Topliners Mr Brightside, Alligator Blood, Fangirl, Imperatriz (possibly Australasia’s best sprinter), and West Wind Blows (from abroad but handles local conditions like a Waler) highlight an outstanding finale to Melbourne Cup week at Flemington.
The first three days of the Cup carnival have been successful following the long-established format, but they have been superseded by the final Saturday program that was once overshadowed but which now features the Champions treble of $3 million races.
However, locals down south are still bleating about NSW racing basically being in competition under playmaker Peter V’landys, and they found a supporter – in some aspects – in Southern Tablelands-based racehorse owner, turf enthusiast and booming media presence Alan Jones.
“There are 365 days a year and it ought to be possible to organise a $10 million race in Sydney that doesn’t correspond with the great Victoria Derby,” Jones,who was a guest speaker at the recent Carbine Club luncheon in Melbourne, declared. Jones also advocated for more cooperation between the states and was loudly applauded.
But why? The Victoria Derby is no longer the wonderful classic of yore for three-year-olds, and the $10 million Golden Eagle for four-year-olds at Rosehill Gardens was superior.
Regardless, Flemington had upwards of 70,000 on Derby Day, 80,000 plus for the Melbourne Cup, and more than 40,000 for the Oaks on the non-holiday Thursday.
Mark Zahra (left) broke the whip rules on Without A Fight when beating just beating West Wind Blows (right) in the Caulfield Cup. Credit: Getty
The crowd at the latter bore witness to the scintillating triumph of Zardozi in the feature for Godolphin under the regime of James Cummings and with James McDonald producing the necessary saddle expertise.
That combination will be out on Saturday to diminish the boom on Imperatriz with In Secret in the Champions Sprint. In Secret was beaten last start under exasperating circumstances, which prompted the Best Bets comment of “just wow”.
Imperatriz will also face strong opposition from Bella Nipotina, which downed Private Eye and Everest dominator Think About It in the $3 million Winners Sprint at Rosehill last Saturday.
Even with the strength of the 1200-metre dash, it’s hardly superior to the Champions Mile, which only has seven acceptors but includes Mr Brightside, Alligator Blood, Fangirl and Pride Of Jenni. What a tactical battle will eventuate if Declan Bates takes off like a bat out of hell like he did to score on Pride Of Jenni in the Empire Rose last Saturday.
Imperatriz is arguably the best sprinter in Australasia.Credit: Getty
Mr Brightside was regarded as Australia’s supreme miler until he was downed by Fangirl in the King Charles at Randwick two starts ago. Last start he was pipped in the Cox Plate (2000m) by Hong Kong star Romantic Warrior. Fangirl was seventh in the Cox Plate but should have finished closer than 1.6 lengths from the winner.
The Stakes over 2000 metres is the lesser of the $3 million Champions races but has spice in the Irish bred, British trained West Wind Blows.
The invaders are on the nose after the Melbourne Cup, but West Wind Blows was only beaten in the Caulfield Cup because of the power of Mark Zahra when he broke the whip rules on Without A Fight. That combination were successful in the Big One – without exceeding the whip rules.
Strong opposition is anticipated from Zaaki, which has won the last two runnings of this race, and the mares Duais and Prowess.
Ed Cummings has taken Duais from second in a Newcastle maiden to prizemoney of more than $3 million, and she was recently sold for an undisclosed figure but in the hundreds of thousands. Duais was another restricted by the mess in the Cox Plate.
The Roger James and Robert Wellwood trained Kiwi Prowess has won eight of 11 starts, including a last-start victory in the Crystal Mile on Cox Plate day.
Being rusted on to tradition, I thoroughly enjoyed Flemington for the first two days this week but figure racing is the winner in the war of the states.
If the Waler reference to West Wind Blows puzzles the younger brigade, they were the Aussie-breds that led cavalry charges in World War I while the English thoroughbreds were field shy under cannon fire.
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