Race One Fillies and Mares Maiden 1500m

The Paul Higgins trained Srinagar finally broke through for a win. Having her sixteenth start in a race, Srinagar 12/1 finished in front of the two favourites, Miss Megari 4/1 and Our St Covet 11/4.

Race Two Three Year Old Maiden 1200m

'Geez he's a lazy bastard' was jockey Link Robertson's honest appraisal to connections as he acknowledged the steward after taking out race two aboard Gunnamatta. The Snippets gelding having his fifth start sat off the pace switching back to the rails when the field straightened just got home by a neck. Gunnamatta was the first leg of a two track double for trainer Tony Noonan who also saddled up Piavonic which won impressively at Mooney Valley.

Race Three Class Two Hcp 1500m

Frontrunner Rush About dictated terms in what was nothing more than a track gallop. Jockey Michael Evans looked like he was moulded to the four year old mare only having to steer her to the line.

Race Four Class One Hcp 1200m

Michael Evans chalked up a double when he was rewarded for a good ride on Tan Metal. Sitting just behind the leaders three away from the paint, Evans took over in the straight skipping away from the pack by two and a half lengths before easing down on the line.

Race Five Class Five Hcp 1500m

Hirrific got too far back and went down by two lengths, Moetman blundered the start by four lengths, beaten by four, Rosstown was handy but had no sooner straightened and he was spitting the bit at the kids in the bouncy castle.

All this contributed to Zubin, a seven year old Zabeel gelding having its twelfth start get to the line first. Trained by a young bloke at Rosebud named Jim Houlahan, Zubin confirmed the trainer's thoughts that the horse would run well but Houlahan believed the trip might be a touch short.

You see Zubin is a hurdler and his last run at Flemington on August 13 was over 2838m, rather the race was, Zubin fell. Doesn't take a lot to realize why trainer Jim Houlahan is so respected within the industry.

Race Six Class Four Hcp 1200m

Apprentice Reece Wheeler and punters were fortunate enough that Haggle follows his nose because that's what happened when Wheeler pointed it in the direction of a gap that appeared half way down the straight. Trainer Frances Houlahan has brought the four year old gelding through its classes winning his third race in his last four outings.

Race Seven Class Three Hcp 2000m

Zatopek went a bit closer to justifying his purchase price of $50,000 by taking out the seventh on the card. The win takes the Zabeel-Auction Bridge stallions earnings to $13,085 from fifteen starts. Zatopek wintered at trainer Lee Freedman's Eagle Farm stables, this his second start back in Victoria.

The well bred four year old is also well owned, amongst them are the four Freedman boys, record man Michael Gudinski and Sky Heights part owner and successful businessman Peter Marr.

Race Eight Four Year Old and Up Maiden 1200m

Lodger won giving Michael Evans a treble and trainer Max Hinton a double but the story of the race was the Iglesia like plunge, well almost as big, on Le Cheval Noir.

Opening at 9/4 and not for very long the five year old was solidly backed into 4/5 fav. One update on the 'billy goat' saw $3.50 become $1.90 in a flash and at one stage into $1.50 before easing back out to slightly tighter than what was on offer in the ring.

At it's only other start Le Cheval Noir ran third of ten at Ararat, beaten half a length in a class one, and was obviously expected to break through.

The post-mortem that took place after the race was what you might have expected to see last week in Sydney after King Of Prussia ran off at the turn, a maiden at Mornington hardly worthy of such a sight. With correct weight given, horses on the way to a hose down and jockeys doing like-wise, trainer Alex Macpherson and connections spent a long time with jockey Stan Tsaikos in the mounting yard. Connections eventually heading to the owners and trainers bar to view a replay, Stan Tsaikos heading to the jockey's room looking like his numbers in lotto had come up but had lost the ticket.

For the record, Le Cheval Noir could not a get a run in the straight and cantered down to the line in seventh position.