HORSE RACING

Remarkable win last week from two lightly raced gallopers, Pompeii Ruler and Haradasun, who both swooped late and posted emphatic victories at Caulfield.

Pompeii Ruler had the perfect trail in the race and when they turned for home, he went straight past them at the 100m mark and it was all over.

Lad of the Manor, in my opinion, would have gone close, however he didn’t start and Pompeii Ruler goes down as the Liston Stakes 2006 winner.

Hope some of you followed my analysis last week and snared the Trifecta, which paid handsomely on all totes. The other main race of interest was the Vain Stakes, which was won by spruik horse Haradasun.

Terrific turn of foot and although it was run to suit the closers, Haradasun’s win was full of merit. My only question mark is, if everyone is touting him based on the similarities to Elvstroem, think again.

Sure, he may be a half brother and ran terrific sectionals, but the race was over 1100m. I don't believe in the hype. I do believe in facts and the fact is he did win and ran his last 600m in the quickest of the day.

Sprint races are not to compared with 1400m+ races, and to think they was a big write up in the press the next day in comparison with the Liston Stakes. He is exciting but let's just see how well he progresses before we start declaring him Cox Plate material.

Really ...

A horse to earmark as a future winner from the meeting is incidentally the third horse in the Vain Stakes, Churchill Downs. He ran a great race ridden on the pace, battled strongly up until the last 100m or so.

Look for him to be ridden more quietly and over 1400-1600m races. I know my money will be on him if the two clash again.

*Churchill Downs will measure up to races like the Caulfield Guineas and will be my early choice for the race. Looking to this week and there are a few good races in Melbourne and Sydney but the pick of them is the Group 2 Warwick stakes.

As was the case last week in the Liston Stakes, the Warwick Stakes is also a traditional lead up race for horses north of the border.

So lets take a look shall we ...

Warwick Farm - Race 7 - 3:40pm (EST)
Warwick Stakes 1400m

1 - EREMEIN - Allan Denham - G Boss - 9 - 58kg
2 - RAILINGS - John Hawkes - T Pannell - 4 - 58
3 - GRAND ZULU - Gwenda Markwell - R M Quinn - 12 - 58
4 - DESERT WAR - Gai Waterhouse - L Cassidy - 10 - 58
5 - COURT'S IN SESSION - Guy Walter - D Beasley - 5 - 58
6 - ST. BASIL (NZ) - Bevan Laming - J Cassidy - 7 - 58
7 - MEN AT WORK (NZ) - John O'Shea - H Bowman - 6 - 58
8 - FOORAM (NZ) - John O'Shea - T Clark - 11 - 58
9 - RACING TO WIN - John O'Shea - M Rodd - 3 - 57.5
10 - HEADTURNER - John Hawkes - D Beadman - 1 - 57.5
11 - ICE CHARIOT - Ron Maund - G Lynch - 13 - 57.5
12 - DIZELLE - John Hawkes - J Ford - 2 - 55.5
13 - AQUA D'AMORE - Gai Waterhouse - Z Purton - 8 - 55.5

Tricky affair.

Not sure who will lead other than Court's in Session and Desert War. If they don't go hard up front, they will be difficult to run down.

Most of these are resuming here as a stepping-stone to greater Spring riches. So we just don't know how forward some of these will be at this stage of their preparation.

A real smokey in the race and a horse I have time for is Men at Work. I will be looking for him to run a forward race first up, and although not suited at WFA conditions, he will be thereabouts.

Eremein is touted as the next star of the turf after Makybe Diva retired. One thing about champions is they have this knack of winning first up when you least expect them.

You can have five picks in this particular race and still miss the winner. I will do something a little out of left field in my selections this week.

Bank on Court's in Session to fill a place in the race and take as many as you can afford in the trifecta and have Court's in Session a s your roving banker.

Prediction: Trifectas

Warwick Stakes

1st - 5.   2nd - 1,2,4,7,9,10.   3rd - 1,2,4,7,9,10,11,12,13.

And if you can afford to take the same second selections to beat Court's in Session and the same third selections above in your trifectas. Each combination wil cost $27.00 for a 50c outlay.

Let's hope we can get Court's in Session over the line. He will lead for a long way!

Alternatively back him each way or take him as a roving banker in your quinellas and exactas.

Good Luck!

A regular on the airwaves on Melbourne's SEN 1116am and contributor for FutureSports, Nic Evans contributes to SportsAustralia.com each Friday with his guide to the best bets for the weekend.