Go with the tried and true for Cup
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday September 7, 2009
DESPITE excellent trials from other contenders on Saturday, the two-mile specialists €“ those trainers with previous success in the Melbourne Cup €“ seem to have the Big One again sewn up this year.Leading the way when weights were declared last week was Bart Cummings, already with 12 Cups to his credit, with his team headed by Viewed and AJC Derby winner Roman Emperor. The Cups King is a typical example of the skill required not only to get a stayer to the first Tuesday in November but at the top of his game. Possibly Cummings will also produce a "sleeper", a stayer so far not qualified which will make the final 24. Another with the Cup knack includes Lloyd Williams, the general behind Efficient, which won two years back, and C'est La Guerre, a year short of the necessary maturity when third in the Big One last year. Profound Beauty, trained by the Irish wizard Dermot Weld, finished behind C'est La Guerre in fifth last time but with scope for improvement. Profound Beauty has a two-kilo increase and Weld, too, with two previous Cup wins with Vintage Crop and Media Puzzle, qualifies as having the necessary expertise. Still, Williams, commenting on Profound Beauty, told Melbourne media last week: "She's been for sale for the last four weeks so you'd have to worry a lot." No doubt Ireland's Aidan O'Brien, regarded by many as the best trainer in the world, will be out to make amends for the mess his Cup riding tactics created last year and has entered four northern hemisphere three-year-olds, with Age Of Aquarius (51kg) and Changingoftheguard (50.5kg) regarded as his best hopes. Perhaps the light weights will entice him to use Australian navigators rather than his own "lads", who got things "terribly wrong" last year. After all, the previous year he had a better result with Mahler gaining the minor placing under Australian rider Stephen Baster.AJC fightbackThe green sprouts are starting to flower at the Australian Jockey Club with a crowd of more than 10,000, bolstered by excellent promotion, at the Tatt's meeting at Randwick on Saturday. This followed the best master plan, with vice-chairman John Cornish the architect, put forward for Warwick Farm in my time. Some markets have the AJC- Sydney Turf Club merger at even money, due to NSW Government pressure, while others are quoting 3-1 against. As a merger supporter because of AJC non-performance and financial grounds, I can see no reason, considering the latest surge forward, the clubs can't run their own race. Darren Pearce, the acting AJC chief executive officer, is in the position until the merger situation is decided and if the AJC maintains its stand-alone status and the committee overlooks Pearce, they should have their heads read.Legendary talesBill Waterhouse, the "Gambling Man", had to bear "the brunt of an enormous unpaid debt from Kerry Packer", according to the advertisement at Randwick for "A Night Of Legends", featuring Waterhouse and Ian Craig, at the venue on October 1. Waterhouse gives an insight into his life and times in his memoir, What Are The Odds, out next month. Alas signing confidentiality agreements gives one hack a dose of colic. Anyway Craig, on the night, will be only too happy to divulge the association between him and Gai Waterhouse. Were they an item?Costly businessOwners spend more than $220 million a year on training fees, vets, agistment and incidentals apart from the purchase of racehorses. Are they being downgraded with the recent push regarding the significance of punters? "Whilst we understand the gambling dollar is an important part of the operation of our industry it is not the only part making enormous contributions," Ray McDowell, president of the NSW Racehorse Owners Association, said. The return for their investment is $99 million in prizemoney representing a 45 per cent loss. Valid points but increasing prizemoney, particularly in majors, is not the be-all and end-all of racing problems.Horse to followOnemorenomore finished fourth behind the boom quinella More Than Great and So You Think, beaten two lengths but under 60kg, in the Ming Dynasty Quality at Randwick but his effort was more than comparable. Trainer Jason Coyle reported he would go on to Newcastle's Spring Stakes followed by the weight-for-age George Main Stakes at Randwick. Asked whether Onemorenomore is the best three-year-old in the stable, Coyle replied: "No, Trusting is. He's a superstar."DisappointingPredatory Pricer could finish only seventh in the Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington on Saturday prompting jockey Steven King to say the four-year-old wasn't suited racing inside horses.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald