Australian Guineas: Rare Guineas Double Looms

All Too Hard should win again

The G1 Australian Guineas over 1600m at Flemington provides champion three-year-old colt All Too Hard the opportunity to add a race double to his already bulging CV...

The half brother to champion sprinting mare Black Caviar will become just the second galloper in Australian Guineas history to take the Caulfield - Australian Guineas double, joining Mahogany who took both races in 1993.

The G1 Australian Guineas over 1600m is a relatively new race on the racing calendar. Run under set weights, it was first held in 1986 when True Version was successful. For a short period it had a distance change from 1998 to 2000 when conducted over 2000m.

Some of Australia's best three-year-olds have won the race, Mahogany possibly the best. He was outstanding at that age also winning the AJC and Victoria Derby double as well as the Guineas double earning him a Timeform rating of 127.

Just eight horses have attempted the Caulfield-Australian Guineas double so All Too Hard takes on a tough assignment aiming to become just the second horse to achieve the rare feat. In the last 20 years 57 horses have contested the Caulfield Guineas in the spring then the Australian Guineas in the Autumn. There have been seven winners from that group, the last Apache Cat in 2005. However by comparison to Mahogany and any other three-year-old to contest the Australian Guineas for that matter, All Too Hard brings the strongest form and ratings profile to the race since it's inception.

In an interesting aside, All Too Hard's sire Casino Prince rated 122 when beaten in a photo finish by Miss Finland in the 2007 renewal of the Australian Guineas. All Too Hard has already dominated older horses under Group 1 weight for age conditions and now stands with a Timeform rating of 128, the highest rated three-year-old to ever contest the race. Mahogany came into the 1993 renewal with a Timeform rating of 122.

At level weights it is clear All Too Hard has a big margin on his own age group this afternoon, some eight pounds better than his nearest rival Albrecht (if that horse was rating to his best form) and from 12 pounds or more on the rest of the field. 

The colt has been in sparkling form since resuming in the G1 Orr Stakes over 1400m at Caulfield on the 9th February then fourteen days later quickly adding the Futurity last week running to a new peak Timeform rating of 128. Admittedly he backs up within seven days, something he has never attempted previously but Team Hawkes would not be asking him to do it unless the colt was ready.

All Too Hard returns to the spacious Flemington track where he is trained, the colt being unbeaten there from two starts and steps back to his more preferred distance of 1600m, all positive factors here. Looking for dangers, on best ratings the promising Albrecht is closest to All Too Hard on 120, but in two runs since a spell he has been disappointing to say the least. Certainly punters will echo those sentiments.

Starting favourite both times he was six of seven fresh up in the Manfred Stakes at Caulfield followed by a seven of twelve finish in the G3 C S Hayes Stakes over 1400m at Flemington. This is his third run of the campaign but he should be starting to reach peak fitness. After his last run Albrecht was heading back to Sydney, however trainer Peter Snowden has opted for another run in Melbourne so he must be expecting a better performance.

Albrecht is drawn perfectly in five and now stretches out in distance to 1600m. If he was to produce his narrow second G1 Golden Rose (1400m) rating then he will at least make All Too Hard raise a sweat.

Other chances include the promising Philippi and Sheer Talent however both have to find several pounds in rating merit today to make a contest of it, not improbable as both are lightly raced with plenty of upside. Philippi (Timeform rated 106p) has raced just four times, winning all three starts during the spring. He resumed after winning the listed UCI Stakes (1800m) at Flemington on Turnbull Stakes day when fourth to Sheer Talent beaten less than two lengths in the G3 C S Hayes Stakes rating below form but there was much to like about the effort all the same. Philippi has plenty more to come and I am expecting him to improve sharply from that run today but realistically he is racing for the minor prizes.

The same can be said of C S Hayes Stakes winner Sheer Talent. A winner of two of his five starts, he was a "grinding" winner in the Hayes Stakes and appears more of a staying type in the making. He will appreciate the 1600m today but on ratings is well short of the level required to win.

Although not ideally drawn out in 14, it is hard to find a negative for All Too Hard. Cramped starting prices are not unusual for this family. For the second time in his short career it is something All Too Hard will have in common with his iconic big sister. (The pair both won the G1 Orr Stakes)

All Too Hard is not a betting proposition, so just enjoy his performance.

Off Time: 05.10 BST

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