3 minute read
Timeform recap the 2016 Turnbull Stakes won by Hartnell and the 2016 Moir Stakes won by Extreme Choice.
A massive weekend of racing kicked off with the Moir Stakes meeting at Moonee Valley on Friday night but we will start our recap at the top - the top performance of the season so far in fact, which now belongs to Hartnell after his Turnbull Stakes romp.
Hartnell returned a new peak Timeform rating of 128, up a pound from his Hill Stakes winning mark of 127, and the highest rating achieved in the Turnbull Stakes in the past 25 years.
It was 25 years ago that Naturalism produced a 126-rated performance when winning the Turnbull by 3 lengths, a margin that hadn't been replicated (no one has gone close) until Hartnell's 3.3 length success on Sunday.
Hartnell's Turnbull was won in the second fastest raw time in that period - his 2:01.03 only bettered by Elvstroem in 2004 who ran 2:00.46. When adjusted for conditions on the day (wind played a role as well as the going) Hartnell's overall timefigure was 122, matching the timefigure that Elvstroem produced.
Further illustrating the quality of Hartnell's performance was the closing sectional. The wind ensured that the straight was quick and was conducive to fast closing splits but it is still noteworthy that the last 600m was the third fastest in the last 25 years behind 2012 and 2006, both of which were run slower early and produced a much softer overall figure.
James McDonald, who afforded Hartnell a perfect steer, was very gentle with him once the damage was done and it's not difficult to imagine that a rating of 128 could still sell Hartnell slightly short.
Talk post-race was of a looming clash with superstar mare Winx. The ledger currently reads a lopsided 3-0 to Winx and she disposed of him by 3.5 lengths (as close as he has been to her) just over a month ago in the Warwick Stakes.
Hartnell ran to a rating of 120 that day, a sharp first-up figure for him but well short of the 128 that he has improved to in three subsequent runs. A rating of 128 matches the peak figure of Winx who, if the race was run in a bubble and both replicated their prior form exactly, would now only be expected to come out on top by virtue of her mares allowance.
Behind Hartnell, Jameka backed up her strong performance in the Naturalism and her 118 rating translates to her being a terrific chance of winning the Caulfield Cup - particularly if Hartnell takes another path - but there is very little meat on the bones of the race from third back in terms of form for the top level this spring.
Hartnell posted a Group 1 performance and the rest could get nowhere near it.
Back to Friday night where Extreme Choice landed the first of what will be many blows for the three-year-olds against the older horses.
Gary Crispe made the point in his review of last season's two-year-old group - of which Extreme Choice was the highest rated - that this group was tracking well above par, predicting that they would beat the elders in at least 6 Group 1 races over the course of the season.
Extreme Choice ran to 124p on Friday night and added a new string to his bow in the process. His Blue Diamond win came by accelerating from on top of a hot speed and breaking a field of lesser horses. On Friday he sat back and let the race unfold before closing over the top - his last 200m far and away the best in the race.
He was running away from them all at the line, including Chautauqua, who was caught out over the 1000m.
The race was run at a solid tempo but Chautauqua is better served with the revs right up and over 1200m. He's no sit and sprint type. His weapon is sustained speed and his best performances have come in 1200m races run faster early than late. In fact, in 12 runs over the past 2 years, Chautauqua has won six from six in races that were considered high pressure early and two from four when the the race was faster late. Those two wins were 'out of jail' wins in the Gilgai and Lightning.
There was going to be no Houdini act against a horse as sharp as Extreme Choice was on Friday night but it's certainly not time to worry about the grey. In the right circumstance he will be back to his best.
Extreme Choice is now the second highest rated three-year-old in what is shaping as a hot group. Top billing belongs to the 126-rated Astern and a clash between the pair at Flemington will be one of the highlights of the spring, especially with the likes of Russian Revolution (rated 120) and Star Turn (119+) also heading that way with claims to being labelled high class.
