Wind plays havoc at Sandown
It was such a Melbourne day at Sandown: sunshine one minute, sideways rain the next, before storms and lightning eventually brought the meeting to a premature end.
The one constant throughout was the strong wind, and boy, did it have an impact on riding tactics.
For mine, jockeys can overdo the importance of finding cover in high winds. Sure, cover helps, and it was more valuable than normal on Saturday, but not at the expense of conceding so much field position that you simply can’t win.
The result can be farcically run races as riders become more concerned with finding shelter than holding a competitive position.
Ben Melham showed aboard Ivan’s Hero that facing the breeze wasn’t necessarily a death sentence. He was happy to roll forward and expose his mount to the wind, yet Ivan’s Hero still had enough in reserve to stave off Cruiserweight, who enjoyed cover behind the leader throughout.
Cover is an advantage, but field position still matters.
Sliding doors: What if the Moir was Race 9?
Racing can be a game of inches, but sometimes it’s a game of minutes.
John McArdle had made no secret of his concerns about a genuinely wet track for My Gladiola in the lead-up to Saturday’s Group 1 Moir Stakes. He had said she would be competitive on a Soft 7 or better, but anything worse would raise serious concerns.
As it happened, the Moir was run as Race 8. My Gladiola ducked up the inside and landed her first Group 1. The rest is history.
Then, less than half an hour later, the heavens opened.
A deluge ripped through Sandown, delaying Race 9 and quickly turning conditions into quagmire territory. Ultimately the last two races were abandoned with the conditions failing to improve.
It begs a fascinating sliding-doors question: what happens if that rain arrives an hour earlier?
Given McArdle’s concerns about genuinely heavy ground, does My Gladiola even take her place?
Sometimes the difference between winning a Group 1 and watching it from the stalls is simply timing.
Why did they plot such a wide course in the Moir?
Sure, the inside lane or two had given up after the rainfall, but it was surprising to see most jockeys so desperate to get beyond the middle of the track in the Moir Stakes.
As it turned out, the first four across the line were all closer to the inside throughout the race, while Extragalactic, who stayed closest to the rail, was arguably the run of the race. She also produced the best last 600/400m splits of the meeting (courtesy Vince Accardi, Daily Sectionals).
Anything wider than lane eight looked to be in quicksand, which was how the track walked. Accardi noted in is his post-race report that all winners were between lanes four and eight, six of the eight being in either lane seven or eight.
The inside couple of lanes had deteriorated earlier in the day, but that didn’t mean it was a case of ‘the wider the better’. The outside half of the track was cast from recent racing.
Sometimes the search for better ground can take you straight past it.
Grey ladies dominate a grey day
It was a grey old day at Sandown and, fittingly, the grey ladies dominated.
As well as My Gladiola’s breakthrough Group 1 win in the Moir Stakes, one of the most impressive performances on the card came from Pretty Baby in the Atlantic Jewel Stakes.
The South Australian filly toyed with her rivals. She settled around midfield before putting the race to bed in the twinkling of an eye, showing a serious turn of foot to quickly put a gap on them.
Betsy’s Will Elford declared Pretty Baby as his Thousand Guineas filly prior to Saturday’s win and, on what we saw at Sandown, he may well be on the right train.
Pretty Baby blows them away in the Atlantic Jewel Stakes!@jamieleemelham pic.twitter.com/SoSlWd7ko1
— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) September 5, 2026
Busuttin’s cheeky dig at Blake Shinn
Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young put the polish on impressive McKenzie Stakes winner Blind Raise, but trainer Busuttin couldn’t resist a cheeky dig at jockey Blake Shinn post-race.
Shinn produced a brilliant steer, finding cover from the strong westerly wind before getting Blind Raise into lanes four and five in the straight, which was exactly where you wanted to be.
Asked on Racing.com what he liked most about the ride, Busuttin’s response was simple: “He didn’t go to the fence.”
It was a clear reference to Shinn’s ride aboard stablemate Cignetti, the short-priced favourite in race one. After leading at a good tempo at his previous start, Cignetti quickly conceded the front before finding himself buried behind a ridiculously slow tempo. With nowhere to go in the straight, his race was effectively over.
LEPOLO stomps up and puts them away‼️
That’s two wins from two starts for Tony and Calvin McEvoy’s colt 🥇🥇@HTCoffey @Mcevoyracing pic.twitter.com/nfUoDk59VN
— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) September 5, 2026
He may not have beaten the winner anyway, but his backers would have at least liked the opportunity to find out.
It capped a topsy-turvy week for Shinn. He rode a double at Sandown on Saturday, including that peach aboard Blind Raise, but was widely criticised for the Cignetta ride.
It was a similar story at Sandown on Wednesday. Shinn produced an absolute beauty aboard Leonchroi and also booted home Veyepee, but his ride on Something’s Burnin in race three attracted plenty of heat after the mare went to the line with seemingly plenty to offer.
Fair to say the punters who backed her didn’t hold back!
Track gallops Tuesday, barrier trials Saturday
It was nice of Sandown to host a couple of barrier trials on Saturday.
I mentioned in this column last week just how important ‘intent’ is at this time of year, when plenty of horses are kicking off campaigns with much bigger targets in mind.
There were a few runners having little more than a pipe-opener on Saturday, but Wolf Gap in race six and Zambardo in race seven were the two that really stood out.
If you backed either of them, you knew your fate well before they turned for home. Both were ridden quietly, allowed to find their feet and never put into a position where they could seriously threaten.
Both worked through the line well enough to suggest there is a win coming, and I’d be very keen to follow them next start if there is a little more intent and they’re put into the race earlier.
Pain for punters: Haute plunge goes horribly wrong
If ever there was a horse that looked set to justify a huge betting move, it was Haute at Mornington on Friday.
The Clinton McDonald-trained debutant was backed from as much as $7 into $1.65 and, with the money continuing to come, it increasingly looked a case of times and margins.
Haute had been extremely hard held in her jump-outs, seemingly going to the line with plenty in hand. Ben Melham then headed to Mornington for just one ride, adding further confidence to the plunge.
But alarm bells started in the parade ring and going onto the track, where an astute eye would’ve noticed Haute wearing bandages she hadn’t sported in her jump-outs.
Those concerns quickly became real. Melham took Haute back to last after jumping well before easing her out of the race near the 600m.
Stewards reported she had “dipped and became awkward in its action”, with a post-race veterinary examination revealing lameness in the left foreleg.
McDonald later reported she was shin sore in both forelegs and she will now be spelled.
Worth noting the bandages were on her hind legs, so clearly unrelated to the issue reported post-race.
It comes just a fortnight after Melham ventured to Sale for one ride for McDonald aboard another heavily backed runner, Masochistic, who never looked like winning.
The McDonald-Melham combination rarely misses, but these two plunges haven’t gone to plan.
A timely reminder for punters: market moves, jockey bookings and impressive jump-outs are all valuable pieces of information, but money doesn’t necessarily equal performance.
