If there is an omen tip for the Caulfield Guineas, then the Lindsay Park-trained Angry Skies could be that three-year-old.
Rain fell overnight on Thursday and angry skies were brewing on Friday morning ahead of the Caulfield Guineas meeting that already sees the track rated a Soft 6 while track manager Tim Bailey is predicting a Soft 7, at best, for Saturday's meeting, if the predicted rain falls.
As first emergency in Saturday's Group 1 contest for three-year-olds over 1600m, Angry Skies needs a scratching to make the field, and if he does, Ben Hayes, believes the three-year-old can run well.
"If he gets in, I would be quietly confident that he could run in the top half of the field," Hayes said.
"I was a bit devastated that we didn't get in and he was first emergency, but if the rain persists there might be a scratching.
"He's a horse that has always shown us good ability at home and I thought his run at Sandown was very good as he was taken back a bit further than he needed to, but he hit the line well, running some of the fastest closing sectionals.
"Comparing him to Tijuana, who is in the market, they are very similar horses, but Tijuana obviously has the runs on the board and has performed."
Angry Skies has raced only twice, for a heavy track Swan Hill maiden win before finishing fourth at Sandown on September 25 behind Guineas opponents Bank Maur, The Fortune Teller and Elliptical.
Stablemate Tijuana, on the other hand, has been aimed at the Guineas since winning the Listed Anzac Day Stakes (1400m) at Flemington in April.
He enters Saturday's race fourth-up for the preparation and is coming off victory in the Group 2 Stutt Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley on September 23.
Tijuana holds an entry in the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) on October 22 which Ben and J D Hayes will consider if he wins well on Saturday.
One thing Hayes is not frightened of is the rain with Tijuana, although he does not want a lot.
"He's handled the soft tracks before and the way he moves he's at home on the ground," Hayes said.
"Drawn out in barrier 10, it gives jockey Mark Zahra some good options of whether to go forward or look for a sit up on the speed."
FP | Silk | Horse, Age & Sex Sire & Dam |
Jockey Trainer |
SP
WT |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st |
3. GOLDEN MILE (AUS) 3yo C ASTERN (AUS) - CALAVERITE (AUS) |
JAMES MCDONALD JAMES CUMMINGS |
$2.7
57kg |
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Godolphin | |||||||||||
2nd |
13. ELLIPTICAL (AUS) 3yo C DUNDEEL (NZ) - MARQUISE DA ROSSA (AUS) |
BLAKE SHINN A & S FREEDMAN |
$15
57kg |
||||||||
S P Hedge, B J Lindsay, Mrs J E A Lindsay, R I Chapman, No one cares (Mgr: L Hunter), M J Symons, G Timmins, Dr T P Brennan, Mr Pony Racing (Mgr: J L Bourke), Lacey Underall, C L Marks, Ms K P Pavelic, P J Liston, N J Bearman, R Smykowsky, M G Donegan, R J Berens, J A Devy, Mac Bros & B T Corcoran | |||||||||||
|
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3rd |
9. OSIPENKO (NZ) 3yo C PIERRO (AUS) - RASKOVA (USA) |
TIM CLARK CHRIS WALLER |
$17
57kg |
||||||||
C Waller, I Bruce, F Cook, Mrs C Cook, P Ng, M Phillips, Mrs L Phillips, Mrs R McLaren, R Shrimpton, J Simmons & Ms S Fitzgerald | |||||||||||
|
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4th |
2. BERKELEY SQUARE (AUS) 3yo G TERRITORIES (IRE) - BAHAMAS (AUS) |
CRAIG WILLIAMS DAN O'SULLIVAN |
$4.8
57kg |
||||||||
5th |
1. TIJUANA (AUS) 3yo C AMERICAN PHAROAH (USA) - MEXICAN ROSE (NZ) |
MARK ZAHRA BEN & JD HAYES |
$12
57kg |
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|
|||||||||||
6th |
10. AMENABLE (AUS) 3yo C LONHRO (AUS) - CARRIBEAN SUNSET (IRE) |
DAMIEN OLIVER MICK PRICE & MICHAEL KENT JNR |
$13
57kg |
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|
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7th |
15. THE FORTUNE TELLER (AUS) 3yo C CARAVAGGIO (USA) - NATIONAL VELVET (AUS) |
JAMIE KAH CIARON MAHER & DAVID EUSTACE |
$31
57kg |
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|
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8th |
5. BANK MAUR (AUS) 3yo C MAURICE (JPN) - BANKSIA (AUS) |
JYE MCNEIL RICHARD LAMING |
$21
57kg |
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|
|||||||||||
9th |
16. DASHING (AUS) 3yo G MAGNUS (AUS) - WESTCHESTER (AUS) |
LINDA MEECH AARON PURCELL |
$101
57kg |
||||||||
|
|||||||||||
10th |
11. ELKINGTON ROAD (AUS) 3yo G ALL TOO HARD (AUS) - SHERBET BOMB (AUS) |
JAMIE MOTT MICHAEL MORONEY |
$31
57kg |
||||||||
|
|||||||||||
11th |
7. MERIDIUS (AUS) 3yo C EXTREME CHOICE (AUS) - JARDINE (AUS) |
DAMIAN LANE LLOYD KENNEWELL |
$17
57kg |
||||||||
|
|||||||||||
12th |
6. FOUJITA SAN (AUS) 3yo C MAURICE (JPN) - BELLE GISELLE (AUS) |
DAMIEN THORNTON M, W & J HAWKES |
$26
57kg |
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|
|||||||||||
13th |
12. SIR BAILEY (AUS) 3yo C IMPENDING (AUS) - JAMEKA (AUS) |
ETHAN BROWN CIARON MAHER & DAVID EUSTACE |
$51
57kg |
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14th |
8. SKYPHIOS (AUS) 3yo G FIORENTE (IRE) - SPLEASURE (AUS) |
HARRY COFFEY R J BLACKER |
$151
57kg |
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15th |
4. MILLANE (AUS) 3yo C ZOUSTAR (AUS) - FIREWORKS (AUS) |
LUKE NOLEN PETER G MOODY |
$16
57kg |
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|
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16th |
14. LETHAL THOUGHTS (AUS) 3yo C SO YOU THINK (NZ) - ST REMY (AUS) |
MICHAEL DEE CIARON MAHER & DAVID EUSTACE |
$101
57kg |
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