Queens of the Turf – Makybe Diva Stakes Day

Makybe Diva Statue at Flemington

When I read that Makybe Diva, three time Melbourne Cup winner, was to make a special appearance at Flemington, how could I not attend.

Fortunately there were no public transport disruptions last Saturday, so I arrived at Flemington shortly after 1.00 pm, in time for Race 3, The Sofitel, a race over 1400 metres.

This resulted in a win for Kalino who narrowly beat Umgawa and Detonator Jack.

The Sofitel finish – Kalino is the widest in purple silks

With time in hand I decided to tramp up to the stalls area for a look at Makybe Diva who was in Stall number 1.

A big crowd of admirers surrounded her stall, but I managed to get a few photos, including one of her with Glen Boss who rode her in all three of her Melbourne Cup victories from 2003 to 2005.

Glen Boss is obviously delighted to see Makybe Diva again

Makybe Diva in the stalls area

There was display on the public lawn close to her statue of symbols of her three Melbourne Cups.

Makybe Diva’s Cups Display

All this dilly dallying in the stalls caused me to miss Race 4, the Poseidon Stakes, but I had returned to my usual spot for Race 5, the Exford Plate, which was won by Griff from Surprise Coming and King of Fighters.

Griff (no 8) is the widest with Surprise Coming in yellow silks

The feature race of the day was of course the Makybe Diva Stakes, scheduled as Race 7, so there was still one more race to run before it occurred. Luckily, the weather on Saturday was fine and sunny, so it was pleasant to bask in the sun after the chill winter we had recently experienced.

This was the Cap D’Antibes Stakes, a sprint over 1100 metres that had attracted a largish field of 19 runners.

Shesallshenanigans (a mouthful of a name) was the victor at big odds, beating Stretan Angel and Skirt The Law to the post.

Shesallshenanigans (foreground)  wins the Cap D’Antibes Stakes.

Finally it was time for the Makybe Diva Stakes and the result was pretty much as predicted by the experts with Mr Brightside, tongue lolling out, winning the bickies from Alligator Blood with Osipenko running third and Princess Grace fourth.

Mr Brightside wins the 2023 Makybe Diva Stakes from Alligator Blood

Mr Brightside on his way to the barriers

Alligator Blood on his way to the barriers

Osipenko on his way to the barriers

Princess Grace on her way to the barriers

Mr Brightside celebrates with his connections in the mounting yard

Mr Brightside has won his last five races and is one of the shining lights of the Spring racing season.

Another bright light of this Spring is undoubtedly Amelia’s Jewel who contested and won the Group 2 Let’s Elope Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.

Amelia’s Jewel was bred in West Australia and has had ten starts for eight wins and two seconds.

The Let’s Elope Stakes was her first start in Melbourne and she passed the test with flying colours, doing it easily after drawing the widest gate, winning by over a length from Life Lessons and El Patroness.

Amelia’s Jewel parading in the mounting yard

Amelia’s Jewel on her way to the barriers

Amelia’s Jewel overtaking Life Lessons & El Patroness

Amelia’s Jewel returns to scale after winning the Let’s Elope Stakes

I’m pleased that I was there to see her in the flesh and hope I get to see her race again later in the Spring. There is some talk of her tackling the Cox Plate.

It was pleasant being back at the big track. The roses were not yet in bloom; no doubt timed as always to reappear in stunning arrays during the Melbourne Cup  Carnival.

Next Saturday I plan to head to Caulfield for the running of the Group 1 Underwood Stakes.

The O’Reilly Boys & Winx 27

Grunt wins the Makybe Diva Stakes

It’s probably fortunate that over this first winter in Ivanhoe I have learned to endure the cold.  Being of a stoical nature, this stood me in good stead on Saturday at the Flemington races, where truly awful weather was the bane of the afternoon. It was cold. It was windy. It rained.

As racing  continues as scheduled, mostly regardless of the weather, you basically have to endure the capricious Spring conditions if you want to witness first class racing.

The O’Reilly boys of the title of this post are Grunt and Brutal, both sired by the New Zealand stallion  O’Reilly by different dams and trained by Mick Price (Grunt) and  the Hawkes (Brutal). Curiously enough both won their respective races on Saturday, and it’s interesting that both have really macho names. They are both very striking young fellows also.

I reached Flemington at around 1.40 pm, in time to witness the running of Race 3, the Listed The Sofitel (registered as the Tontonan Stakes) a race over 1400 metres.

The Sofitel finish – Violate wins from Dollar For Dollar & Eclair Calling

Brutal’s race, the Antler Luggage Plate was next to jump, but before that I cruised through the Stalls area, snapping a photo of the Makybe Diva statue on my way there.

Makybe Diva – the first stalls area is to the left of the statue

Living Legends Paris Lane and Brew were the special guests for the meeting.

Paris Lane with Living Legends CEO Dr Andrew Clarke

2000 Melbourne Cup winner Brew

Returning to the public lawn I caught the Antler Luggage Plate field parading in the mounting yard

Brutal

Leonardo Da Hinchi

Declarationofheart

The race itself was exciting with Brutal leading from the start to the finish with Leonardo Da Hinchi challenging him most of the way. The lead changed several times as the two colts fought out the finish with Brutal toughening it out to win by a nose. Good N Fast ran third a length behind the leading pair.

Brutal (inside) & Leonardo Da Hinchi cross the line together

Brutal returns to scale

Needless to say, taking photos was challenging with the wind and the rain. Early in the afternoon the sun occasionally popped out from the clouds, but as the afternoon advanced the light worsened.

Race 5 was the Group 2 Bobbie Lewis Quality, a sprint over 1200 metres. Thankfully the field didn’t split, but raced down the centre of the straight. The Sydney based Dothraki, now 8 years old, was the eventual winner, with First Among Equals, missing out by nose, running second with former Japanese sprinter Kemono filling third place. The photo below of the finish is deceptive due the angle of shot (diagonal pov).

Dothraki (red silks) & Kemono (inside) followed by First Among Equals (yellow cap)

Dothraki returns to scale

As Winx’s race in Sydney was scheduled to start at 3.10pm I found a place to sit down across from the big screen to watch it.

 
Winx heading to barriers for the George Main Stakes (screen view)

Naturally Winx won easily, as usual giving the field a head start by racing at the tail  before rounding them up and drawing level with the game Le Romain who had taken the lead shortly after the turn into the straight. Winx passed him in a flash and she went on to win by five lengths. That was her 27th consecutive win, 20th Group 1 win and third consecutive George Main Stakes victory.  She is simply amazing!

It started to rain as the mares were parading in the mounting yard preparatory to running in the Group 2 Let’s Elope Stakes, hence the less than perfect photos hereafter.

I Am A Star

Bella Martini

Sheezdashing

Once again it was a closely fought finish up the straight, this time between I am A Star and Bella Martini where I Am A Star won by the narrowest of margins. Sheezdashing finished third. The rain was was pelting down as the race was run, the mares, like all the previous runners, facing a stiff breeze in the straight.

Bella Martini & I Am A Star cross the finish line together

Typical of Flemington racing, very few favourites won on the day, most of the winners paying double figure odds.

And such was the case with the feature Makybe Diva Stakes. I must admit I had lost faith in Grunt after his previous two disappointing runs this season at Caulfield. He obviously likes Flemington as he absolutely flew in the closing stages of the Makybe Diva Stakes, emerging from mid field to overtake the leaders and win by two lengths from Kings Will Dream and Jon Snow.

 
Grunt in the mounting yard

Kings Will Dream on his way to the barriers

Jon Snow in the mounting yard

I did not stay for the Danehill Stakes even though it had a super field of aspirant Guineas contenders. The blue blood Encryption (Lonhro / Guelph) won it at big odds from Thorondor and Tavisan.

Next weekend the Group 1 action is at Caulfield for the Sir Rupert Clark Stakes, and in Sydney at Rosehill, the Group 1 Golden Rose is the feature race.

Winx’s next appearance to all intents and purposes will be at Flemington in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes on 6 October. Can’t wait!

Makybe Diva Stakes Day & Go Winx

Humidor winning the 2017 Makybe Diva Stakes

Group 1 racing returns to Flemington this Saturday with the running of the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes, and at Randwick in Sydney, superstar Winx continues her progress towards the Cox Plate in the Group 1 George Main Stakes the day after her 7th birthday.

So there’s lots of action as the Spring racing carnival gathers pace.

Much as I’d like to be in Sydney to watch Winx race, I’ll be attending the Flemington meeting. It is very likely that Winx will contest the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington in early October, so I’ll be content to wait until then to see her in the flesh in what may be her last racing season.

It all depends on the train timetable at which time I will reach Flemington, but I hope to be there in plenty of time to watch Race 4, the Listed Antler Luggage Plate where the handsome Brutal will be aiming to keep his so far unbeaten run intact.  His main opponents are The August, Good ‘n’ Fast, Crockett and Declarationofheart.

Besides the Makybe Diva Stakes, there’s a solid support card with three Group 2 races, the first to run being the Bobby Lewis Quality, a sprint over 1200 metres. Hey Doc, who disappointed at Moonee Valley at his last start will probably start as favourite.  The rest of the field is not much chop, the best being Rich Charm, Grand Rosso and Crack Me Up.

The Let’s Elope Stakes has attracted a nice field of well performed mares that include I Am A Star, La Bella Diosa, Miss Gunpowder, Merriest, Bella Martini and Kenedna returning after a long break. 

As the Makybe Diva Stakes has not been consecutively won by the same horse since the 1950s, can last year’s winner Humidor achieve this rare double?  He surprised at big odds winning the Memsie Stakes at his second start for spring 2018.  Half of the 12 strong field that contested the Memsie Stakes have accepted for the Makybe Diva.  Added to the usual suspects – Happy Clapper, Humidor, Kementari et al  are the in form Comin’ Through, New Zealander Jon Snow and  Western Australian Pounamu.  Other than the aforementioned the romantically named Kings Wiil Dream looks top pick having won over the distance at Flemington previously.

Run after the Makybe Diva Stakes, the third of the Group 2 races is the Danehill Stakes for three year olds run over 1200 metres. Top chances are Native Soldier, Tavisan and Ef Troop. I probably won’t witness it first hand as I plan to leave Flemington after the feature race.

The must see race of the day is of course the George Main Stakes where Winx will be facing seven rivals, four of them her stablemates Who Shot Thebarman, Religify, Egg Tart and Unforgotten. Unforgotten won the Chelmsford Stakes at her last start, a race won by Winx the previous year. Though not likely to beat the invincible Winx, she is very likely to run second. 2017 Victorian Derby winner Ace High and three time Group 1 winner Le Romain are also not without place claims.

There are also some quality Group 2 races at Randwick, The Shorts for instance, a sprint over 1100 metres that pits three The Everest stakeholders against each other, namely Redzel, Brave Smash and Invincible Star. It looks a doozy of a race.

Though it is warm and sunny in Melbourne today, the weather is forecast to be cold and wet tomorrow. Hopefully it will not be as bad as predicted.  It seems that each weekend of this spring racing season the weather alternates between one extreme and the other – sunny and soggy.

Australian Cup 2018

Australian Cup finish 2017 – Humidor pips Jameka at the post

Truth to tell, the Melbourne Summer/Autumn racing carnival has been somewhat underwhelming and tomorrow’s Super Saturday at Flemington promises more of the same.

The feature races are the Group 1  Newmarket Handicap, a sprint over 1200 metres, and the  Group 1 Australian Cup for middle distance runners over 2000 metres.

The Newmarket is the first of the Group 1 events to run and has a large field of 15 runners competing. It’s a mix of tried and true older sprinters and young up and comers.

Top picks of the older brigade are Redkirk Warrior who won the Black Caviar Lightning first up at his only start so far this autumn and loves the Flemington straight, Brave Smash who won the Group 1 Futurity Stakes at Caulfield at his last start, but has not raced at Flemington, Rich Charm who does love the Flemington straight, having won there over the distance twice.

Best of the younger set is Merchant Navy, Booker and Catchy, all with a weight advantage over their older rivals.

Many great champions of the Australian turf have won the Australian Cup such as Lonhro, Northerly, Makybe Diva, Octagonal and Saintly to name a few, so who will go down in the record books this year?

The 12 strong field is mostly made up of imported stayers such as Hartnell, Almandin., Homesman, The Taj Mahal and Gailo Chop who are the top chances.  Of the few locals it would be nice if the ever reliable Single Gaze got her moment of Group 1 glory. The interesting runner is Japanese import Ambitious having his first start in Australia.

In Sydney, at Randwick the most interesting race of the day is the Group 1 Randwick Guineas, where a crackerjack field of three year old colts and two geldings will be vying for the prize. Kementari who has won his only two starts this autumn is the top pick.  Victorian Derby winner Ace High is also a good chance though is probably better over a longer distance than the 1600 metres of this race. Others worthy of consideration are Golden Rose winner Trapeze Artist and Peaceful State who ran second in the Australian Guineas last week. Peaceful State interestingly is a brother to Weekend Hussler who won the Randwick Guineas, among several other Group 1 races, in 2008.

The weather in Melbourne tomorrow is predicted to be fine and sunny again, so slathered in sunscreen I’ll venture to Flemington tomorrow for another Saturday at the races, maybe the last for a while.

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.