Ole Kirk

It will be interesting to see how this race benchmarks. The last 200mts took 12.5 secs

I might be wrong but I think I saw that both Mildred & Nitrous had not raced above benchmark in any of their wins.

Credit to Diver Dunn for keeping on putting his horse in the race whereas others might not have ridden with such optimism

djebel wrote:

Any chance he might attempt a Redoutes Choice ?

I think I heard he’d attempt an All Too Hard - ie: VRC Sires & AJC Sires double.

I read about the breeding, saw it in the race and thought about how harder a task they seemed to be setting.....gotta learn to read the signs 🙄😁

“Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride, friendship without envy, or beauty without vanity? Here where grace is laced with muscle and strength by gentleness confined”

Can't see where anyone has actually labeled him as a champion in the making.

I was more interested in getting a line on Mildred & Nitrous.

I just wonder if both have been very fit and "in the right place at the right time"

Hawkes Racing lowered the colours of Queensland star Rothfire when their star colt Ole Kirk edged out stablemate North Pacific in a memorable Group 1 Golden Rose at Rosehill on Saturday.

With all the attention on Robert Heathcote's galloper - which started the shortest prize favourite in Golden Rose history at $1.55 - the training team of John, Wayne and Michael Hawkes stole the show on grand final day.

Ole Kirk and North Pacific went past Rothfire locked together at the 100m mark and went nose-and-nose in the run to the post.

Jockey Tommy Berry was able to lift Ole Kirk ($7) over the concluding stages to beat James McDonald on North Pacific ($7.50) in a driving finish with the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained King's Legacy ($21) a further 1-3/4 lengths back.

Rothfire pulled up three out of five lame after the 1400m test and had to be walked back to the boxes after pulling up sore on the good (3) track.

But it was all about the Hawkes stable, who were adamant they had a pair of colts that were capable of toppling Rothfire on the big stage.

"They�ve streeted the rest," Michael Hawkes said.

"We�ve always had two really good colts. We�ve tried to separate them going forward.

"Obviously this is the Grand Final. To run one-two. Fantastic effort.�

1st

OLE KIRK

Tommy Berry

I didn�t know it was James outside me but I thought I was beaten 80m out. But Ole just pinned his ears back, he didn�t want to lie down. He�s had a great attitude all preparation, he�s definitely a lot more mature than he was last season. The writing was on the wall last time, everyone forgot about him to a certain extent but we definitely didn�t at home in the stable.

Wisdom has been chasing me but I've always outrun it!

It�s no chance.

If Willie Pike was on Winxs back, she would have retired a maiden.....

I can�t believe they�ll give him another chance to slaughter the German horse.....

Not sure why Pike has his haters. He's a top notch rider in Perth so can't see why he can't be as good in Melbourne, especially with the practice he's been having lately around the tracks.

Bonfield wrote:

Not sure why Pike has his haters. He's a top notch rider in Perth so can't see why he can't be as good in Melbourne, especially with the practice he's been having lately around the tracks.

Flat track bully.....

J Kah ran rings around them in Adelaide.

She came back to the field very quickly when she moved to Vic.

Every time he gets off one I�ve backed, he calls jockey error.

At least he owns it.

J Kah currently leads the Vic Jockeys premiership. Fair effort that.

A slaughter it's said is often only in the eyes of a losing punter. Wink

Perth racing is often underrated by those on the east coast. The fields are bigger than Adelaide, the prizemoney is bigger, the jockeys are better. I can see how it might take Pike a little while to get used to the Melbourne racetracks, but fail to see how he can be an absolute champion in Perth and no good in Melbourne. That's just silly. At worst he must be at least a decent rider in Melbourne. Personally I'm very happy he's on board Ole Kirk.

Ok he had a good horse under him, but a lovely patient ride by Pike to win convincingly on Windstorm after giving the leaders 10 lengths at the 550m mark.

Wasn't that long ago he was yet to ride a winner in Melbourne. Just an anomaly.

Second Chance wrote:

And wins again on Dirty Work. Where's my mate Rusty? Tongue

I�m here!

He�s dragged back to last like a3 claimer on all three, If of each of them didn�t have panels on the field, he�d have won nothing