While the possible impact of 457s and early starts on the turf holds prominence, Saturday's Hawkesbury Guineas, the race that launched Chautauqua, will have the best ground for a Saturday around Sydney for two months.
Perhaps Who Shot Thebarman had better ground than Bill The Bastard when the New Zealander charged around Randwick's tortured turf two weeks ago in one of the most controversial Sydney Cups ever held.
Despite the Randwick surface that makes the prospective going on Sydney Harbour Bridge look attractive - The Championships, starring Chautauqua, have hit a high note.
The gavel crash of John Inglis followed by the wail of "sailo", the call to auction, still reverberates. "Every time it struck I lost a leaf," commented the Moreton Bay Fig, who has stood long and proud at Newmarket Stables, Randwick, for more than a century.
With a performance that will be rated with Royal Randwick's greatest, Chautauqua saved Doncaster-Derby day, paper brilliant but disappointing on turf.
Few, if any racehorse trainers, have done so much with so few as Frank Lewis, and he is still hitting the line like a true stayer. Lewis, 97, comes to mind on Doncaster-Derby day on which he has left his mark.
Forgive me, master, but Winx is capable of doing what few other champions could achieve – win major events from the metric six furlongs to 3200 metres.
Even deluge-affected ground cannot dim the brilliance of the Golden Slipper program, the best in Australia so far this season.
Gai Waterhouse reckons Global Glamour will glide across the Rosehill wet in Saturday's Coolmore, Australia's best race for fillies and mares.
Houtzen is doing more of a Reisling than a Todman in her final lead up for the $3.5 million Golden Slipper at Rosehill Gardens on March 18. Trainer Toby Edmunds has sought weaker opposition with a huge weight at Eagle Farm rather than a Royal Randwick class test.
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