Newmarket HCP

[imaufo]

Ready to rock - race of the year will be worth weight

By Craig Young

March 9, 2005

Newcastle hulk Fastnet Rock must concede super-charged filly Alinghi 3.5 kilograms in what is shaping as a blockbuster group 1 Newmarket Handicap at Flemington on Saturday.

Weights for the straight-track shootout were released yesterday, with Fastnet Rock allotted 57kg and Alinghi 53.5kg, which prompted the filly's Hall of Fame trainer Lee Freedman to say "it could be the race of the year".

Fastnet Rock's trainer, Paul Perry, said: "Exactly what I expected" when asked about the weight, while Mark Morrissey, the form analyst for bookmaker Colin Tidy's Horsebet.com.au, reckoned it would be an Alinghi benefit.

"For mine, it is a no-contest," Morrissey said yesterday. "Alinghi will win and she'll win easily.

"I think that she'll go past him like he is nailed to the fence." Morrissey's market will be released tomorrow and Alinghi is set to be quoted at $2, while supporters of Fastnet Rock will secure upwards of $2.70.

Fastnet Rock and a partner galloped down the straight course at Flemington yesterday morning, with Perry declaring: "It was fantastic, super, you couldn't ask to have a horse in better shape.

"He is rock-hard fit and ready to go. It won't be easy, in fact, it will be bloody difficult to give a filly of her class weight and a beating, but he is such a massive horse he still might be able to carry that big weight and win."

The two clashed for the first time as three-year-olds in the Lightning Stakes at Flemington on February 5, when Fastnet Rock gave Alinghi 2.5kg under the weight-for-age conditions and beat her a neck.

Fastnet Rock went on to win the Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield with 57kg.

But Morrissey said: "I'm not convinced by the rave reviews Fastnet Rock received after that race. He beat a 150-1 shot in a photo. They ran slower sectionals than the middle-distance race on the same day. There was no merit in the win at all, it was handed to him on a platter."

A win in Saturday's 1200m race would net Fastnet Rock the coveted sprint Triple Crown - Lightning Stakes, Oakleigh Plate, Newmarket Handicap - which was last won by the Freedman-trained Schillaci in 1992.

"People will come from a long way away to see this race," Freedman said.

"It could be the race of the year and there is every chance they'll never clash again, as our filly will go to Sydney [for the Doncaster Handicap] and then on to America. He [Fastnet Rock] looks like going to Europe."

Freedman will also start his VRC Oaks winner Special Harmony (54kg) in the Newmarket. The top-class mare will be returning from an enforced spell after having bone chips removed from her knees.

Freedman's dual Melbourne Cup-winning mare Makybe Diva is set to resume battle with Caulfield Cup winner Elvstroem in the Australian Cup on Saturday.

Elvstroem has accounted for Makybe Diva at each of two runs this preparation, but Morrissey said: "I'm confident the mare will start favourite."

Melbourne jockey Darren Gauci is set to cut his workload with the powerful John Hawkes stable.

"I'm looking forward to going freelance," Gauci told The Age. "I've been with John for 10 years, we've had a lot of success together, I'm very much looking to starting again. I'll still do some riding for John, but a change like this is something I will look forward to."

The Guy Walter-trained Patezza yesterday received a 1.5kg penalty for the $2 million Doncaster Handicap on Easter Monday.

Patezza earned the penalty by winning last Wednesday's Newcastle Newmarket and will carry 52kg in the Doncaster.

Stablemate Danni Martine received a 2kg penalty for winning last Saturday's Coolmore Classic and will carry 50.5kg.

"Patezza's penalty was a little higher than I'd normally hand out but it will enhance his chances of gaining a start in the Doncaster," Racing NSW chief handicapper Mark Webbey said yesterday.

Webbey also issued last Saturday's Victoria Gold Cup winner Charnwood Green with a 1kg penalty, taking its Doncaster weight to 51kg.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Horseracing/Ready-to-rock--race-of-the-year-will-be-worth-weight/2005/03/08/1110160830978.html

[imaufo]

Fastnet Rock has to defy the odds


If Fastnet Rock is to win the G1 Newmarket Handicap 1200m at Flemington on Saturday he will need equal the weight carrying for a three-year-old.

Not since Ajax in 1938 has a three-year-old carried 57kg and won the feature sprint down the straight six at Flemington.

The Lee Freedman-trained Alinghi has been allocated 53.5kg.

The weights for the G1 Newmarket Handicap are below:

$1M G1 SEPPELT WINES NEWMARKET HANDICAP 1200m (WEIGHTS)

No Horse Trainer Ballot Wgt

1 FASTNET ROCK Paul Perry 1 57
2 SPECIAL HARMONY Lee Freedman 3 54
3 ALINGHI Lee Freedman 2 53.5
4 KEENINSKY (NZ) Graeme Rogerson 4 52
5 GOLD WELLS Danny O'Brien 5 51.5
6 OUR QUIVIRA (NZ) Peter G Moody 6 51
7 FOREPLAY Mathew Ellerton 7 51
8 NOT A SINGLE DOUBT Tony Vasil 8 51
9 GENERAL BAYTON Donna Gaskin 9 51
10 DON'T TELL TOM John Collins 10 51
11 DANBIRD Danny O'Brien 11 51



racenet Tuesday, 8 March 2005

[imaufo]

Fastnet ready to rock history

March 12, 2005


History says Fastnet Rock has a mammoth task in today's Newmarket Handicap at Flemington, but he is one of those rare horses you would rather have running for you than against you.

The weight-for-age scale, the greatest equaliser of all, is another mountain he has to climb. But when the whips are out and the chips down expect Fastnet Rock to find something, even if he is challenged by the high-quality filly Alinghi.

Weight, of course, will stop a train and Fastnet Rock has been allocated 57 kilograms, which means he will have to carry more than outstanding sprinters such as Schillaci with 55.5kg in 1992 and Placid Ark with a half-kilo less in 1987. Shaftesbury Avenue scored with 58kg in 1991 but he was older.

The most recent three-year-old with 57kg to win the major Flemington straight-six event was Ajax in 1938.

To get an idea of whether the handicap can take the edge off their ability, Timeform rates Fastnet Rock at 127 compared with Alinghi's 122. For handicaps, the late Phil Bull, founder of Timeform, adjusted his figures on his own weight-for-age scale but the conventional table can be applied to the Newmarket.

With 57kg, Fastnet Rock is 2kg - about 4lbs - over wfa, while Alinghi, on 53.5kg, is a kilo over.

When a horse's weight is over wfa it is taken from its rating, while if it is under wfa, it is a plus. Thus, for the Newmarket, Fastnet Rock is at 123, which still has him in front of Alinghi, down to 120.

Many experts, too, give jockey form an assessment, but in group 1 races in the past year no rider has better figures than Glen Boss, who handles Fastnet Rock - even Alinghi's pilot, Damien Oliver, regarded by many as Australia's best jockey.

With the New Zealander Keeninsky, also a three-year-old, engaged, a sizzling speed is expected on a good track with a forecast for a hot day. Keeninsky, a leader, ran 1 minute 7.55 seconds for 1200 metres to take the Telegraph Handicap at Trentham in January.

Alinghi recorded 1:8.77 in winning the 1200m Robert Sangster Stakes at Morphettville last start on February 23. But that time has been questioned because a rider-less horse might have activated the timing equipment.

While the Sangster was a group 1 weight-for-age race for fillies and mares, Alinghi doesn't have the same form against older horses as Fastnet Rock. Sure, the depth of the Oakleigh Plate field last start was questionable but the colt did carry 57kg, another assignment regarded as far too demanding for one so young.

Considering there are only 10 acceptors, the field should race in one bunch and a fair go is expected, hopefully without the benefit of some finding a fast lane or getting a spinnaker run due to a tailwind peculiar to certain parts of the Flemington straight.

Apart from the most favoured pair, other trifecta hopes are three-year-olds Foreplay, an excellent run behind Fastnet Rock in the Oakleigh Plate, and Not A Single Doubt.

On his best figures, Not A Single Doubt, 4kg under weight-for-age, should run boldly.

VERDICT: The Rock will not crumble under 57kg and Alinghi's pressure.

smh

[cheesebeast]

That's a shitty looking field for A$1 mill.

[cheesebeast]

GBP167K matched on BF for this race.

[imaufo]

Alinghi packs a stunning punch

By Max Presnell

March 13, 2005

The Sun-Herald


Alinghi sails while 'The Rock' sinks. . .

In fact, the great filly scored a quick and merciful knockout.

Fastnet Rock raced his heart out against Alinghi in the Newmarket Handicap at Flemington yesterday but just wasn't good enough at the weights.

Surging clear from the 300m under a purposeful Glen Boss ride, Fastnet Rock loomed as large as expected, but a couple of jabs from Damien Oliver on Alinghi put the bout beyond doubt.

"Having the last crack suited her," said trainer Lee Freedman, who rated this victory sweeter than his first Newmarket with Schillaci, also a remarkable three-year-old speedster, in 1993.

Freedman raised eyebrows recently when he labelled Alinghi the best sprinter he had trained, and the equal of any horse in all categories.

But we are fortunate to be racing in an era of greats.

Even in defeat, Fastnet Rock still ran the 1200m in 1min 8.34sec. How many speedsters have run so fast under 57kg in the Newmarket and broken 1min 9sec, let alone a three-year-old?

Freedman now has a tough decision. Does Alinghi come to Sydney for the Doncaster Handicap on March 28, or the weight-for-age TJ Smith on AJC Derby Day two days earlier?

If the Doncaster's the target, will she go straight into Australia's toughest mile, or run in the George Ryder Stakes over 1500m at Rosehill next Saturday?

It's unlikely he would submit her to three testing runs three weeks in a row.

Racing NSW handicapper Mark Webbey reckons Alinghi will get a penalty of 1kg to 1.5kg for the Doncaster.