Racing Victoria’s hinted move of the Cox Plate and three other Group 1 races cannot be fully assessed without more detail and more consultation with the people it affects – but the very idea raises some serious questions.
While there had been some discussion about changes to the spring, most who were involved believed it was of a preliminary nature and the announcement last week of a mooted move took trainers and major players by surprise. Some significant figures believe Racing Victoria is using the media to do its consultation.
James McDonald stands tall in the irons to celebrate as Anamoe wins last year’s Cox Plate. Credit:Getty Images
While Racing NSW has taken a money-money-money approach to change by creating new races for big dollars, Racing Victoria is going for more of a take-a-chance-on-me vibe.
However, the two leading jurisdictions are increasingly being seen as arrogant and self-centred by other racing bodies around the country. Leading racing officials had that belief reinforced by dealings on the sidelines at the Magic Millions.
The Victorian changes could work, but they cannot be about simply moving one or two races – the program must give horses a path into grand finals.
It appears a Racing Victoria thought bubble has become public, without key questions being asked – like what are the lead-up races for the Thousand Guineas? And where does the Cox Plate move leave the Underwood Stakes, Turnbull Stakes and Might And Power Stakes?
The idea of moving key races to later in the spring fits well into the sporting calendar.
The only substantial change to the Australian racing program in recent times has been NSW’s pushback into the spring, which has been a success. There’s always room for change, but it needs to be seen as a whole, rather than a couple of races here and there.
The main problem is that moving group 1 races by a month requires approval from the pattern committee in Australia, which hasn’t sat in more than three years, and Asia. Without that, the races cannot maintain their coveted group 1 status.
If the Cox Plate, Thousand Guineas and the Moir Stakes are to move they would be like last year’s Wimbledon, which was played for no ranking points. The races would have to depend solely on their name, like The Everest does.
Meanwhile, The Everest remains Australia’s best-rated race, even without group 1 status, recording an international rating of 120.75, which would have ranked it the 17th best race in the world.
England’s champion apprentice having Sydney stint
England’s champion apprentice Benoit De La Sayette will enjoy a couple of months’ stint in Australia before the flat season starts back in the UK.
De La Sayette became master trainer John Gosden’s first champion apprentice last year and has been sent out to Australia to experience a different type of racing. He will be based with John O’Shea at Randwick.
England’s champion apprentice Benoit De La Sayette rides one of John O’Shea horses in Botany Bay this week.Credit:Ashlea Brennan
Instead of the freezing conditions at Newmarket, De La Sayette has been riding horses in Botany Bay and will ride at the Randwick barrier trials on Monday before starting to take race rides from next week.
“The boss organised it and I have been here three weeks and I’m learning so much because it’s a different way of things here,” De La Sayette said.
“I love learning and when you look at riders like Tom Marquand and Oisin Murphy, they came out here and it really helped them. I had a chat to Tom before coming, and he said you’ll learn a lot and I’m hoping to take that back home with me.”
De La Sayette won races at Glorious Goodwood and at Newmarket’s July Cup meeting last year and has ridden 79 winners, which will mean he only has one win to go before he is not able to claim in Sydney.
Marquand is set to return to Sydney next month and will ride here through The Championships in April.
McDonald keeps his clean record
Premier jockey James McDonald has not only become the world’s best jockey in the past couple of years, he has also been one of the cleanest riders, with 18 months having passed since he was suspended for careless riding.
It is an outstanding record for a top-level jockey who has ridden around the world. So, it was a surprise to see him in the stewards’ room under the gun on Saturday, after his mount Narito bumped his way into a run in the last at Randwick.
The chain reaction out to Rocket Tiger and Po Kare Kare looked ugly, but stewards accepted the evidence of McDonald and Kerrin McEvoy, who rode Classy Jaybee and said his horse was tiring and over-reacted to the contact.
McDonald will ride Golden Slipper favourite King’s Gambit at Rosehill on Saturday, before heading to Hong Kong next Sunday to ride Beautyverse, which won last year’s South Australian Derby when known as Jungle Magnate, in the Classic Mile on Sunday.
Canonbury to decide King’s Gambit’s Slipper path
Peter Snowden is still to decide if Golden Slipper favourite King’s Gambit will use the Blue Diamond as a lead in the world’s richest two-year-old race. The easy Debutant Stakes winner at his only start, King’s Gambit impressed with a Randwick barrier trial win earlier in the month and make his Sydney debut in Saturday’s Canonbury Stakes. “This is an important race to determine whether we go Blue Diamond or the Golden Slipper,” Snowden said. “He has come back really well. He trialled great, he is in really good order and James McDonald will ride him.” He is likely to meet Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott’s debut winner Red Resistance and Chris Waller-trained Shinzo, which will be on debut. The Snowden stable could also have Gimcrack placegetter Divine Glory in the Widden Stakes.
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