Triumph & Tragedy–That’s Racing at Randwick

Winx overtakes Hartnell at the top of the straight  on her way to winning the Queen Elizabeth Stakes

You may well ask was it worth the tedium of waiting around in  airports for delayed flights, the confusion of finding a bus that went to Randwick, and don’t mention Sydney’s Myki Card equivalent Opal when topping it up for the trip back to Sydney Airport.

The best laid plans fall into disarray when the curse of public transport strikes at inopportune times.

I know I should have booked a flight to Sydney an hour or so earlier than I decided on at the time of booking, but them’s the breaks. You have to accept the limitations placed on yourself by a foolish lack of forethought.

Anyway, it was with some relief that I arrived at Randwick Racecourse shortly after 2.00pm, though too late to buy a racebook, which had sold out.

The day was mild and sunny, perfect weather for a day at the races, and I was thankful that I had dressed for a warm day rather than a cool one.

I was in plenty of time to watch the first of the Group 1 races, the Australian Oaks no less, and I found a spot easily on the public lawn up towards the end of the straight to watch and photograph the races, where it was relatively uncrowded.

Taking photos was problematic, however, owing to the double rails surrounding the track in all of the public access lawn areas, so a great many of my photos are cropped to eliminate the rail.

Lasqueti Spirit, as expected, took the lead shortly after the start and drew several lengths ahead of the rest of the field, trying the same trick that won her the Victorian Oaks. But the other jockeys are wise to her habit these days, so the gap closed as they raced up the straight, with New Zealand filly Bonneval demonstrating her obvious class to seize the lead shortly before the finish line, and win by 4.5 lengths from Perfect Rhyme, the first to challenge Lasqueti Spirit, who ended up running third. 

Lasqueti Spirit burning up the straight, Perfect Rhyme in hot pursuit

Bonneval on her way to the starting gates

Throughout the afternoon I kept coming across groups of young men who all wanted their photo taken.

As this group were pleasant young guys, I promised I’d put the following photo on my blog for Jake, Vaughan, Eric, Donald, Kieran & Craig to download. Who knows who is who and one is missing from the photo.

Click to enlarge

As I had been unable to buy a racebook, I thought I’d do a cruise through the crowds and see if I could find an abandoned book. I ended up with three at the end of the afternoon.  I was also keen to get a Winx flag or two, and they were easy to find lying abandoned on the ground all over the place and remarkably hadn’t been trampled.

A note on the racebooks; they were a very shoddy production with the ink on the cover rubbing off with little use and the interior falling apart if stressed too much.  Obviously the ATC save money on racebooks to pump into the ridiculously high prize money of The Championships.

Speaking of Winx, the only reason I was at Randwick, her race, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes was next to run.

As races in Sydney are run clockwise there were no opportunities from where I was standing to photograph the runners heading to the barriers.

I commandeered a chair to stand on to give me a rail free view of the field as they turned the corner into the straight.

The QE Stakes field turns for the home straight – Winx is about to overtake Hartnell who leads at this point.

Winx of course won easily, relegating Hartnell once more to second place by a margin of 5.3  lengths, with Special Occasion running third.

Winx steams away down the straight leaving Hartnell & The United States in her wake.

Hartnell returning to the stalls post race

Winx returns to the stalls after her 17th successive win

The Sydney Cup ended up being called a non race after Almoonqith broke down shortly after passing the finishing post for the first time.

His fall upset Who Shot Thebarman, who dislodged his jockey and raced riderless, doing two laps of the course before being caught.

I am glad that I was far away from this accident and didn’t witness it, but I was aware that something had happened as the field turned into the straight and only half the field appeared to be fighting out the finish with the riderless Who Shot Thebarman among them, and the remainder tailing in cautiously at walking pace.

Unfortunately Almoonqith was euthanised, but Who Shot Thebarman survived unhurt.

Half the field race for home with a withdrawn runner in the background

Rest in Peace  Almoonqith - on his way to the barriers for his last race

A track hand tries to stop Who Shot Thebarman as he careers down the straight.

As there were several hours to go before I had to head back to the airport, I stayed for the final Group 1 race of the afternoon. This was the Coolmore Legacy Stakes.

I’m glad I remained as the news came yesterday that First Seal (one of the few horses to have beaten Winx) has been retired, and she was one of the mares I was looking forward to seeing again. So I’m pleased I got the opportunity to photograph her one last time.

First Seal – leading the Legacy Stakes field down the straight

Three year old grey filly Foxplay was the narrow winner of the Coolmore Legacy Stakes. Zanbagh ran second with Dixie Blossoms filling third spot. First Seal ended up finishing sixth, the soft track contributing to her fading out after uncharacteristically leading into the straight.

The Legacy Stakes field turn into the straight

I did not stay for the last race and made it back to Central Station, exiting Randwick Racecourse straight onto the express bus.

Admittedly I was a bit vague on the uses of the Opal travel card, even though it is similar to Melbourne’s Myki Card which I have been using for years.

There was no way to buy a ticket back to airport over the counter at Central Station. You had to queue up at a machine to top up. Silly me didn’t take a debit or credit card with me to Sydney, so I had to top up with cash. The first machine wouldn’t accept notes, only coins, so I had to find somewhere that could change $20.00 into coins, and succeeded in doing that.

Finally, after a lot stuffing round I had the Opal card topped up with sufficient funds to get me to the airport.

It was a long wait at the airport for my flight which was scheduled to take off at 8.25pm. However, a storm in Melbourne delayed the arrival of the plane I was supposed to catch, and the time for take off was moved to 9.00pm.  Sigh...

Luckily I had my Kindle and got through a good half of the book I was reading before the flight finally departed Sydney Airport.

I eventually got home at 12.45am, catching the Skybus from Melbourne Airport to Southern Cross Station, from where I trammed it the rest of the way.

Compared with the Spring Racing Carnival in Melbourne where crowd numbers are huge, Randwick didn’t seem all that packed. It was a bigger course than Rosehill but not a patch on the wide open rose enhanced spaces of Flemington.

I wasn’t impressed with the so called “Theatre of the Horse” it reminding me of the mounting yard at Moonee Valley, which I generally give a miss, preferring to observe the runners in the parade ring. It’s like an ampitheatre with tiered rows descending to ground level – vertiginous.

Anyway, despite the transport hiccups, it was an interesting and out of the ordinary day at the races and I’m glad I went, even if I don’t think I’d repeat the experience without plenty of forethought.

And it was a thrill to see Winx win her 17th race in succession and 12th Group 1. She appears unbeatable and her winning a third Cox Plate come Spring is practically a foregone conclusion.  Kingston Town is the only horse to have accomplished this in its 95 year history, and Winx will join the greats, if she hasn’t already,  of Australian Racing History and be long remembered into the future.

As a racing fan I count myself lucky to have seen several great racing mares, particularly Sunline, Makybe Diva, Black Caviar and Winx all in the space of the last 20 years.

Sydney Bound and Winx

Winx at Caulfield – October 2016

When you think about it, 900 kilometres seems a long way to go to attend a race meeting. But seeing Winx racing in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000 metres), and hopefully winning her 17th race in succession, is worth the time and effort of flying up to Sydney and returning the same day. I’ll be wearied by the time I get home, but in the meantime I’ll be enjoying the change of scenery and a mini adventure.

I’m looking forward to seeing Randwick Racecourse for the first time. I doubt it will be as beautiful as Flemington, but it should be bigger than Rosehill, to which I ventured to back in 2014.

Here’s hoping that you can get a spot on the fence in the public area to watch and photograph the action, and that the rails around the track are not too high to impede one’s view or stymie taking photos.

The Queen Elizabeth Stakes is run as Race 7, at the reasonable time of 3.15pm, early enough to not worry about getting back to the airport in time, and late enough to accustom myself to the course layout, and work out a good spot to stand on the public lawn fence.

It all depends on planes, trains and buses at what time I arrive at the track; with any luck it will be around 1.30pm. So I should be in plenty of time to watch the first of the four Group 1 races, which is the Australian Oaks. A rather good field of 14 staying fillies will contest the race with Victorian Oaks tearaway winner Lasqueti Spirit, New Zealand Oaks winner Bonneval,  New Zealand 1000 Guineas, and Surround Stakes winner La Bella Diosa and Victorian fillies Nurse Kitchen and Harlow Gold the top chances.

Winx faces eight rivals in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, chief among them Hartnell, who has now raced against her six times without toppling her.

Others gunning for second spot are Exospheric, The United States and Doncaster Mile runners up Happy Clapper and Sense of Occasion. Naturally, all hearts will be hoping that Winx continues her winning streak.

The Sydney Cup, run over the 3200 metres has a rather uninspiring field of 14 runners, most of them European imports, all in with a chance of winning. There are no standouts, but recent winners Big Duke, Annus Mirabilis, Assign and Tally could be in the finish somewhere.

The final Group 1 of the afternoon is the Coolmore Legacy Stakes (fomerly known as the Queen of the Turf Stakes), a race for mares and fillies over 1600 metres. 

It has a rather nice field with some classy mares such as First Seal, William Reid Stakes winner Silent Sedition, Coolmore Classic winner Heavens Above, Zanbagh and Dixie Blossoms, and smart fillies Foxplay and Oregon’s Day.

The weather in Sydney on Saturday should be mild and dry, and the track will be much improved from the last few weeks, with little rain falling on the city this week.

No doubt Randwick will be crowded with Winx fans, but I gather the throngs are not as huge as those at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup carnival.

A Trio of Group 1 Events–Moonee Valley & Rosehill

Sheidel after winning the Oakleigh Plate – February 2017

Melbourne’s Autumn Group 1 racing season comes to a close this Friday night at Moonee Valley which features the Group 1 William Reid Stakes at its final night meeting of the autumn.

The race was won last year by Flamberge when he was trained by Peter Moody, who bowed out of racing on the same night.

Flamberge is now with the Darren Weir stable and is back in an attempt to win the race a second time in succession. He goes well fresh and with luck could succeed.

A rather good field of sprinters will be trying to deny him that victory, chief among them Rebel Dane, Sheidel, Hooked, Silent Sedition and three year old colt Star Turn.

Also of interest at Moonee Valley are races 4 and 6, the former being the the final heat of the Inglis 55 Second Challenge where Petits Filous is making a return to the track, after almost a year missing in action due to injury.

Race 6 is the Group 2 Sunline Stakes, a race for fillies and mares over 1600 metres.  Class acts among the acceptances are First Seal, Rising Romance and star filly I Am A Star who will probably start as favourite.

Rosehill on Saturday features two choice Group 1 races, the BMW a race for stayers over 2400 metres, and the Vinery Stud Stakes, one for three year old fillies, over 2000 metres.

The BMW has mustered a really interesting field of stayers, all with a good chance of winning. The leading contenders include the 2017 Australian Cup trifecta, Humidor, Jameka and Exospheric, along with  2016 Australian Derby winner Tavago who won the Sky High Stakes at his last outing at big odds, Ranvet Stakes winner Our Ivanhowe who loves heavy tracks, and tough staying filly Lasqueti Spirit who may run the rest of the field ragged with her ability to maintain top speed over a distance.

With a number of equally matched fillies in the field, the Vinery Stud Stakes also makes it hard to single out a winner. In contention are New Zealand filly La Bella Diosa who won the Surround Stakes on a heavy track, then finished last in the Coolmore Classic, Chris Waller trained Foxplay and Dawn Wall, both in winning form, and Melbourne based fillies Harlow Gold and Montoya’s Secret, each of them having good staying bloodlines.

The Rosehill track will be heavy again, but the Moonee Valley track will be good, despite a bit of rain falling this week in Melbourne.

Update Saturday Afternoon – The Girls Have It!

Interesting results all round after a night and a day of Group 1 racing.

The William Reid Stakes was won by the unfancied mare, Silent Sedition, who defeated Hellbent and Star Turn, giving female jockey Katelyn Mallyon her first Group 1 win.

I Am A Star won the Sunline Stakes by 3¼ lengths from French Emotion and First Seal. She’s a super filly who will surely go on to better things.

The BMW was won in spectacular fashion by the wonderful Jameka who beat Humidor by 6½ lengths with Exospheric running third – the same trifecta result (with first and second reversed) as the Australian Cup.

Melbourne based fillies dominated the Vinery Stud Stakes with Montoya’s Secret, Nurse Kitchen and Harlow Gold running the first three places.

Next week the racing action is at Randwick for Doncaster/ Derby Day – a great race meeting every year, featuring four Group 1 races.

Super Saturday 2017

Jameka – 25 February 2017

Though there is the Group 1 William Reid Stakes at the end of the months, the main part of Melbourne’s autumn racing carnival finishes on a high note this coming Saturday at Flemington.

The meeting features two time honoured Group 1 races, these being the Newmarket Handicap, a sprint over 1200 metres, and the Australian Cup, a 2000 metre race for stayers.

The Newmarket Handicap is the first of the Group 1 races to run. Last year The Quarterback won the race at big odds, and he is back for another go. He was sensationally scratched from the recent Lightning Stakes after rearing and falling over in the stalls, so if he was not fazed by that setback he is a good chance to win the Newmarket a second time.

Some very classy sprinters will be opposing him and include Lightning Stakes winner Terravista who loves Flemington, Lightning Stakes runner up Spieth, Oakleigh Plate winner Sheidel,  Rubiton Stakes winner Supercash, and colts Extreme Choice and Star Turn.

Twelve runners will be vying for Australian Cup glory and it has attracted a pretty even field with a number of chances. I’ll be barracking for Jameka who is third up after finishing a close fourth in the two races she has so far contested this autumn. 

She ran second to Hartnell over the distance and course in the Turnbull Stakes last spring. With Hartnell not in the field she could well have the race at her mercy. Hugh Bowman will be her rider.

Unfortunately, Nick Hall, who rode her in the spring to victory in the Caulfield Cup, is out of action due to injury, but Hugh Bowman is a good substitute, being an intelligent and skilful jockey and, of course, Winx regular rider.

Her main rivals are Stratum Star who is currently on a winning streak, Awesome Rock who technically won the Australian Cup last year before losing out to Preferment on an upheld protest, Ecuador, The United States, Boomtime, Humidor and Exospheric to a lesser extent who could easily run a place if not win.

Melbourne’s weather next Saturday is expected to be warmish with possible showers that may not eventuate judging by the lack of rain over the past two weeks.

In Sydney as usual it has been a wet week though clearing by Saturday where Rosehill features the Group 1 Coolmore Classic, a race for fillies and mares over 1500 metres.

A super field of 19 starters  - the classiest of the weekend racing – will contest it.

Top picks are fillies Omei Sword, Global Glamour and La Bella Diosa who ran the trifecta in the Surround Stakes, New Zealand filly La Bella Diosa being the boilover winner on that occasion, handling the heavy track better than the runners up. First Seal is the top weight and the class mare in the race, and at her best has to be considered. 

That’s my two bob’s worth. Who knows how the feature races will pan out. That’s the beauty of horse racing; anything could happen, and more often than not, does.

Sunshine & Roses–Derby Day Review

Flemington roses against intense blue sky

No two race days could have been so dissimilar, weather wise, as Derby Day and Cox Plate Day, with Saturday’s race meeting at Flemington being held under blue skies and bountiful sunshine. There wasn’t even much of breeze, though when it blew across the wide open spaces of the big track, it was refreshing and a welcome change from the heat of the sun.

I had not dressed for the day, unlike the majority of the huge crowd in attendance, and felt overdressed in my jeans and sensible shoes and socks, but not overly uncomfortable.

The crowd may have been huge, but they were cheerful and friendly and my services as photographer were called upon quite few times to take iPhone photos of various young persons posing in front of the finishing line.

It was easy to get my favourite photographing spot on the gate just past the finishing post as it is an access gate for punters in the expensive enclosures on the other side of the track to enter the main area of the racecourse.

All I had to do was wait until the gates were closed and slip into position.

I was there shortly after arriving at Flemington to witness race 3, the Group 3 Sensis Stakes, a sprint for mares over 1100 metres.

As usual with sprints down the Flemington straight, the field splits into two sections, one on the inside rail, the other on the outer rail.

Fortunately I had my camera focussed on the outer rail and caught the actual finish with the winner in the picture, in this case Sheidel who beat Wild Rain by a nose with Private Secretary running third.

Sensis Stakes finish – Sheidel is on the far left

Sheidel returns to scale

Having established that it would be no problem getting into my favourite spot, I wended my way through the throng, taking the short cut via the bookies ring to the stalls area, where all was calm and relatively uncrowded.

One of my aims for the day was to get Winx trainer Chris Waller’s signature on my two Cox Plate racebooks (2015/2016) so I hoped to catch him in the stalls area, saddling up his runners. 

Though I did not manage to run into Chris Waller, I asked one of the stable strappers to get the signatures for me. I’d come prepared with pen and markers in the relevant pages, the books enclosed in a plastic bag.  This ploy worked and my racebooks were signed when I dropped back later in the afternoon to collect them.

Whilst in stalls area I did get photos of some of the main Group 1 race contenders.

Extreme Choice – Coolmore Stud Stakes

Flying Artie – Coolmore Stud Stakes

Star Turn – Coolmore Stud Stakes

Sacred Elixir – Derby

Tumultuous – Derby

Wine Bush – Derby

First Seal – Myer Classic

Failing to make it back in time to photograph the runners in race 4, the Group 3 Lexus Stakes, I was trapped on the east side of the mounting yard, so decided to stay there and photograph the winner, Oceanographer, coming back to scale.

Between heads I got a few snaps of the horses leaving the mounting yard for the track and they actually captured the crowded precinct.

Oceanographer on his way to the track

The Lexus Stakes gives automatic entry into the Melbourne Cup for the winner and is a race for stayers over 2500 metres.

Oceanographer was the favourite and one of the few top fancies to win on the day. He overtook tearaway leader Tom Melbourne to win on the line with Tally running third.

Oceanographer returns to scale after winning the Lexus Stakes

I eventually got back to my prime spot and pretty well stayed there for the rest of afternoon, deserting my post only to get a drink and collect my signed Cox Plate race books. It was while returning with them that I tripped over a step and overbalanced,  thankfully not taking a tumble, but strained my left calf muscle. It didn’t hurt much and it was only on Sunday that I felt the full effect.

Race 5 was the first of the Group 1 events, the Coolmore Stud Stakes for three year olds over 1200 metres. 

Astern started as the favourite, but he was beaten into second place by the Mick Price trained Flying Artie. His stable mate Extreme Choice was disappointing and finished fifth, the excuse being that he didn’t take to the Flemington straight, having a preference for the cornering on other tracks. Star Turn finished third.

Coolmore Stud Stakes finish – Hugh Bowman salutes Flying Arties’s win (pink silks), Astern (blue silks) is on his inside and Star Turn (blinkers) is in the centre

Flying Artie returns to scale

Star Turn returns to scale

Extreme Choice returns to scale

As the Group 1 Myer Classic was a 1600 metre race, the horses leave the mounting yard and head west, past the finishing post on their way to the starting gates, so you can photos of the runners as they pass.

Rising Romance

Dixie Blossoms

Don’t Doubt Mama

French Emotion

I Am A Star

Denmagic

The lightweighted filly I Am A Star proved too good for the older mares winning narrowly from long shots French Emotion and Denmagic. First Seal disappointed and finished way back in the field.

First Seal returns to scale

Myer Classic finish

I Am A Star returns to scale after winning the Myer Classic

The feature race, the Victoria Derby was up next and it resulted in a win for Bart’s grandson, James Cummings when the unfancied Prized Icon won the race by 2½ lengths from favourite Sacred Elixir with Inference running third.

Prized Icon wins the 2016 Victoria Derby

Prized Icon returns to scale

Sacred Elixir returns to scale

Inference returns to scale

The last Group 1 race on the program was the Group 1 Cantala Stakes and it was anyone’s guess who would win, with The United States being the 6/1 favourite.

The Chris Waller and Hugh Bowman combo resulted in a win for longshot Le Romain over stablemate McCreery with Tivaci running third. The trifecta must have paid a fortune!

Le Romain wins the Cantala Stakes

Le Romain returns to scale

McCreery on his way to the barriers

Tivaci on his way to the barriers

The United States on his way to the barriers

Palentino on his way to the barriers

I called it quits after the Cantala Stakes and headed for the station and home. With my left leg feeling the effects of my stumble, it was a relief to sit down after an afternoon on my feet.

Back on home turf walking from the station I came across one of the local ravens rummaging around on the nature strip of the first house on my street. Fortunately I had the camera handy and got some photos from close up without it flying away.

Raven – one of  the locals

Photography conditions were much better at Flemington in the sunshine, so most of my images turned out fine, though the security guards on duty at the access gate impeded my view when they stood at the fence on the other side of the gate.

Somehow, though it had been an interesting and enjoyable afternoon at the races, and a perfect spring day, it was missing that special magic of Moonee Valley last week in the wind and rain.

I’ve been writing this post while waiting for the running of the Melbourne Cup. There’s only half an hour to go before it’s on, but I’ll update this post later with the result.

And it has just started pouring down with rain!

UPDATE - Melbourne Cup Result

The Lloyd Williams imported stayer Almandin won the 2016 Melbourne Cup by a nose from Heartbreak City with Hartnell running third 4 lengths behind.  Not a totally surprising result after all and I’m pleased that I mentioned all three place getters in my Melbourne Cup preview.

As for the punt, my Sportsbet online account was down to $35.00 so I had only enough money to bet $5.00 each way on three horses and included Almandin as one of them, the others being Jameka and Oceanographer who both finished unplaced.

Almandin’s payout doubled my outlay, so the account is looking healthy again. It’s about time my luck changed!