This G3 1400m Open Handicap was run like a drag race early by a few and then the eventual leader that finally got the front across the top in Ugo Foscolo stopped badly and ran last beaten twenty lengths. The race was run to set up swampers and surgers and the quinella of a second up Te Akau Shark over a resuming Love Affair saw the identical home turn positions as that of the also hard run early G2 3yo 1400m earlier in the card. The track at Hastings today was still like days one and two of being manmade biased towards on pacers and the inside lanes for races run solidly, standard and slowly but when some leaders went too crazy then the surgers scored four times. If the opening quarter or half of a race is a blatant reverse split then the leaders will stop badly and run on types assisted no matter the footing presented. The ten race card today saw only four races have tank-emptying first half splits or further into a race by one or more runners drag racing and each time they set up the closers. The other six winners turning for home were second (outer), led, third (trail inner), led, second and led, so the manmade bias was still excessively prevalent. It is when a few runners go way too quickly early and never take a breather that sees the run on types feast but that does not mean a track is racing fair at all and is only pace determinative. They went solidly throughout in the opening event over 2200m and the time of 2:14.58 is pretty quick for Benchmark 72 but the first three on settling still ran the trifecta and it is because they went solidly but not stupidly in the lead. Six of the winners today either led, sat second or raced no worse than third and that is track bias personified but to further enhance this the two genuinely quick run races today the G2 3yo Guineas (1400m) and G3 Open Handicap (1400m) both had third finishers that turned for home second and led respectively. King Louis trailed the silly leaders to the home turn and angled off second turning in and for a maiden did well to run third while Magnum sat second the outer and led turning for home when the silly leader compounded. The manmade track bias saw none of the silly overdoing it leaders pay a dividend all day but that happens regardless, however those close up the outer or inner showed they could be still in the finish. Te Akau Shark sat back ninth in the fastest run 1400m all day but only by a small amount over the G2 3yo Guineas and got a tow up near the home turn when going wide by the eventual runner up Love Affair. He turned for home ninth and widest and then was unleashed before seeing his rivals as equine chum in the water or bait at the Bay and then swallowed them whole at the 200m. The 4yo gelding built like a reinforced shark tank absolutely chewed them up and spat them out with utter disdain to win throttled back the closing stages by three lengths carrying the minimum of 53kg in1:22.68 on footing that importantly had a bit of give. It was his fourth win in five starts and the only time he has been beaten came when fourth in the G1 2000 Guineas on good ground. On wet ground or with footing that has ample cut and cushion his big strides and brutal pounding of the track, as he hits it very hard, result in a maximum output to power ratio. He is bred for middle distance but whether he has too much brilliance will one day be found out either way and also hard ground could be his Achilles heel as the way he hits the turf more than one run on concrete footing could set him back for quite a while. Love Affair was unbeaten fresh up until today and ran a cracker plus carried 1.5kg more than the winner but got Shark-burn the final 200m though she tried hard all the same. Magnum ran a brave third as he was between the silly leaders early then when the widest one took over and went even sillier in front he sat second the outer a length back before moving up and leading turning for home. He was headed and fourth at the 200m but came back gamely for third at the 100m though it should be noted he caused some severe crowding and two rivals to be checked at the 200m with his rider being suspended for 10 days. War Affair the 8yo former Singapore galloper ran a blinder for fourth under 61kg, so he gave the winner 8kg in a race run hard early. He got beaten five lengths but it was a good effort and for a moment at the 300m he looked a hope and was third at the 200m before reality bites applied. Amarula from the ace was in the early drag race but took a trail the inner and copped some crowding and a check at the 200m so to finish fifth was not too bad. The margin he finished behind the crowding and check culprit Magnum was a length and a half so the argument to relegate and promote was a tough task but not a total improbability as it saw another runner worse affected too. Vinevale was running on after sitting fifth the inner and seventh at the 200m but looking at the manmade track bias she should have done better the way the race was run and won. Tiptronic after racing fourth the outer moved up third turning in then weakened to finish seventh beaten almost seven lengths. Boots 'N' All after being last away never got into the race and the South Islander was outclassed, while Scandalo never fired a shot after settling back. Not Usual Heart was outclassed while Deals In Heels was badly squashed at the 200m in some crowding caused by the third finisher Magnum, when she was poking through on the fence so a total forgive. Ugo Foscolo, which won the G1 2000m Guineas in fast time in 2016, was wide attacking for the lead and then took it across the top and never slowed down for any breather then got headed quickly turning in and stopped very badly. He is a very hit and miss type with today carrying just 54.5kg it was tellingly the third time he has run last in eleven outings. This looks a super source of future winners as many back to proper grade will fire again and most were scared of Sharks anyway. Te Akau Shark should come onto the track now with the soundtrack of Jaws intimidating his rivals into a muck lather. He is untapped brute power with a withering surge so he can pick up and devour his prey with ridiculous ease and the Tangerine Shark has it all ahead. Not many horses hit the ground so hard and with such a massive stride therefore his legs take the massive impact like hard working shock absorbers. The distance range of this 4yo is untapped and he does seem a relaxed type that can suddenly pounce so some serious big race and lucrative stakes will be on the menu next year for sure. Richard Dreyfuss was Matt Hooper in Jaws and also Jay Trotter in the best horse race betting film ever made in Let It Ride, so the latter is also the future of Te Akau Shark. Australia is his oyster menu of the future and being a gelding the protecting his stallion career is off the table so a who dares wins approach can be adopted. Love Affair is quality but can never ever again give weight to Te Akau Shark though she looks a G1 winner in waiting in New Zealand kept in one piece. When the Tangerine Shark races in Australia will he race once in the Cronulla Sharks strip seeing one of the owners is Paul Gallen? Shark Attack by Split Enz would be the more Kiwi flavoured song for when he appears off the waters of Australia on the Eastern Seaboard. He has not yet raced clockwise so Spielberg and Split Enz in Sydney seems remote at this stage therefore Te Akau Shark looks bound for the big roomy tracks of Melbourne and might even be a 2019 Cox Plate contender all things being healthy as Winx will not be there shooting for a fifth in a row, surely!