Sense Of Occasion has run on strongly from back in the field to take out the Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) last Saturday.
Resuming with a third placing in the Doncaster Mile behind It’s Somewhat, the Kris Lees-trained runner then went on to place in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) behind Winx before a fairly disappointing effort in the Hollindale Stakes.
The step back up to 2000m in the Doomben Cup appeared to do the trick, running over the top of his rivals to record a one and a quarter length winner over Star Exhibit in second with Rudy third.
Sense Of Occasion returned a Timeform figure of 118, below the 123? He ran to when third behind Winx three starts back and six pounds above his previous effort in the Hollindale.
The figure he ran to if five pounds below 2016 winner Our Ivanhowe, with Pornichet in 2015 also running to 123.
The well tried six-year-old has now won eight of his 34 career outings and has certainly returned in career best form this campaign for Kris Lees.
The Racing and Sports field strength value of 118.1 is below par for a Group 1 race and below the 121.9 of last years renewal.
The win was Corey Brown’s first Doomben Cup success, having finished runner up on both Lahar in 1999 and Freemason in 2003 previously and the first time Corey Brown and Kris Lees have combined for a Group 1 win since County Tyrone took out the 2002 The Metroplitan.
Of the beaten runners, the former WA-trained Star Exhibit now with Darren Weir was very good again in second place running to a clear new career peak Timeform figure of 115, five pounds above his first up win in Listed company at Caulfield.
Having shown very good form in Western Australia, Star Exhibit looks to have gone to another level under Darren Weir and relatively lightly raced for a five-year-old is open to further improvement throughout the campaign and into the Spring.
Rudy who continues to run well without winning races also ran to 115 in third, his highest rating since running second in the 2015 Group 3 Bill Ritchie Handicap.
The well fancied It’s Somewhat, Single Gaze and Articus, never really fired a shot with It’s Somewhat and Single Gaze having pushed forward to set the tempo.
Earlier in the programme Kenedna had to overcome a protest to keep her strong form going in the Magic Millions Roses (2000m), following a tight tussle with Oklahoma Girl over the concluding stages.
Setting just worse than midfield, Kenedna moved up to the leaders in the straight and took over proceedings inside the 200m, scoring narrowly from Oklahoma Girl with Perilous Love over a length away in third.
Running a narrow second to Egg Tart in the Group 1 South Australian Oaks the start prior, Kenedna looked very well placed coming into the Roses and has now won an impressive six of her 14 career outings.
Kenedna ran to a Timeform figure of 102, five pounds below both her Group 3 Auraria Stakes win and Oaks second placing.
The Darren Weir-trained runner is the lowest rated winner of the race since Dear Demi in 2013 (100) with 2016 winner Kebede running to 103.
Kenedna certainly looks a horse on the rise, producing strong form this campaign and will now attempt to become the third filly to compete the Roses-Queensland Oaks double with Ethereal (2001) and Scarlett Lady (2011) the only two to achieve the feat.
Kenedna has certainly run better this campaign than what she produced on Saturday and if she can get back to that level she certainly looks a very strong chance in the Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2400m) in two weeks time.
Morphettville also played host to Group 1 racing on Saturday which produced a very competitive day of racing.
Vega Magic added to Western Australia’s proud sprinting history when landing the Group 1 Goodwood Handicap at Morphettville last Saturday.
Following in the footsteps of past stars such as Placid Ark, Miss Andretti and Scenic Blast to travel east and win sprinting features, Vega Magic made it two Goodwoods in a row for products of the west following Black Heart Bart’s win last year.
Black Heart Bart started favourite in his attempt at back to back Goodwoods but it was Vega Magic - resuming from a five month spell and having his first run for David Hayes, Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig – who proved too strong.
Camped outside the leader by jockey Craig Williams for much of the event, the four year-old gelded son of Lope De Vega was under siege in the straight but fought back strongly to hold off the outsiders Missrock and Casino Wizard.
Vega Magic produced a new career peak Timeform rating of 118 for his Goodwood win, two pounds higher than his previous best, achieved at his last run in the west last December when winning the Group 3 AJ Scahill Stakes at Ascot.
Only Black Heart Bart (123) and superstar mare Black Caviar (127) have achieved higher winning ratings in the previous 12 runnings of the Goodwood, with Platelet rating alongside Vega Magic and Takeover Target (117), Flamberge (116) and Glamour Puss (114) among those rating below him.
Missrock achieved a new career best Timeform rating of 108 with her second placing in the Goodwood with Mt Gambier gelding Casino Wizard also going to a new level by rating 112 in third.
Black Heart Bart could only manage a 2.6 length seventh this year, his figure of 115 eight pounds below his 2016 winning performance but still the second highest rating in this year’s event under his 59kg impost.
