First three rounds see patterns emerge for Broome Turf Club race season

Three meetings done and dusted at the Broome Turf Club last weekend, and patterns are starting to emerge. Like, who will be the leading trainer? (The Casey and Pateman camps trained winning doubles, so they’re looking good). Who’ll be leading rider? (Jess Gray rode a treble — no mean feat), and which horses are starting to make an impression in the Horse of the Year department? This is where it’s really interesting. After last Saturday there are four horses which have each won two races, so historically, what are they up against? The best horse of them all in recent memory is a grey gelding called Jarnot, which in 2002 was trained in Broome by Phil Grantham. At it’s first start on June 1, it streeted the opposition in a 1000m sprint. It came out a week later and repeated the dose. In that year, Jarnot, ridden in all its races by Peter Black, raced seven times for seven wins, all by big margins and all at very short odds. He was the darling of the turf that year. So what have we this year? Last Saturday, four horses each won their second race for the season, all by healthy margins. City Regal under vigorous riding by Simone Altieri, led all the way over 1000m. In the Bag, led all the way over 1600m, giving fledgling trainer Yannick Valenti his second winner. Pit to Win blundered the start and had a hard run over 1300m but still managed to win by nearly three lengths. Guarded raced on the pace over 1200m, and scored by two lengths. To gallop in the shadow of Jarnot, a horse has to be a proven sprinter, be a three or four-year-old, carry weight and run on most race dates. City Regal has not been tried beyond 1000m, but is still a three-year-old. In the Bag is seven and has won to 1800m. Pit to Win is five years old and has won over 1450m. Guarded as a four-year-old, has won up to 1200m and likes winning by comfortable margins. Good luck to the connections. It’s good horses that bring the crowds to the races, and the BTC races again on Sunday.