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By Brad Gray
At Royal Randwick

The Excuse For Marmaris
Marmaris never really looked a winning hope in the opener at Royal Randwick and despite the wide draw playing a big part in that, Tye Angland offered another reason for the colt’s disappointing fourth.

“He ran well but just couldn’t get him off that one leg. He wouldn’t switch legs,” Angland revealed.

Helaku, for Peter and Paul Snowden, ran out a dominant winner of the race with the jockey Corey Brown suggesting he is still far being the finished product either.

“He is a still a bit green and doesn’t really know what he is doing at the moment but he put them to the sword. I actually thought I got there a bit soon on him. He is a lovely little horse but still learning,” said Brown, who went on to ride a treble.

It was a mixed result for Anthony and Edward Cummings with Andrew Adkins unable to offer an explanation for the flop of Mizzie while Rachel King was impressed with debutant Blast, having slipped up the fence to run second on debut after settling well back.

“He’ll only switch on from today, he is still a bit raw. He’s going to be a nice horse,” King said of the $41 race outsider.

Marmaris ahead of the opener at @royalrandwick!

Looks in good order for @godolphin. pic.twitter.com/XA7G5ckUNq

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) July 7, 2018

La Chica Bella And King Click
That’s two from two for Rachel King and head strong mare La Chica Bella.

The four-year-old bounced back to form on the quick back up after a disappointing effort last week over 1800m.

Jockey Rachel King (Pic: Steve Hart)

“She had to dig deep backing up a week later on the heavy track which definitely took a bit out of her but she was very strong,” said King, who extended her lead to 7.5 wins in the metro apprentice premiership.

“I remember the first time I ever rode her Joe (Pride) said ‘she’s a bit different’. She’ll either really like you or really not. She’s one of those, if she likes you she’ll keep finding for you.”

It was a case of what could have been for Touch of Mink, which left Andrew Adkins shaking his head returning to the jockey’s room.

“No luck once again,” he lamented, “It wasn’t a bad job given I had the Godolphin horse (Medaille) laying all over me from the 700m. With a bit of luck she might have run one-two.”

Seahampton Delivers On Promise
It had been a while coming but we finally saw the real Seahampton.

The Sebring filly put the writing on the wall at midweek level last start but a sweeping victory from last, with Punters Intel revealing a last 200m of 12.13s, suggested she can go right on with the job now.

“She is a filly we have thought quite a bit of but a few things have gone wrong. We actually had her bracketed with the likes of Youngstar and Unforgotten early in her three-year-old days. Here she is now and has shown a little of what she has got to offer,” said Chris Waller.

“She’ll never catch up with what those girls have done but she’ll go on as a four-year-old.”

The most immediate mission is to get her rating up and more prizemoney in the bank so she can target better races.

Invictus Prince Late To The Party
Matthew Smith, who turned 50 on Saturday, would certainly have liked what he’d have seen from his import Invictus Prince.

Punters Intel reveals that the five-year-old clocked the third fastest last 600m (36.83s), behind only the quinella Philosophy and Redouble.

“It was a lovely first up Australian debut,” said his jockey Blake Shinn, “It was a bit short of his best but he is a promising horse for the future. There were some very encouraging signs.

"He is a work in progress and wanted to go a little bit keen but is still learning the Australian way. In time, he is going to be a lovely horse for the connections."

Meanwhile, Jean Van Overmeire, who rode the heavily supported Redouble said he was simply beaten by a better horse on the day.

Our first look at import Invictus Prince having impressed at the trials for @mcsmithracing. pic.twitter.com/xlTl5Yf8dq

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) July 7, 2018

Decision Time On Nature Strip
Did Nature Strip enhance or hurt his claims for a spot in The Everest?

Everyone will have an opinion but ultimately that’s up to the five slot holders yet to lock in a horse to decide. The boom sprinter started $1.30 down the straight at Flemington over 1200m, and won by 1.5 lengths.

Jockey Damian Lane leapt to the defence of the three-year-old suggesting the head wind played a big part in dulling his customary brilliant finish.

“He just didn’t get into as good a rhythm as what he did last start. The wind was hitting him head on the whole way, he didn’t like it and wanted to charge against me. That was probably why he was a little bit vulnerable late but he was too classy anyways,” Lane told Racing.com.

Darren Weir admitted he was still learning about the horse but made no secret of his desire to secure a spot in the $13m feature, which would see him join stablemate Brave Smash.

“Everybody is pretty keen to get him into The Everest so hopefully there are some slot holders there interested in taking him on,” Weir said.

“He’ll come on from that because he had a really good gallop today whereas last start he cruised through the line. You can only win.”

Community Day A Success
A big congratulations must go the way of the ATC whose Community Day was a roaring success. A crowd of 9,163 turned out at Royal Randwick.

It was sensational to see so many kids not only enjoying the pony rides, face painting and Paw Patrol and Ninja Turtle shows but plenty of them checking out the horse’s parade before each race.

Check out all the results and replays for Royal Randwick on Saturday.