Three runners exit Saturday’s racing without a blemish on their form

Horse racing is a challenging sport to stay unbeaten in for any time, but Saturday saw some winners doing that.

Saturday was another excellent afternoon of racing across the country, with some performers keeping unbeaten records rolling for another start. We look into these winners and see what kind of a run they might be able to go on through the remainder of the spring.

There are two types of people in racing: those who love to see horses produce unbeaten runs and those who are desperate to see them beaten as if to prove they aren’t as good as heroes past. 

The horse racing press will often push the narrative regarding unbeaten horses, which explains some of it. We enjoy horses staying unbeaten, so we thought we’d do the same! There is a specific dreamer element to it, and several winners were yet to be beaten on Saturday.

Steparty

At Caulfield, the Guineas Prelude was a race that changed complexion within the final few strides. Turning for home, the unbeaten record of Steparty looked dead and buried before John Allen conjured a remarkable turn of foot from the three-year-old to get his head in front right on the line.

That success makes it 5/5 now for Paul Presuker’s new stable star. The three-year-old will have learnt plenty from that, having to work much harder than he had to when saluting in the Listed McKenzie Stakes at Moonee Valley in his prior start.

The step back up in distance to 1400m was a big plus for him, and he shapes as if a further move out in trip to 1600m will not be an issue at all. Connections will be looking forward to bigger targets, and it would be no surprise to see his record continue unbeaten for a while.

Ozzmosis

The Bjorn Baker-trained son of Zoustar continued his meteoric progression. The three-year-old made his debut in a Gosford maiden in May before making light work of the step into a Randwick handicap the following month. 

Listed level was the order of the day on Saturday, and it proved business as usual. Rachel King was always supremely confident on him, and his already smart reputation was added when he saluted with plenty in hand.

The pair that chased him home both came from much further off the pace, those who had been up on the speed with Ozzmosis fading out of things. That is a good sign that Ozzmosis will go on to bigger and better things this spring, with Group 1 engagements on the horizon. It would take a brave punter to take him on for 4/4 next time out.

Mishani Rock

Admittedly, this one is a bit of a cheat, as Toowoomba had the first two-year-old race of the season on Saturday. It was a contest dominated by Les Ross-trained runners - the veteran handler was responsible for six of the nine starters, so would have hoped to have had the winner in there somewhere.

As it turned out, the winner was a $26.00 chance, the roughie of the six Ross runners. A half-brother to the same connections, Mishani Kingdom, a runner who took six tries to break the maiden.

That gelding is only rated 59, but Mishani Rock is far more forward than his half ever was, which at least gives some hope that he will be a better performer overall. It will be interesting to see if he can put that experience to good use in the coming weeks.

Both Steparty and Ozzmosis look like three-year-olds who can make an impression in better races as the spring continues. A perfect 8/8 between them now; the class is there for the pair to extend those runs, and we hope they do.