Read Moletown's review of the Challenge Series on Raceclubs.com

Challenge Series Review - Stay Another Day The third and final day of the challenge series kicked off when the parade flocked to Canada and their bone dry track. The going was fast and the juvenile colts were first to bask in the glorious sunshine. Qualifying for the series was easy for Papa Sangre with six wins under his belt although the final was going to be stern test off 132lb, especially contesting a field of such quality. The colts division for the juveniles was different gravy this past season and we saw some very tasty auction money chaging hands. It's fair to say it was one of the hottest contests in recent seasons. One trainer who was very confident coming into the race was Marquis Farms and he had good reason to be optimistic as his charge China Emperor was set to relish the conditions. The colt quickly set about heading the field and by halfway had his nose in front. Eventual winner of the race, Sanchez Godoy was looking far from a champion at the back of the pack but such is the nature of the race, it is common to see a horse wind-up from halfway, exactly what we saw. Tytan went stride for stride with the Sky Castle Stable chestnut. Off the final turn, second horse, China Emperor and fourth placed horse, Proud Hero had clear daylight ahead of the chasing pack. The Juliussilas colours loomed large and posed what looked like the major threat to the front two. The winner of the race was still not quite fully wound as he carved his way through the field. Fortunately, the gaps appeared at just the right time and he stayed on best to take the title from China Emperor close home.  When the juvenile fillies paraded for this final, a lot of the talk was about how a high draw had benefitted in recent years. Recent history had shown that stall eleven seemed a bit of an omen and that could only have put a smile on the connections of Carjun1. So it was pretty obvious that most watching the race were keeping a close eye on the wide fillies. Needless to say, in true fashion, the winner came from an inside draw. Cholesteaoma had been touted for sale by her owner, earlier in the season. Fortunately for DerekW10 there were no takers and as destiny would have it, she added a challenge final victory to the yards total. She always ran close to the fore in the race and tracked well to halfway. The early pace being set by the unpronounceable Heterphenebty. The runner-up in the race, Appleyard Estate's Pretty Mare looked from the back of the field at a wall of horses for much of the race but made giant strides to get amongst them as the race post got ever closer. The eventual third place horse only had one other behind her and it also looked a tough ask forRudi and her connections from the Kingfillet Stable may have already thrown away their ticket. Yet, she and fellow back marker, Pretty Mare did all their running late in the game and truly looked the unlucky stories in the race. Having not got the best going to suit her in the race, it came as a bit of a suprise to the owner of Cholesteaoma when she past the post in front, which is a clear indicator that she is a mighty filly and is sure to have a fruitful 3YO campaign. Adrenaline Rush was looking to complete a unique double of Derby and St Leger double. Looking comfortable at the head of the market, he was the one horse who seemed a shoe-in to claim a challenge title this term. After his success in The Derby, questions were asked if the horse was truly 100% for the race and maybe his effort in The Derby had taken too much out of him. Zephyros had played second fiddle to the monster for the most part of the season but this race was to be his crowning glory and he made his effort count, coming from last to first. The ironic thing is that, even though this horse has had a more than successful campaign to date, he could so easily be the horse that everyone loves to hate, had it not been for the incarnation of "The Rush". The Victor Consortio yard must have been overjoyed with the result and it will be interesting to see how the pair match up next season. Antonio Aguilar made most in the race but was out of steam up the straight and the run to the line saw him fade to fourth. He does remain a good spot at auction though and I am sure that Tochonas will be happy enough with his run. The interesting run in the race came from second placed, Valdemort out of the WRS Stable. The colt ran with consistency over two finals and added this purse to the third place he had achieved in The Derby, proving that you don't hae to win a title to have a good challenge series and an excellent auction purchase at very little money.  The St Leger for the fillies was an affair of the highest calibre. There was almost £3000 of auction purchases in the field. The Great Pyramid was one of these buys and she set off at a blistering pace in an attempt to burn the field and sap their reserves. By halfway they were strung out with only Cocaine Powerbomb and Divine Sensation ahead of the chasing pack. The pair would finish the race third and fourth, respectively. The winner, Zephyr Star was thought of by many as the likely winner of the race, although things didn't look too rosy to halfway as she struggled to overcome her wide draw. Forced to run the longest way round, it was only as they made the turn for home and straightened that it became evident she was still in the running. There was a moment when it looked as though The Great Pyramid had kicked on again but Zephyr Star was not going to be denied her moment and after all the hard work, she got her reward at the line. The second horse had ran a majestic race and can consider her performance of the highest quality. Though the accolade for determination and grit has to go to Colonel Sterling's filly. In the real world of racing you could say that she had ran an extra race to lift this title and for every hard luck story or grand effort, there is aways one that you will remember and Zephyr Star did just that! England's firm surface would bring this season to a close with the older stayers of our generation taking centre stage. The Cesarewitch is the prize for the marathon colts and fillies who have been saved in their careers to put in the graft in their twilight years. The colts race went to the Liveoak Stables trained black, Nashville Boy. He was not to be denied a challenge final win and for a horse who had commanded a massive auction price tag as a juvenile, fully deserved to etch his name in virtual horse racing history. He has proven himself to be one of the best two mile horses in the land but had always found a few better on the day, until now. He was always prominent from his inside draw, employing "catch me if you can" tactics. The runner-up in the race, El Cool Magnifico came closest, however, each time he tried to peg the leader back, he kicked on again. Grand Samurai ran well in third place, conceding weight all round but it was the fourth placed horse that went into the record books as the hard luck story of the race. El Legendario was looking to become one of an elite group or maybe even the first horse to win at all three age groups at championship level staying distances. He already had the Juvenile Stayers and St Leger championships in the bag and this race would have completed a remarkable treble of wins. It was not to be on this occasion as the gods were not on his side. Take nothing away from the winner, Nashville Boy, he ticked all the boxes and scored a sixth challenge victory for the yard. And so it all came to an end for another exciting season when they went down to post for the final time this term. The Cesarewitch fillies race is traditionally a very sad but exciting affair as it is the last chance saloon for some as they head to the virtual stable in the sky. The immortals was hoping that Immortalicious would cascade many talents in her last challenge final but she could only manage seventh place behind Lightning Burk. Burkveen Racing held the final trophy of the meet aloft but it was an extremely tough ask. A sea of green from the champions yard made up all the minor placings, all of which were in with a chance up the straight. Wicked Wench may have thought that race was in the bag but the winner drove to the line to scupper her claim in what turned out to be one of the closest finishes of the festival. The fourth horse, Magestic Love stayed on well to the line but just fell short to stable mate, Poetic Yesterday, who just ran out of fuel when challenging the leaders. It was a fitting end to a great season and most of the older generation in the race lived to stay another day.

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