Australia's Autumn Racing Carnival
continued.......page 2
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Tie the Knot winning second successive Mercedes
Classic
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Tie the Knot had earlier captivated the crowd with his bulldog effort to claim his second successive Mercedes Classic, and move to 3rd on the all time highest Australian money winners. After appearing hopelessly pocketed on the rails, a determined Shane Dye and Tie the Knot forced their way through a narrow opening to win going away by half a length. The horse received a wonderful reception from the big crowd, but was unable to cap a perfect campaign when he failed, under top weight of 60kg and on a heavy track, to win his 3rd successive Sydney Cup at Randwick over 3200m. It was a fine effort nonetheless.
The sweetheart of the Australian turf is surely Sunline. This mighty New Zealand mare returned in fine form, winning the Apollo Stakes first up, then shouldering 60kg to win the Group 1 Coolmore Classic, giving the runner up 8kgs. She then ran a most brave race, when narrowly beaten in the Doncaster Handicap, under top weight of 57.5kg, by the 3yo Over, who received a massive 6kg from the mare. Sunline bounced back next start, blitzing the field (including Over who trailed some 6 lengths in her wake) in the Group 1 All-Aged Stakes, run over the Doncaster distance but at weight for age. Her connections resisted the temptation to run her again in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the final day of the AJC carnival, and her brilliance was confirmed when Georgie Boy, runner up by some 4½ lengths to Sunline in the All-Aged, won the Group 1 race easily.
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Fairway
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Fairway missed out on winning the Sydney autumn 3yo triple crown. He scored an all the way win in the Group 1 Canterbury Guineas, run for the first time under lights, then inexplicably failed miserably in the Rosehill Guineas on a slow track, when he compounded in the straight to run at the tail of the field. His connections pushed on with the AJC Derby, and when allowed to dictate terms in front, Fairway cruised away with the Derby, in another all the way win. Fairway is trained by veteran trainer Jack Denham, of Might and Power fame, who had never won the AJC Derby before. Fairway is by the Danehill stallion Danzero, and also won the Sydney spring 3yo Triple Crown, and is in a strong position to win 3yo of the year.
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Over
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On the same day, Darren Gauci scored the biggest win of his distinguished career, when he partnered the John Hawkes trained 3yo Over to win the San Miguel $2.5m Doncaster Handicap. In a game effort, Over wore away at the champion mare Sunline, receiving a huge 6kgs from her, and finally got the better of the mare in the shadows of the post to win by a neck. It was the end of a consistent campaign by Over, and Gauci later added to his success when he won the Adelaide Cup on Bohemiath.
