Magnapal had to come out and prove his big Heatherlie win was no fluke in Saturday's Naturalism Stakes at Caulfield. He did just that, and then some.
In 33 starts prior to this campaign Magnapal had won four times and established an often-reached peak rating of 96. He was fairly smart on his day, but it would be fair to say that he looked to have his limitations.
It looked that way but no one can ever be certain in this caper and Magnapal has spiralled to a new level in three runs this campaign. His win on Saturday saw him go home with not just a healthy cheque but a much-sort-after ticket into the Caulfield Cup.
He may have the Golden Ticket but so did Augustus Gloop - it doesn't always end well.
Magnapal, the Aussie underdog, would be a great fairytale success, but we punters can't get swept up in fairytales.
Magnapal ran to 108 on Saturday, a rating that surely won't cut the mustard in a modern Caulfield Cup which is oversubscribed with the established. (This is of course subjective but I would say that we should be careful in compressing the weights of our big handicaps to the benefit of the established stars and at the expense of the progressive horse that has, in the past, used races like the Caulfield Cup as a springboard to the top).
A look at the recent history of Naturalism winners puts Magnapal into some context.
Runner-up The United States came up narrowly short but he remains lightly raced and open to improvement. Frustrating as he may have been to punters in his latest couple he remains a candidate for handicaps in the spring ahead.
A couple of imports having their second look at racing in Australia caught the eye. Bold Sniper bridged the gap between he and Magnapal by 6.5 lengths and showed that his first run was just blowing off the cobwebs. A return to the level of form he showed in the UK looks on the cards based on the weekend and given that he should be considered a genuine contender in races at a similar level to the Naturalism.
Our Ivanhowe is a bit better than that and after looking so-so in a one-run mission to Adelaide in the autumn he shaped up as though ready for a big spring on Saturday.
Our Ivanhowe picked up a pair of Group 1 races in his native land last year and came to Australia rated 126 - a mark that should leave him scared of nothing in Australia should he return to his best.
Briefly sidetracking away from Caulfield; Amralah faced no more than a fair field in Adelaide on the weekend but he made them look very ordinary.
Going back to 1990 there have only been two faster 1800m races at Morphettville and both came on rattling quick ground. The ground in Adelaide on Saturday was good but it wasn't flint and with that in mind Amralah looks to have posted a very smart performance with plenty up his sleeve.
Timeform rated the performance 112+ but he'll likely be better assessed on his 119 mark from the UK when he steps out next. Wherever that is he will be of interest.
Back to Caulfield...
Bassett won the opener in smart figures and beat a couple of decent prospects, principally Keen Array.
He is now rated 108p but that rating should be a start-point for him this spring. His stablemate Kinglike was no match for him on debut and has since run to 114p winning the Danehill.
We spoke of the strength of the Stay With Me form a couple of weeks back and Don't Doubt Mama did it no harm in winning the fifth on the card.
She was 50-1 at the Valley but there is no reason to doubt Mama now that she has come out and backed that up.
Second placed filly Sacred Eye did plenty wrong. Bad if you backed her on Saturday, but good if you plan to back her next time as there is plenty of room for improvement and she has already shown herself to be pretty good.
Ulmann is another that has proven himself pretty good but has big blue sky in front of him.
He was quickly on the improve in Queensland at the back of last campaign and the way he rattled home off a steady pace in the listed Testa Rossa suggested that he has only continued to thrive since. He's a stakes-winner waiting to happen - hopefully we won't be waiting long.
