Saturday’s two-year-olds, with Annabel Neasham playing a major role, overshadowed Anamoe, Australia’s best racehorse, and James McDonald, who had a bad day at the office.
Maybe Anamoe scored like a $1.60 chance should in the Apollo Stakes but hardly transmitted an overwhelming champion feeling, particularly as the corresponding Orr Stakes at Sandown had a stronger field, headed by the winner Jacquinot and I’m Thunderstruck.
However, the youngsters at Randwick exceeded expectations as did Neasham, in producing a vision splendid after her Learning To Fly notched the Inglis Millennium in spectacular fashion.
Dorothy Gail, also trained by Neasham, came down 300 metres out and she took off from the enclosure, long shirt flaring and hardly shod to gallop, to the crash site.
Sure, other interested parties have rushed to fallen horses previously, but none had just won a $2 million race.
After being satisfied that the jockey Tom Marquand and Dorothy Gail were in good hands she returned quickly if lacking the same turn of foot. Racegoers, not diverted by the after-event action on the main stage, applauded. The joint should have hummed in appreciation.
Annabel Neasham returns to scale with Chad Schofield and Learning To Fly after checking on Tom Marquand.Credit:Getty
Certainly, there was a buzz about Learning To Fly. Navigator Chad Schofield was able to get her home impressively from a wide gate. Yes, there was a fast lane down the outside, estimated by one wise guy as being worth two lengths.
Still Learning To Fly is a worthy Golden Slipper favourite as Neasham had her looking bigger and stronger than her previous debut success. Considering she had only had two starts the trainer, now showing her worth with two-year-olds, could improve her even further.
Neasham built her upward climb in the Sydney trainer’s ladder basically with imports like Zaaki but has now spread her talent to two-year-olds, the category that produced another eye-catcher in the Pierro Plate when Cafe Millennium, tall and green, tailed out early and loped home late under Marquand, producing a freakish result to the eye.
Those charging down the outside had an advantage but the raw power John O’Shea has to work with makes the colt an exciting prospect.
Hopefully Marquand, like Neasham in hailing from England, who on earlier visits rekindled memories of a young Lester Piggott, recovers quickly because he adds spice to a Sydney scene, already talent-rich that adds to merit to J-Mac domination, slack on Saturday prompting the ethos of battling jockeys: being good depends on the horse power under you.
J-Mac put the accelerator down on some mounts, particularly Waterford, regarded as one of the best bets on the program in the Wild Oats Sprint, but there was nothing there.
