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No Corresponding race in 2002-4 |
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MAY 12th SUMMING UP
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A very open race and a longer priced (8/1+) would not be a surprise. In
the later season Listed+ races there is usually an obvious ranking and
the higher quality runners stand out. The upper level here is not that
high and therefore a ready, precocious type could not be ruled out on the
basis of being outclassed. The softer ground at the meeting so far adds
another factor which can change the relative positions of these quite closely
matched fillies.
Ooh Aah Camara produced the best rating by a filly so far in 2005
in winning the Lily Agnes and has the size and run style to develop further.
Despite having to give weight to all the others she sets the standard.
However, the better ground at Chester seemed to allow her to show notable
improvement from her previous runs on softer going. Therefore, softer ground
may well be a disadvantage.
Of the others the pair of Salut D'Amour & Gamble In Gold
have the best profiles to improve from their wins to rate around 80+. Both
have shown strong finishes over 5f.
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RACE QUALITY:
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There has not been a Listed race for 2yos at the meeting previously and
this becomes the first race of that level in the season. In previous years
there has been a Class D Fillies' Novice race.
In 2003 the Novice race was won by Oman Sea from Majestic Desert (Group
1 placed later); in 2004 the Shergar Cup winner Justaquestion beat just
a useful filly in Umniya; in 2002 the newcomer Aunt Rita beat a group of
average maiden types.
The upgrade of a race this early in the season to Listed status is questionable.
In race terms it doesn't matter what it's called, of course, if the money
is right it will attract the best of what's available.
However, two factors do matter the first of which is 'availability'. So
far in 2005 a total of around 450 2yos have made their debuts of which
half are not eligible to run in this race. Add to that the overall quality
of the 250 fillies 'available' for this race and it's very unlikely to
be a strong event with a lot of depth. It's positioning before the bigger
stables debut some of their 'Royal Ascot' fillies compound this problem.
Around 1,500 fillies will have run by the end of the year and we have seen
less than a fifth of them.
The second problem is with breeding and sales 'promotion'. It's unfortunate
that rather than using numerical ratings that sales catalogues persist
in a descriptive format and lump all 'Pattern' races together as 'black
type' races. Therefore a filly that's managed to place in the weakest Listed
race ever run gets black type along with the likes of Attraction. The only
difference is small type versus capital letters. Introducing Listed races
like this makes the problem worse because there are even more 'black type'
fillies knocking around and we've further lost a grasp on what the sales
catalogue is for. The fix to this problem is simple - use number ratings
in catalogues.
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SIRES:
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First season sires Bertolini
(Bow Bridge) & Fantastic
Light (Peace And Love) have runners.
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