Moonee Valley Review: Stars light up the Valley

Moonee Valley Racecourse.

Head of Timeform Australia Gary Cripse takes a look back at Friday's card at Moonee Valley...

Friday evening's Moonee Valley meeting kicked off a big weekend of racing with the G2 A J Moir Stakes in a new time slot to complement the Bill Stutt Stakes, JRA Cup and Champagne Stakes. Previously run on Cox Plate day, the Moir Stakes is now placed to be a major lead up to the G1 Manikato Stakes on Cox Plate eve and several of Friday night's field will probably head that way.

Honest Queensland sprinter Buffering who has lived in the shadow of champion mare Black Caviar and Hay List over the last twelve months returned to racing with a strong winning performance from the front. Expertly handled by Hugh Bowman, Buffering was always in control running solid sectionals both halves. He held out the rapidly improving Ready To Rip and Thankgodyou'rehere in a blanket finish where seven of the nine runners finished with two lengths of the winner.

Buffering was not at his peak, evidenced by the Timeform rating he ran to of 120+, some 6 lb under his master figure. There is more to come from Buffering.

The improvement by Ready To Rip since joining Peter Moody's stable has been Manighar-like, improving from a basic 111 Timeform rated galloper when trained in Queensland to now rating 119. A case could be mounted that Ready To Rip was luckless in the straight hitting the line hard after being slightly held up in traffic on the point of the turn and early part of the short straight.

Third-placed Thankgodyou'rehere racing for a new stable caught the eye with a strong late finish. He has ability when right and showed here that his new stable will not be long finding a suitable 1400m race. Sydney sprinter Tiger Tees (116) was disappointing. Set to challenge on the home turn he failed to run on in the closing stages with the expected improvement failing to materialise. He is worth another chance on a bigger track.

Black Caviar had won the last two Moir renewals placing a high value on the race so it was not surprising that Buffering's win was well below the average five year winning Timeform rating for the race but still within the parameters suggested by historical race standards. The winning performance by champion unbeaten colt Pierro in the G2 Bill Stutt Stakes (1600m) stole the night.

It was his eighth victory and probably his easiest, although it is fair to say the quality of opposition left much to be desired. The race was run at a solid gallop and although Pierro was eased down he still ran to a Timeform rating of 124+, a figure supported by race standards but several pounds higher than the five year winning average. Interestingly Pierro ran to a solid Timefigure of 122.

Sydney filly Snitzerland maintained her unbeaten run this campaign in the G3 Champagne Stakes (1200m) scoring her third straight win since resuming from a spell after running second in the G1 Golden Slipper. As an interesting aside, the 2012 Golden Slipper Stakes form continues to hold up well with both first and second from that race, Pierro and Snitzerland, winning on the same program here and both unbeaten since their Slipper runs.

Snitzerland took on a handy line up and a win was never in doubt cruising home with almost two lengths to spare over fellow Sydneysider Hoss Amor. She ran to 114+, four pounds below her master figure but was not pushed out. Snitzerland is the highest rated winner of the Champagne Stakes since Virage De Fortune in 2005 and it is worth noting that past winners of the race have a good record at winning group one races in the next twelve months.

Not only did Virage De Fortune achieve it but 2010 winner Lone Rock won a Goodwood. Ortensia ran a close second in the 2008 renewal.

Saturday's Rosehill meeting was a lack lustre affair with most interest focussed on champion Sydney mare More Joyous who contested the Golden Pendant under set weight conditions. Clearly she was admirably weighted and therefore no surprise to see her at very short odds. More Joyous is being aimed at the Cox Plate so there is still improvement to come as indicated by her Timeform rating of 122+ in the Pendant, still six pounds short of her master 128 figure.

Ratings aside, More Joyous did set a few historical records last Saturday. She started at $1.03 after opening at $1.02 and at that price was the shortest priced horse to win a feature Sydney race since Valerius won the 1961 Chipping Norton Stakes at odds of (1/33). The Pendant was More Joyous' 20th Stakes win joining a select group of mares in Australian racing history to have won 20 or more Stakes races, Wakeful, Desert Gold, Tranquil Star, Wenona Girl, Sunline and Black Caviar.

Champion trainer Gai Waterhouse is aiming to have More Joyous tackle the Cox Plate at her fourth run back from a spell and it is not hard to see why. At her previous two campaigns that went to five runs, More Joyous won her first four runs each preparation then failed in the fifth run. In the spring of 2010 it was the Cox Plate and the Autumn of 2011 it was the Doncaster. It is significant that her 2012 Autumn preparation was just four runs and she won them all.