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David Hayes, aided by his son Ben, a first year trainer, is running a successful shuttle racing service between Melbourne and Adelaide.

Horses that are racing below par begin to lose confidence, and the will to win, they lose interest being beaten constantly.

Ben is doing the job with amazing success, winning races with horses that have lost interest for racing, or out of form, has now rekindled in Adelaide.

That was a good example at Caulfield when Portion Control defeated his stable mate, Kifaah, in the Inglis Cup, both had Adelaide form to their credit.

“The arrangement works very well, there are some nice races around 2000 metres during the Flemington carnival,” said David Hayes.

Nothing outside of the first two horses impressed, it could be said that the stake money of $ 250,000 warranted a better field

Portion Control defeating his stable mate Kifaah

Lightly raced Legless Veuve turned in an excellent performance to record her first stakes win, the Thousand Guineas Prelude, she sat on the pace for most of the trip, finally drawing away to win by a half length.

She is an on pace runner, hence it very much depends on the draw, a good barrier position, she is going to be in the Thousand Guineas for a long way.

“She got a little bit lost at her first start at Flemington, the Valley run was a beauty, and she has since won at Sale,” said Stuart Webb.

“Her winter coat is still there and she is going to improve greatly on this run, she is a nice filly with a great future,” he added.

Punters again sent out Whispering Brook as favourite, she drew the outside and had to be bustled up to get to the front, which may not have suited her style of racing, however, she was very disappointing on both occasions here, and the races are not going to get any easier.

She was well beaten before the turn into the straight, there seems little chance of going on with her at this stage.

Legless Veuve winning the Guineas Prelude

New Zealand bred three year old, Sacred Elixir,has thrown his hat into the ring as a definite chance in the Caulfield Guineas after his win in the Prelude.

The additional two hundred metres should not bother him unduly; he was doing his best work when the post was reached.

The gelding is trained by Tony Pike at Cambridge in New Zealand, he has been campaigning recently in Brisbane where he won the J J Atkins Stakes, his latest win takes his stake earnings beyond half a million dollars.

The Prelude was almost a first up run for the gelding as he had not raced since early June, he is sure to strip fitter next time.

There were a couple of good runs behind the winner, Wazzenme, he ran a great race and is sure to appreciate the further distance, while So Si Bon could be a Derby chance he was running on well and will be better off at Flemington.

Sacred Elixir returning to scale

Bon Aurum, a last start winner at Flemington, continued on his winning way taking out the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes in the very last stride.

The logical now would be the Toorak Handicap, a Group One over 1600 metres, Ciaron Maher surely won’t let that one slip under his guard.

Two Group One’s might wet the appetite of John North, of Bowness Stud at Young, who stands the sire of Bon Aurum, Bon Hoffa.

There was plenty of money about for Counterattack, he was the pronounced favourite, he was handy on the side of the course, once Craig Williams pulled him out to get a crack at the leaders, he failed to run on, he was disappointing, failing to run on.

As for Xtranagant you cannot go on making excuses, any thoughts of him going to stud are slipping away as his race form continues to deteriorate.

He was a delayed entry into the mounting yard after his antics at Flemington two weeks ago, although he was much more tractable on Saturday, he led at one stage but ultimately finishing second last

Bon Aurum winning the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes

Black Heart Bart is prepared, and ready to lay the gauntlet down to Winx, in the clash of the decade, in the proposed Caulfield Stakes at weight for age over 2000 metres.

He was very dominant, he played the rest of the field on a break, it was just a matter of where or when Brad Rawiller would release the brakes, and the show would be over.

The place getters proved on the day they were form horses in the race and filled the placings accordingly.

Awesome Rock left his form behind after winning at Moonee Valley, his position didn’t alter at any stage of the race, he was running fifth all the way.

Leon Corstens, joint trainer with his son Troy, was disappointed and could not offer any excuses for the run.

The Derby winner, Tarzino, is the query, he has had three runs this time in and has done very little, Mick Price maybe looking at him more as a Melbourne Cup proposition. 

Black Heart Bart winning the Underwood Stakes