The most interesting thing this weekend

It has been an eventful week in New Zealand racing with the Karaka Sales. Given that this is the case I still couldn't think of anything to write about this weekends racing action. I was not really interested in looking into anything happening at Otago, the Waikato races interest me but with the smallish Waikato Guineas field I didn't see the point in going into detail. My next thought was with the Sydney Autumn carnival just around the corner it might be worth having a look at races across the ditch and see how the build up is going, however after having a look at the fields in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland nothing really grabbed my attention, I even had a quick scan of the races on Adelaide and Perth.

I was left with nothing to write about, more so than usual (or should that be less so?) and it has not stopped me in the past. I asked myself, what am I most interested in this weekend? The answer is the Waikato Guineas, but not really the race itself, the battle between leading Derby contender Ocean Park, and leading Oaks contender Silent Achiever (see I told you I would find a way to bring her up in every post until the Oaks).

In this post I will disrespect (and probably regret it later) every other horse they will face this weekend and commence a "tale of the tape" style breakdown on the Ocean Park vs Silent Achiever. Yes, and entire post focusing on two horses in a Group 3 race (that sound you just heard was every other reader slamming their palm on their forehead and rapidly clicking away from this post).

Category	Ocean Park	Silent Achiever	Edge	Notes
Age	3YO	3YO	Even	If you want to get technical Silent Achiever is 25 Days older than Ocean Park.
Sex	Colt	Filly	Even	I am not going to touch that one.
Overall Record	4-3-1-0	4-2-1-1	Ocean Park
Distance Record	0-0	0-0	Silent Achiever	Has won over 2100m while Ocean Park has not raced over more than 1600m, however was so impressive it looked like 2000m will be no problem.
Best Win	Jan 21st @ Wellington (1600m Group 3)	Jan 1st @ Ellerslie (2100m Group 2)	Ocean Park	Was so impressive two weeks ago running away over 1600m.
Best Loss	December 26th @ Ellerslie 2nd to Knights Tour (1600m Group 2)	December 26th @ Ellerslie 3rd to Planet Rock and Testa Secret (1600m Group 2)	Silent Achiever	Ocean Park's run was amazing for second, but the 3rd was in an absolutely stacked Eight Carat Classic.
Jockey	Chad Ormsby	James McDonald	Slight edge, Silent Achiever	It is closer than you may think, Chad Ormsby has a relationship with Ocean Park, but James McDonald is the best Jockey in the country.
The Tron	Trained in Matamata, won twice left handed.	Trained in Cambridge, first start left handed.	Ocean Park	Both don't have too far to travel, Ocean Park's left handed results give him the edge.
Big Beats	Shuka, Burgundy (twice), Joy's Choice, Nashville, Fort Lincoln	Dowager Queen, Artistic, Xanadu, Holy Moly, Abeautifulred, Shuka	Silent Achiever	Thus far in their respective careers it is clear that Silent Achiever has beaten horses with bigger profiles.
Name	Ocean Park? What is that anyway?	Silent Achiever, is that what you really want.	Slight Edge Ocean Park	Neither name really stands out, will give the slight edge to Ocean Park because at least they incorporated the sire Thorn Park, so it is not just something pointless and made up.
Colours	Blue with a white cross and sleeves	Gold	Ocean Park	Have to admit that the Silent Achiever colours are a bit boring, then again they are easy to spot during the running.
Trainer Success this year	23-5-1-3 and $90k this year with an impressive 4.6 strike rake, thanks in big part to Ocean Park	96-17-116-9 and $300k this year at an impressive 5.65 strike rate. Not to mention an Australian Group 1 Victory which was not a victory.	Silent Achiever	But it is relative to the size of their operations.
Biggest Derby/Oaks Competition	Knight's Tour	Chicharita	Silent Achiever	Despite the $5 quote, it just looks like an easier race to win.
Holy hell that was impressive moment	Pulling away from a Group 3 field and winning impressively last start	Her first win where she flew home over the last 200m for victory.	Ocean Park	I am very biased, I was on course for that Silent Achiever victory, and it was one for the most impressive things I have seen in person. However, that Ocean Park win was at Group 3 level.
Who's your daddy?	Thorn Park	O'Reilly	Silent Achiever	Thorn Park Sold 10 Lots @ $126,000 O'Reilly Sold 39 @ $138,077 at the recent premier sale at Karaka. That seems like a fair measurement.
Predicted Finishing Position Saturday	First	Second	Ocean Park	I really, really wanted to call Silent Achiever here, but I just couldn't do it, I have totally bought into the Ocean Park hype, however I think I will place some money on Silent Achiever.
Overall	Won 7 Categories	Won 7 Categories	Even	After all of this it is fairly even between these two and we are probably looking at the New Zealand Derby and Oaks winners this year.

This seemingly unexciting race is really shaping up like a battle between two potential Group 1 winners. Now that I have sufficiently jinxed both of these feel free to put your money on Shuka this weekend. I really think Silent Achiever has a fairly clear run to the Oaks with less competition, I am very weary of Knight's Tour as competition to Ocean Park to the derby. I think if Ocean Park wins this he will likely shorten slightly for the Derby and Silent Achiever will probably not move too much in regard to the Oaks, conversely if Silent Achiever wins she will probably be significantly shorter as Oaks favourite, we Knights Tour may take over as Derby favourite. There is a lot at stake this weekend for these two horses.