn't 72 winners to speak of in Australia, but the eight that they have turned out have come from just 39 runners, and that 21% strikerate has them ahead of the market. With horses in the market (up to $10) they have struck at 33% and returned ~1.5 winners for each that the market has expected.
Only the winner of the listed Kensington Stakes outran tangerine trainer Mark Walker's Wednesday winner Sans Doute on the clock at Flemington's Rapid meeting and there is, no doubt, that the stable are on the cusp of heating right up - ignited by festive fuel.
This rhetoric points to Rhetorical - the stable's only entry at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
Rhetorical made the stable switch after a series of similar efforts in New Zealand; looking to have had her chance to do better if she was.
The Aussie air has clearly done Rhetorical well with her local debut around the Valley packed with promise; a slighty better rating and a punchy sectional hinting at her, like her stable, being on the cusp of a holiday highpoint.
She will need to hit that promised peak if she is to land the prize on Saturday but the stage is set and the price is right; the premier jockey booked to steer the sleigh only sweetens the deal.
The stable also go one-out at Caulfield on Boxing Day and we will stick with both the theme and the team, making Rubicon Crossing our each-way play in race five.
Rubicon Crossing cast the die and marched on Cranbourne with a slightly stronger rating than Rhetorical and made an immediate impact, winning at the Valley in good style.
She hasn't gone on with that style in three runs since but she can be creatively forgiven for that and now she stumbles into a race that is winnable in the extreme. Much of the opposition is patchy at best and substandard at worst.
The Maher/Eustace pair, among others, should ensure a price to play and play we shall.
Standish Season's Greetings to all readers of the Melbourne Mail!
THE MELBOURNE MAIL
Bet Of The Day: Moonee Valley Race 2 #13 Rhetorical @ $4.40
Each Way Play: Caulfield Race 5 #16 Rubicon Crossing
