Brinks vs Blue Vinyl, Temperence Oaks tricky to call

BRINKS and BLUE VINYL cross swords yet again, on tricky terms, in Saturday’s Temperence Oaks Trophy at six and a half furlongs.

BLUE VINYL easily had the beating of BRINKS throughout last season’s three-year-old classics, finishing ahead of his fellow Bern Identity-sired peer in three consecutive races – the Kingston, 2000 Guineas, and St Leger – before running himself ragged, trying to match strides with ATOMICA in the Jamaica Derby.

The derby was the only race, of four meetings, in which BRINKS finished ahead of BLUE VINYL last season. It is safe to say that had BLUE VINYL not chosen to engage a hyped-up ATOMICA on the lead, his record against BRINKS would have still been intact.

What could make the difference in Saturday’s Temperence Oaks is BRINKS having a run under his girth, off a four-month break, as opposed to BLUE VINYL coming from a similar lay-up with no visible speed gallop on the exercise sheets.

BRINKS ran really well on Monday, trying to take the fight to a well-oiled and back-to-form MADELYN’S SUNSHINE, who blazed five and a half furlongs in 1:05.3. BRINKS, finished three and three-quarter lengths behind, simply no match at the distance against the United States-bred filly, who went as fast as 1:04.3 at the peak of her prime last season.

With that pipe-opener, BRINKS, on paper, should get the better of BLUE VINYL. However, BLUE VINYL’s nonchalance at exercise should not be taken at face value. The chestnut colt has been busy cantering almost every morning for the last two weeks. More so, he reports eight pounds lighter than BRINKS, never mind the four-month lay-up and lack of speed gallop.

Whereas BRINKS opted out of the Mouttet Mile to take on overnight-allowance company that afternoon, BLUE VINYL ran against the best horses in the land and finished five and a half lengths behind EXCESSIVE FORCE, an even performance from the widest post in the 16-horse line-up.

Lining up against I’VE GOT MAGIC, sharing topweight 126lb with the foreigner, eight days after the Mouttet Mile, wasn’t exactly the wisest choice, compounded by another outing in six days, resulting in a fourth-place finish for BLUE VINYL behind PRINCE MARSHALL, POSITIVE ID and PERFECT BREW.

After 31.5 furlongs in five weeks, Patrick Lynch gave BLUE VINYL a more-than-deserved break from which he could very well emerge to again prove his class against BRINKS.