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The raps were big on high priced colt Wodeton going into his debut at Rosehill on Saturday and they deserve to be bigger after what can only be described as a stunning first outing.

It was visually impressive as he put four lengths on his rivals at the end of 1100m and the clock backed it up in spades.

Punter’s Intelligence sectional data showed Wodeton produced not only the meeting’s fastest last 600m of 33.58 but he also ran the fastest 400m-200m (10.62) for the day and the fastest last 200m (11.22).

Granted he had first use of the track but he was clearly a cut above what he met on this occasion and it’ll set up more anticipation for where Chris Waller points him next on the road to the Golden Slipper.

The colt’s 33.58 was about five lengths faster than the next best, runner-up The Magic Man who clocked 34.39 and tried hard after racing handy.

The Magic Man was the only other horse to break 12 seconds for the 400m-200m so his performance was solid and watch out for him when placed in something a bit easier.

When comparing the two-year-olds to the other 1100m races on the day Wodeton stacks up pretty well. His overall time of 1:05.90 was just 0.04 slower than Polyglot ran to win the three-year-old Benchmark 72 but 0.13 faster than South Of India posted in the Benchmark 78 (which was run following a shower of rain).

All that says Wodeton is a highly promising youngster and if there’s improvement, which there should be given he was off just one barrier trial, he can be a considered a rightful Golden Slipper favourite at this stage.

Shohisha is clearly a filly who can progress beyond Midway grade this year though she’s only likely to race maybe once more this preparation, according to David Payne.

It was a class drop from her stakes placing first-up but Kerrin McEvoy put the filly in a striking position early on and she did the rest running 34.11 for her last 600m, over a length faster than anything else.

The runner-up Lady Extreme has a Midway win in her, she’s had the misfortune of bumping into some more progressive types in this grade, and she almost matched Shohisha’s last 200m running 11.62 (0.01 seconds slower).

Is Converge the next to break a run of outs after he chased home Osipenko in the Listed January Cup (2000m)? Unfortunately we'll have to wait as he's listed as spelling following the weekend.

But it was three sound runs on end from the two-time Group 1 winner, who hasn’t saluted since beating Anamoe in the Randwick Guineas in 2022, so he’s clearly found the consistency he’s been lacking for a while.

While Osipenko, who himself hadn’t won since April 2023, always looked the winner in the run there was no giving up the chase from Converge who ran the fastest last 200m of the race (11.63) and was 0.01 seconds off the winner’s last 600m of 34.61.

The run by Gilded Water created some discussion after he made a long run from last in the 2400m Ranvet Handicap to land outside the lead only to be outsprinted by Tajanis who was afforded the trail when Jason Collett made his move.

They certainly didn’t break any records early, running the first 1000m in 1:04.52 so, even under the 61.5kg, Gilded Water was able to glide around them without too much trouble.

He ran 12.84 from the 1800m-1600m then 13.22 (1600m-1400m) and 13.08 (1400m-1200m), and once he reached the 1000m was able to get a breather.

That’s when James McDonald pounced. He’d been tracking Gilded Water and set Tajanis alight passing the 800m, clocking the race’s fastest splits to the winning post.

He’s run 12.44 (800m-600m), 11.73 (600m-400m), 11.47 (400m-200m) and a last 200m of 11.86 which is a good, sustained burst.

Simply, Gilded Water couldn’t pick up when ambushed by McDonald but he did grind away to outstay everything else. Doing the work under the weight on a soft track not surprisingly took some toll with his last 200m of 12.22 two lengths slower than first, third, and fourth home.

Fastest last 600m: Wodeton 33.58

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