Scenic Blast ($19) from Western Australia took out the G1 Lightening Stakes upsetting the BIG TWO of Weekend Hussler and Apache Cat who won this race last year. Weekend Hussler running for the first time over 1000m was ridden poorly outside of Apache Cat and never looked in the race.

Scenic Blast sat just off the pace coming to the outside 200m from the post and burst past for an impressive win in front of Typhoon Zed and ($13) and Grand Duels ($26). The 1000 metre sprint was run in 56.94 seconds with the last 600 run in 33.20 seconds. Scenic Blast’s last 600 was run in a scintillating 32.44 seconds, narrowly ahead of Swick’s 32.53 seconds who loomed on the outside and was finding the line well.

The big questions from this race are, well many. After last years debacle in attempting to make Weekend Hussler a distance horse, did he do enough? Was it just a poor ride, or has last year’s experiment stuffed it all up completely? Is Apache Cat through as a sprinter and will now need 1400m – 1800m? While the odds will be slashed, should we all be backing up on Scenic Blast in the Oakleigh Plate?

Coolmore Lightening Stakes