We've done plenty of two-year-old chat in recent weeks and no doubt will do plenty more before the features, so instead it looks a good opportunity to review some of the sprinters that are set to target open age features in the coming weeks.
 

Star Patrol

Going back to a really strong Blue Diamond Preview day where the punters were on, getting six of eight favourites home, with Wishlor Lass ($3.75 second pick) and De Sonic Boom ($13) the only ones not to win.

That included a couple of very good horses resuming and the best figure on the card by Timeform's measure was Star Patrol, who was electric in the Listed W J Adams Stakes (1000m).

He posted a new career peak of 115 (up from 112) with a devastating turn of foot to put the race away, eased down late for a 1.8 length win.

His next start is likely to be the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) and the huge positive for him is that the race is at Sandown this year, given all of his best runs have come on big tracks.

Assuming he gets into the field, he'd likely be close to the minimum of 52kg for older horses and would take a stack of beating in that race.

Asfoora is the current favourite for that race with a domestic rating of 100, which means she'd likely carry somewhere around 53.5kg. I think Star Patrol can go even better than his 115 once he gets out to 1100m in a fast race, given he's run speed figures much faster than what he did on Thursday, and for me he'd be the #1 seed in that race.

The Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) then looms in what would be potentially an even more suitable race over his favoured straight six, although very few horses have done the Oakleigh/Newmarket double.

Lankan Rupee, Weekend Hussler, Schillaci and Placid Ark have done so and while I'm sure Clinton Mcdonald would love to emulate his late father's superstar Weekend Hussler, he's not anywhere near as good as him.
 

Jacquinot 

The Golden Rose winner resumed and he, along with In Secret, were the highest rated of their crop (in the Eastern States anyway). He ran to 120+ in his Group 1 win and she to the same mark (which equates to 124 given her sex allowance).

Despite this they appear unlikely to meet this preparation with Jacquinot set on a weight-for-age path, with the Group 1 C F Orr Stakes (1400m) and its Futurity counterpart his targets.

His rating first up of 112 is a good building block. When you consider the last three-year-old winner of the Orr, Alabama Express, was rated 109 going into the race and managed to run a big spike of 119, Jacquinot is well placed.

Prior to that, we saw All Too Hard win the Orr/Futurity double as a three-year-old, however Jacquinot fits somewhere in the middle of All Too Hard (rated 127 prior) and Alabama Express.

He'd have to run close to his Golden Rose peak to beat the older horses, namely Alligator Blood and I'm Thunderstruck, who can both edge towards 125 but are probably more likely to run ~120 first up, and you'd expect him to have plenty of improvement from Thursday.

Jigsaw

Jumping forward to Saturday now because Jigsaw deserves a mention with these open-age sprinters as he notched up his fourth win in a row, taking out the Group 2 Australia Stakes (1200m) in dominant fashion at Moonee Valley.

Granted, it wasn't a vintage Australia Stakes, but his rating of 117 is a clear new peak and actually stacks up quite well against recent winners.

Marabi (118), Streets Of Avalon (112), Scales Of Justice (117) are the past three winners and all Group 1 winners either prior or subsequent. Whispering Brook (114) and Thronum (115) won the race prior and Jigsaw feels a bit Thronum-esque.

Both had shaky three-year-old seasons, Thronum looking handy early but then failing badly in Golden Rose and Stan Fox before resuming as a five length winner in a Bm78 at four and coming back in the Summer to win at The Valley.

Thronum would go on to run fourth in Hartnell's Orr, 12th in Redkirk Warrior's Newmarket and then second in Hellbent's William Reid with a rating of 119, and that is the race Jigsaw should target.

Now a group 2 winner, he'd be hard pressed being strongly competitive in an Oakleigh Plate or Newmarket, and 1400m of the Orr looks a bridge too far.

Run in an Oakleigh Plate or Newmarket by all means, because a quick scan of the calendar doesn't have too many other suitable options, but the William Reid is the race Cindy Alderson should be targeting with Jigsaw.