Caulfield Blackbookers May 30 – Horses to follow from Bel Esprit Stakes day

Here are our blackbookers and horses to follow from the action.

Nice performance by Star Of Macedon in the opener at Caulfield, which saw the two-year-olds go around over the 1200m journey. The John Symons & Sheila Laxon-trained galloper settled back in the field of eight and took a while to get into gear when the sprint went on with 400m to go but once he balanced up he hit the line well to place third.

The son of Zoustar was smashed late in the betting and made his run closer towards the inside, which proved to be the inferior going, but was able to close off with the fastest last 200m and the second-fastest closing split of the entire meeting. He was stepping up from a Seymour maiden and did not look out of place in Saturday grade, while he gives the impression that 1400m might be a suitable option at his next start.

It was a return to form by Obvious in Race 3 with the Greg Eurell-trained galloper filling the exacta behind Clevor Trevor.

The son of Toronado opened his campaign with a couple of placings before failing in a pair of 1600m races, including one during the recent Adelaide carnival. He dropped back to 1400m and made his run along the inside, while the winner enjoyed the better ground wider out.

He may be nearing the end of his preparation after five runs this campaign but he looks capable of winning a race over 1400m, or perhaps even shorter, if placed carefully at his next few starts.

Hard to know what to make of the Caulfield meeting by this stage with every jockey trying to make their runs as wide as possible, while Jett Stanley bucked that trend with a peach of a ride along the inside. But the run of the day came from Simurgh, who toughed it out in the trying conditions to make it two wins on the trot for the Hayes stable.

The imported galloper has now had three starts since arriving in Australia and was impressive when producing some strong figures over the 2000m on May 9. He settled midfield and made a long, sustained run from the 600m as challengers emerged from all parts of the track. Despite the pressure, he showed plenty of determination to hold them out.

The stable has indicated he will likely have one more run, potentially in the Banjo Paterson Series Final (2500m) at Flemington, before heading to the paddock. A spring campaign aimed at the Caulfield Cup is already being discussed and he looks a horse with plenty of upside heading towards longer distances.

Bustling went down as a $2.70 favourite in the feature event, the Bel Esprit Stakes, but it is hard to knock the former Perth galloper given the way the track played throughout the afternoon.

The 2024 WA Sires' Produce Stakes winner resumed from an 18-month layoff with a strong third placing over 1000m at Caulfield on May 9 before stepping out again here. He appeared to make his move at the right time and in the right part of the track, only for Hearcomesthestar to sweep down the outside in the superior ground near the grandstand rail and score.

Given it was only his second run back from a lengthy break and considering the track pattern, Bustling looks one to stick with over his next couple of starts.