With the season winding down, the two-year-olds take centre stage.
There is a fascinating newcomer in the opening event over 1420m at Flemington on Saturday.
He is the Godolphin homebred Bon Vivant, a son of Epsom Derby and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe hero Golden Horn, from the family of Miss Finland.
Three fillies dominate the betting, Somewatt Fabulous (Astern), Secret Glamour (Sebring) and Forbidden City (I Am Invincible).
The 162 live foals in the penultimate crop by the sadly missed Sebring is the second largest of his career.
The son of More Than Ready (USA) has quietly crept up the rankings for number of individual two-year-old winners this season. His total of 14 is on a par with another son of More Than Ready (USA), Better Than Ready, and two behind the leader Capitalist and one adrift of Snitzel.
The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Secret Glamour is one of them.
A $270,000 purchase by Ciaron Maher Racing out of the Bhima Stud draft at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Secret Glamour made a winning debut at Cranbourne on May 14.
She is the latest winner from a thriving family descending from the Sovereign Edition (IRE) mare Early Edition, a sister to Helen Of Troy and Te Akau Princess.
Helen Of Troy was the best performed on the track, winning the CJC Canterbury Welcome Stakes.
At stud, she left the top-class Zamazaan mare Calera, winner of the VRC Wakeful Stakes and AJC Princess Handicap. Calera is the dam of the VATC Caulfield Cup winner Imposera, AJC Spring Champion Stakes winner Imprimatur and the dual Listed stakes winner Calaboose.
Te Akau Princess is the dam of SAJC Hill Smith Stakes winner Palace News whose stakes-winning daughter Twitter is the dam of MRC One Thousand Guineas winner Serious Speed.
Early Edition produced two stakes-winners, the South African Guineas winner World News and the 3-time Group III winner Palace Gossip.
A daughter of In The Purple, Palace Gossip had four winners from five to race. They included the STC Christmas Cup winner Mountebank and Palace Scandal (Western Symphony), dam of the stakes-placegetters Diana's Secret (Anabaa) and Heir Affair (Salieri).
Diana's Secret (Anabaa) took the family to another level as the dam of the Horse Of The Year, 5-time Group 1 winner, Dissident (Sebring).
Diana's Secret's half-sister Palace Whispers (Snippetson) was only a moderate performer on the track. She won once from 16 starts, and 15 of those starts came at the Sunshine Coast.
Purchased for just $12,000 as a yearling, Palace Whispers close relationship to Dissident saw her make $150,000 to the bid of Dean Hawthorne Bloodstock at the 2015 National Broodmare Sale and made a suitable suitor n easy decision. She visited Sebring in her first four seasons.
Secret Glamour is the second foal and first to get to the track.
Palace Whispers produced one of the 18 live foals left by Scissor Kick in his final season at Arrowfield, and that colt will form part of the Bhima draft heading to the Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale next month (lot 105).
