(The Racing Insider will preview each major Spring Carnival meeting on BPL on Fridays, and review the action on Mondays.)

It was a tale of two cities for The Racing Insider on Saturday.

On a difficult day in Melbourne the best results were Whobegotyou (who won @ $3) and good value place dividends for Kerdem ($3.80) and Belscenica ($3.60). The best bets at Moonee Valley failed to fill a hole; Servant was perhaps a little unlucky after racing wide while Philda was disappointing in spite of a lovely run in transit.

The sky was a lot brighter over Rosehill and so were this punter's fortunes. The banker, Purness, got the day off to a ripping start after bookmakers offered up a tantalising $3.40 about the unbeaten commodity. Herculian Prince then gave Gai Waterhouse and The Racing Insider faithful an early double (which would soon become a treble on both counts) before Trim rounded out a successful day at the nice price of $8.40.

However, I did learn a valuable lesson from Rosehill; More Joyous is an absolute superstar mare and should be followed with confidence for the rest of the spring.

Trim's win in the Research Stakes highlights the importance of reviewing major racedays, as just two weeks ago the following comments featured in this column; "Trim looked like running last at the 400M mark, but really knuckled down to its task over the final furlong hitting the line as well as anything - definitely a horse worth following.''

With little to celebrate on Saturday night my attention quickly turned to the spring ahead and there were a number of runs worth following out of the weekend's racing.

Whobegotyou was brilliant in winning the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes. Afer the race, Peter Moody had this to say about runner up, Typhoon Tracy: "She's the best horse in the land doing all the donkey work for everyone else. We would like the others being the donkey for us."

However, replays do not lie and having being flushed out four and five wide by Typhoon Tracy before the turn, Whobegotyou promptly delivered the knockout blow giving the mare a severe case of windburn as he strolled to victory. (That's him, pictured above, winning the same race last year.) Whobegotyou is on track to deliver his trainer, Mark Kavanagh, a second Cox Plate in three years, while Moody has all the work in front of him to get his champion mare firing before the October 23 Grand Final.

Old boy, and triple Sandown Classic winner, Zipping returned from a long spell in the Dato and was fired up early before settling towards the tail of the field with the muddling tempo. He was hitting the line as well as anything in the race and with natural improvement should feature in the finish second up.

Stablemate, Rundle, stepped up to WFA conditions for the first time and raced at the tail of the field before making some ground in the straight. He peaked on his run 100M from home but will definitely derive plenty of fitness and experience from the race and will be well suited back to handicap conditions.

Precedence and Shoot Out were both forced to race on the inside part of the track in the straight, which was not the place to be, and both ran acceptable races from a future perspective. Trained by Bart Cummings, Precedence looks right on track for the Cups and at $17 looks an ideal candidate to give the master trainer his 13th success on the first Tuesday in November.

Brisbane visitor, Woorim, had his first look at the Moonee Valley surface in the Pulse Pharmacy Handicap (1200M) and, in spite of seemingly not handling the track early in the race, was one of the most eye-catching runs on Saturday. The Show a Heart gelding walked out of the stalls, raced awkwardly when tailed out and then had extreme difficulty obtaining any clear galloping room over the final 400M. He is a horse to back next time out; especially at Caulfield or Flemington which will be better suited to his racing style.

El Mandon and Elusive Touch were both very good runs in the same race and need to come under consideration next time they race.

The run of the day on Saturday belonged to the lightly raced 3YO filly, Jalsah, from the David Hayes yard. Craig Williams rode the filly quietly at the tail of the field before being badly held up when attempting to make ground on the home turn. In spite of failing to find clear galloping room, and being badly tightened before the line, she made exceptional ground and hit the wining post like a horse crying out for 1600M.

Jalsah looks an ideal Thousand Guineas filly and represents value at $41 in a race where horses are rapidly falling by the wayside.

David Hayes also puts the polish on Pitt Street, who in spite of being a maiden was very impressive in the 1500M Spotless Handicap. The horse is entered for the Caulfield Guineas (currently $61), and although he might lack the experience for that race this early in his career, he does look a nice middle distance prospect for the future.

More Joyous was the toast of Rosehill on Saturday and had owner John Singleton speechless after her demolition job in the 1400M Sebring Sprint. The most impressive facet of the win was she was going better after the line and looks right on track to run the 2040M of the Cox Plate.

Barring any disaster she will win the Epsom Handicap on October 2nd and the $3.50 on offer looks very tempting.

Empire's Choice was returning from a 61 week spell in the Sebring Sprint and made very good ground after racing at the tail of the field. He will derive huge improvement from that race and if he can stay injury free will further strengthen Bart Cummings' Cups team.

Herculian Prince was outstanding with his bold front running display in the Kingston Town Stakes and might now bypass The Metropolitan (where he is $4.40 favourite) in favour of heading to Melbourne in preparation for the Caulfield/Melbourne Cups.

The Embassy raced at the tail of the field and would have needed a telescope to see Herculian Prince at the 800M mark, but he dug deep in the straight and made up significant ground over the final 400M. That was his third run this campaign and he looks right on track to duplicate the Group 3 win he claimed fourth up last preparation.

Other runs that caught my eye on Saturday:

Miss Chatter (Moonee Valley Race 4) who got very crowded over the final 400M and hit the line well after being unable to obtain clear galloping room when travelling sweetly on the turn. She is not far away from a win.

Hay List (Moonee Valley Race 6) was emphatic in his Victorian debut. Trainer, John McNair, said he was scared to think how good this horse could be, and to my eye, the big striding ex-Western Australian galloper will go through the spring undefeated.

Renewed Vitality (Rosehill Race 4) was stepping up in grade from a midweek meeting and was far from disgraced in the Heritage Stakes. He made very good ground over the concluding stages and will be winning once he drops back to a suitable race. From The Vault got a long way out of its ground and looks set to win over 1400M next time out.

Rothesay (Rosehill Race 7) resumed from his Brisbane Winter campaign in fine fettle and will only get better as the distances increase and the Cox Plate is not out of the question. Drumbeats was also strong to the line in his first-up effort and looks on track for the Epsom Handicap, although he may well be racing for second place with More Joyous looking all but unbeatable.

The racing spotlight now turns to Caulfield with the Caulfield/Thousand Guineas Preludes to be run this Saturday featuring last start Golden Rose winner, Toorak Toff.

Cox Plate favourite, So You Think, put in a nice gallop at Moonee Valley and looks very hard to beat in the Underwood Stakes while exciting Warrnambool galloper, Moudre, will take another step towards the Caulfield Cup in the 2000M Naturalism Stakes.