It's Somewhat (Dynaformer) has proven a revelation this season for Godolphin, and the 6-year-old lines up in search of his fourth straight score in Saturday's G1 Doomben Cup. The dark bay is unbeaten this prep, kicking off with a win in the G2 Ajax S. on Mar. 11 before upsetting the A$3-million G1 Doncaster Mile at 30-1 at The Championships on Apr. 1. He returned from a short rest to win the Gold Coast's G2 Hollindale S. on May 6 in his last start for trainer John O'Shea, with Darren Beadman now taking over the reins on an interim basis after the former's resignation.
Victorian-based trainer Darren Weir comes into this with three chances, and his best looks to be the former German-trained import Articus (Fr) (Aerion {Ger}). A Group 3 winner last summer for trainer Andreas Wohler, Articus was soundly beaten in his first two Australian outings but looked a different proposition after a freshening in May, when he won a Flemington handicap. The 5-year-old has won four times over this distance. Weir also saddles Star Exhibit (Aus) (Statue of Liberty {Aus}), who has won four of his last five. He steps up to Group 1 company for the first time off a listed score at Caulfield on Apr. 29.
Sense of Occasion (Aus) (Street Sense) showed his class when notching back-to-back third-place finishes in The Championships' features in April, first the Doncaster Mile behind It's Somewhat and a week later behind the mighty Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. His last-out sixth in the Hollindale was better than it appears on paper and he shouldn't be discounted.
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