March's horse racing starts with a bang all over the country

The quality of racing is on the way up again as we head deeper into the Group 1 program in the autumn. Saturday was an excellent afternoon of racing, with some notable races running all over the place. 

Australian Guineas upset

Riff Rocket was sent off as the hot favourite for the Australian Guineas at Flemington. Still, he could only manage third behind Southport Tycoon, who saluted for the team of Ciaron Maher and Jamie Kah. 

He has three wins and three runner-up efforts from his seven career starts now - the only time he failed was in the Caulfield Guineas in the spring, and the only time he has raced over the 1600m distance. 

One thing to note about the race is the first nine horses home were all the single-figure draws, so it is a race to put a line through for those who were in a wide barrier, which could be a good angle for finding something at a roughie price next time they run.

Storm Boy salutes again

A perfect 4/4 now for the Golden Slipper favourite as he justified prohibitive odds of 1.18 to win the Sunline Stakes at Randwick. Quickly in control, James McDonald never had to get serious with him to run out a comfortable winner over his stablemate Prost.

The runner-up is a solid type who won the Group 3 Canonbury on his most recent start, where he had been on the pace throughout. With his stablemate needing the speed here, though, he was reined back, so he can probably be marked up for future reference.  

Storm Boy has carried everything before him in his first season of racing, and connections will hope the unbeaten run continues. He has done nothing wrong, and given his size, he should have the scope for better yet.

Fangirl is turned over

One of the weekend's disappointments was in the Verry Elleegant Stakes, where Chirs Waller's star was turned over at odds of $1.30 by Think It Over. Given that she looked as good as she had ever done just two weeks back, she was beaten by a more tactically versatile horse.

There was a lot of talk during the week on the betting sites about her being the best horse in Australia at present. She did nothing to help that assertion here but will, without question, win more Group 1 races when things drop right for her. The winner got an excellent ride from Nash Rawiller, kicking at the right time, but it does show her weakness.

Jaggard at the treble

At Alexandra, 25-year-old Henry Jaggard had four rides. With 13 winners in his career entering Saturday, he probably entered the day thinking that he had a chance of a few hitting the frame, but he would never have imagined that he would ride a treble on the card. 

His three winners came from three different trainers, which will help him going forward with the support of multiple stables. His only loser on the day was Tottenham Hotspur, and long-suffering fans of that British football club will know the feeling of winning nothing but too well!