Review of the Spring Racing Carnival

It’s over until autumn next year. It was an odd spring of racing due to the Equine Influenza Virus preventing horses from other states competing. Victoria miraculously remained free of the virus, though I believe that some horses, Miss Finland for instance, being affected by the anti virus inoculation, raced below expectations. Apache Cat in particular had adverse reactions to it which prevented him from completing the season.

The final day of the Melbourne season threw up some remarkable long shot winners. A horse called Tears I Cry romped home in the Eclipse Stakes. It was one of those rags to riches incidents. The horse was ridden by a female jockey; it was trained by a young rural trainer and was owned by a Warrnambool dairy farmer. For all of them, Tears I Cry’s win was totally unexpected.

So how did my super stable go this year? I ended up coming 19th out of 109 with virtual stable earnings of $4,614,600. I came second in the financial version of the competition winning a real $100. I also came second in another competition in which I won a modicum of glory.

Here’s how the horses in my super stable (substitutions included) performed:

APACHE CAT – was lightly raced early in the season and won well on each occasion. His bad reaction to the anti virus shot put him out of contention for the rest of the spring.
EL SEGUNDO – won the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes & the Cox Plate. The most expensively bought of my stable, he finally justified his selection.
HARADASUN – I was really hoping he would perform better than he did. However, he managed to get a place in all but one of the races he competed in. At least I won’t have to agonise over selecting him for my stable next year, as he will be racing overseas and that doesn’t count.
HERE DE ANGELS – beat Gold Edition on her first run back from a spell, but in subsequent races failed on all counts
MURTAJILL – didn’t race up to expectations
SEACHANGE – splendid New Zealand mare, whose points didn’t count in the competition
BEL MER – only ran one or two times and came second in both races
GOLD EDITION – a great sprinting mare who won the Manikato Stakes, but was subsequently defeated twice by the amazing Miss Andretti.
PURPLE MOON – came 6th in the Caulfield Cup and second in the Melbourne Cup
WEEKEND HUSSLER – he was the new sensation for spring with an unbeaten run until defeated in his last race of the season. Certainly one to watch out for in the autumn.

Autumn 2008, with racing in all states being back in action, should reignite my interest in the sport as it usually does, though I will continue to watch the form and read the gossip over summer.