Not sure this could be technically called a 2000m race (sticking point this word) but more a 300m sprint home masquerading as a G1 under WFA. The winning time of 2:08.19 was the third slowest ever time since this event has been tried and run over several seasonal dates at G1 for quarter of a century trying to find a legitimate and meaningful home on the calendar. Today would have done the race rating and future standing no favours at all. Only absolute bog heavy tracks in 1990 and 1991 were walked in worse time and the race then was an autumn event where rain is rife. This race was moved to Boxing Day in 2005 having been run in January since 1993 under a plethora of different names and sponsors. The fastest time was Vosne Romanee in 2009 of 2:00.60 or compared to today just three years later a staggering 47 lengths inferior (the same gap as Secretariat in 1973 Belmont Stakes win plus fifty percent) Veyron is a wonderfully powerful sprinter/miler so to allow him to saunter for 1700m and make this G1 a 300m dash for all the cash and glory afterwards is a blight on the other riders. Rogan Norvall at the prior G1 outing atop Veyron rode an absolute shocker at Trentham for this level of racing but today he beclowned the others big time. He would have got a ticket for going too slow if on the motorway but today at Ellerslie he won a G1. Norvall was winning his third G1 after scoring two Easter Handicaps atop Veyron, which is now a five-time G1 winner. In the 2012-2013 season so far Norvall today was winning just his fifth race for the season from 104 rides and that is a diabolical 20.8 percent strike rate (rides a winner every twenty to twenty-one rides), so you just cannot spin such a terrible number. Polish it all you like but that is the fourth worst strike rate in the top 65 runners as of after today in New Zealand so bettors have every right to be perplexed at the comatose approach by the other riders and in a G1. Kudos to Norvall but if he retains the ride on Veyron should it go to Sydney for the autumn carnival (he is best clockwise) then such a gift will never happen over there surely. Gai Waterhouse runners when dawdling in front go quicker and any 3yo with a massive weight pull at WFA from a number of Sydney stables is not going to just sit alongside and crawl conceding defeat. The Zabeel Classsic is one of the rare New Zealand feature events not dominated in the results by mares with just two successes since being moved to Boxing Day and since 1993 when a January date they have won just five times. Shez Sinsational won this last year to become mare number five and in doing so she beat Veyron and clocked 2:02.34 (or 35 lengths faster than today which is four lengths more than Secretariat won the 1973 Belmont Stakes by for an appreciation of gap). The slow track at Ellerslie today was only part of the reason and the course just cannot cope with much rain before turning into cruel gruel and has not done so for many years. It was farcically rated as dead early but collapsed into the slow range between races and bettors are not that silly nor are some trainers that scratched en masse once the downgrade happened. When a downgrade of three or more points (substantial) happens between races or after just a couple of events then the initial reading was a falsehood (wishful thinking and bettors despise misinformation affecting their money) or the track is hopeless at coping with half an hour rain. It is a mixture of both and until the truth is told all the time bettors cannot be blamed for skepticism as they alone determine turnover and no one else or any monopoly despite what they may believe/imagine. If they do not know then don’t guess and if they do know then say so and let the turnover chips fall where they may. Shez Sinsational could not win when last on settling in a doddle-fest as she could not beat Veyron in a 300m sprint of equal marks so from last and widest turning for home bettors money was toast. She won it last year by outstaying Veyron the closing stages and see the time difference above between races as it is staggering. This race is now lending itself towards being a G1 Auckland Cup guide now in this day after Christmas date and the third finisher Shootoff does look ominous. The fact second up at G1 under WFA despite spread-eagling himself early he could box on in what was a 300m sprint home to finish third says volumes for the race strength and true depth of opposition. Shootoff has not won since a 3yo when taking out the G1 Queensland Derby (beat Shez Sinsational so maybe this pair are of a similar ability level and have been over a couple of years). No wins since the Derby for Shootoff and he was outclassed at WFA big time in Sydney in the spring of 2011 for real perspective. However from an Auckland Cup perspective he has placed in a Craven Plate (2000m ) behind My Kingdom Of Fife and in a Queen Elizabeth (2600m) behind Ironstein. That is superior to G1 Auckland Cup form even if it happened in the spring of 2011. Not much is worth saying about the rest as total rider error or an outbreak of narcolepsy seemed to bestow all but Norvall and he relished a second Christmas gift receiving day back-to-back. The tactical approach on the 3yo Spinning Dancer with 7kg less than the winner to sit outside and accept this was a walk and 300m sprint home is hard to accept as it could never win under such a plan. Cassini is a big chance back to a handicap on decent footing as she had everything against her today from G1 under WFA against all comers to clockwise and sludgy footing. The mare found the line late. The irony is Veyron in a fast run race can be devastating and he beat Mufhasa fair and square in the G1 Waikato Draught Sprint (1400m) last year in 1:20.99 for 1400m. He will line up next in this race and what the other riders where thinking today is beyond belief especially as the regular rider of Mufhasa rode the lone 3yo in the field. Poor advertisment for G1 racing and more an episode of mass hypnosis so the relevance of this race to stay at its top tier rating must be on shaky ground. Small field numbers and very poor optics (other countries opinion gets quickly formed by what they see as a so called international G1) and it is always hard to gain back credibility.