Cool Day, Hot Racing–Makybe Diva Stakes

For a welcome break from the tiresomeness of unpacking boxes, I headed off to Flemington for the Makybe Diva Stakes Day race meeting. It promised quite a few exciting competitions and didn’t disappoint.

There were finishes that were spectacular in a variety of ways – several nailbitingly close and others where the winner was impressively dominant with a long margin separating first from second.

My intention was to arrive at Flemington half an hour before Race 2 as I wanted to see unbeaten colt Royal Symphony, who had won all three of his starts by several lengths and appeared to  be a potential super star.

This I accomplished, so I headed for the mounting yard to watch the field parade. They hadn’t started the parade as yet, but Living Legends Paris Lane and The Cleaner were being walked around the mounting yard and posing for photographs.

Paris Lane & The Cleaner in the mounting yard

The Listed Pin & Win Plate, run over 1400 metres, was Royal Symphony’s toughest test to date, and though he only won narrowly over Eclair Sunshine, he did so in spectacular fashion. He was bumped and blocked all through the charge up the straight and looked in an impossible postition as the finishing post loomed closer, but as soon as he got clear running he went boom and won at the last minute.

Royal Symphony wins the Pin & Win Plate

Royal Symphony returns to scale

Saturday in Melbourne had dawned cold and wet, but fortunately the weather cleared by lunchtime, and the rest of the afternoon was overcast with an occasional burst of welcome sunshine.

It made taking photos a challenge, with alternate dark and bright lighting playing havoc with one’s exposure settings.

I was pleased to catch up with my photographer friend Rebecca who had kindly obtained a Winx cap for me, as an expression of gratitude for helping her get her camera at Caulfield on Memsie Stakes Day.

After watching Royal Symphony’s race, we headed to the stalls area to see who had arrived.

Catchy who was entered in the Group 2 Danehill Stakes was there, as was her trainer David Hayes who graciously signed our race books. I was hoping we didn’t put a jinx on Catchy.

Catchy in her stall

Also waiting for the Danehill Stakes was New Zealand colt Summer Passage…

Summer Passage in his stall

…and Jukebox.

Jukebox in his stall – a very pretty boy

With Race 3, The Sofitel, up next we returned to our prime spot at the access gate just past the finish post.

Like the Pin & Win Stakes it is run over 1400 metres and Theanswermyfriend started as race favourite ahead of Mr Sneaky and they finished in that order, Theanswermyfriend winning by 1¾ lengths.

Theanswermyfriend comfortably wins The Sofitel

Theanswermyfriend returns to scale

Mr Sneaky on his way to the barriers

The Bobbie Lewis Quality, a Group 2 sprint over 1200 metres was first of the Group races scheduled and Voodoo Lad, a last start winner, was the favourite. However, Redkirk Warrior, the former British horse now with the David Hayes stable,  who won the Newmarket Handicap at his first Australian start in autumn, then failed to place in two Sydney starts, was the sensational winner.  He took command halfway up the straight to win by 2½ lengths from Scales Of Justice with Land Of Plenty a further length back running third.

My photo of the finish has Redkirk Warrior as the sole runner in the frame.

Redkirk Warrior wins the Bobbie Lewis Quality

It seems patently obvious that Redkirk Warrior is dynamite when he is first up, and he obviously loves the big Flemington track.

Redkirk Warrior returns to scale

Back in the stalls area more horses had arrived , namely Hartnell and Inference who I was hoping to get snaps of.

Hartnell in his stall

The beautiful Inference – a son of So You Think

Back trackside the field for the Group 2 Danehill Stakes were parading in the mounting yard. For three year olds, run over 1200 metres, the field comprised eight colts or geldings and three fillies.

Catchy – she’s certainly a big girl!

The dramatic fall of Limestone near the finish line somewhat marred the outcome of the Danehill Stakes which was won by Catchy, her second victory over the boys. She is of course the winner of the Blue Diamond Stakes. Jukebox finished second with Booker the other filly (along with Limestone) in the race running third. Fortunately both Limestone and her jockey Damian Lane both were uninjured in the fall, which was caused by interference from Jukebox who clipped heels with another horse who in turn clipped heels with Limestone.

Danehill Stakes finish – Catchy is the widest runner

Catchy returns to scale

Jukebox returns to scale

Limestone runs riderless after recovering from her fall

We returned to the stalls area after the Danehill Stakes and were hovering around waiting for Winx to race in the George Main Stakes which was scheduled for 3.15pm. There are screens scattered throughout the stalls area, and we found one and noticed Peter Moody, famous as the trainer of Black Caviar, was close by. As the George Main Stakes field were loading into the starting gates, a small group gathered around the screen. I thought it was poignantly ironic, and felt chuffed, that Peter Moody was part of the group as we watched Winx win her 20th race in succession and 13th Group 1, again seeming as if she couldn’t catch the leader Happy Clapper in time. But she ended up winning comfortably by over a length.

The next race at Flemington was named to honour another great mare, this being the Let’s Elope Stakes, a Group 2 race for mares over 1400 metres,  and a big field of 16 contendants had accepted. I Am A Star was the pre-race favourite, but she failed to place. It was won by Sword of Light narrowly from Swampland. Lovani finished third.

Sword of Light wins the Let’s Elope Stakes

Sword of Light returns to scale

Swampland on her way to the barriers

By the time the feature event, race 7, the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes was run, the afternoon had turned quite chill and shadows were encroaching over the track.

It was however worth staying to witness Humidor upstage hot favourite Hartnell and win by over 3 lengths in impressive style. He’s another one that loves Flemington, his last win being on the track in the Australian Cup in autumn. He’s now favourite to win the Caulfield Cup. Good old Black Heart Bart, honest as the day is long, finished third.

Humidor wins the Makybe Diva Stakes

Humidor returns to scale

Hartnell on his way to the barriers

Black Heart Bart on his way to the barriers

Humidor in the winner’s rug

I would have liked to have stayed for Race 8, the Japan Racing Association Trophy, where a good field of stayers had been assembled to contest the 2500 metre event. But as I’d been at the course since early afternoon, I didn’t feel inclined to hang around and wait. Last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Almandin won the race by over 2 lengths, toting a massive 61.5 kilos of weight to defeat his stablemates Crocodile Rock and Aloft. It wouldn’t surprise in the least if Almandin won the Melbourne Cup a second time, a feat not accomplished since Makybe Diva in 2004, who of course went on to win it a third time in 2005.

It was a great day’s racing, somewhat surprising this early in the season when it’s generally pretty low key.  Flemington was nowhere near crowded, which is the good thing about attending at this time of year.

Next week, the sole Group 1 race is the Golden Rose in Sydney at Rosehill.  In Melbourne Caulfield has the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes as its feature race. I may attend, but if the weather is too miserable I’ll think twice about going.

The Wind & the Rain and WINX– Wow Again

Hugh Bowman & Winx celebrate her 2016 Cox Plate victory

The failure of top sprinter Chautauqua to run a place in Friday night’s Manikato Stakes left me feeling deflated; my high expectations for him to win with his usual last to first dash were disappointed.

The Manikato Stakes was taken out by 60/1 shot Rebel Dane, a shock result for everyone, with Fell Swoop running a very close second, and Japonisme a length back stealing into third place. Chautauqua failed to fire and finished seventh. As his jockey remarked he is not the same horse that took out the Chairman’s Sprint back in May.  He will not continue with his spring campaign and has been spelled. I hope there is nothing wrong with him and that we’ll see him again in autumn.

We will not see old trooper Buffering again as his connections have decided to retire him. He was grand old sprinter who competed against the best in the land and overseas, including Black Caviar, and himself won seven Group 1 races. His last win was in Dubai in the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint earlier this year. He will join The Cleaner and all the other wonderful old champs at Living Legends.

On to the Cox Plate…

Weather wise, it couldn’t have been a worse day to go to the races.
A cold wind and frequent showers of rain persisted from morning to night. The temperature barely reached 13°C and was probably a lot colder than that with the wind chill factor.

The race meeting at Moonee Valley seemed as if was being held in winter rather than spring and was reported as being the coldest Cox Plate meeting in 46 years.

That was not enough to put me off attending, so I braved the elements and headed for the bus stop around 12.30pm in plenty of time to board the 12.50pm bus.

Sounds simple enough, but all my careful planning was put in disarray when the bus failed to stop for me. The Moonee Ponds Busline curse had struck again! I had to wait for the next one and decided to kill the time by walking to Clifton Hill Station and catching the bus there.

I finally arrived at Moonee Valley shortly after 2.00pm and, after purchasing a race book,  wandered out to the stalls area to see who had arrived.

Happy Clapper – Cox Plate hopeful in his stall

Black Heart Bart posing with strapper & owner (I assume) for photos

Winx was not in her stall, but I discovered her being walked in the parade ring…

Winx in the parade ring

… and Yankee Rose was there as well.

Yankee Rose with her cheerful strapper in the parade ring

The weather was challenging for photography, and when reviewing my photos some were too over exposed (too bright) and others were under exposed (dark) just like the rapid changes in the weather - sunny one minute, then raining the next.

However, I am not going to complain about the weather as the upside was that the crowds were down in number, and fled the public lawn every time it rained, so it was easy to get a good position on the fence if you didn’t mind getting a bit wet.

With forethought I had purchased, for the princely sum of $4.00, an emergency poncho. Certainly not haute couture, it looked like a white garbage bag with holes for your arms and came equipped with a hood. It may have looked ridiculous but it kept me and my camera dry.

You may wonder why I didn’t take an umbrella, but I loathe carrying them around, and like to keep my hands free.

Imagine my surprise when watching SBS News on Saturday night and seeing myself on TV wrestling with my emergency poncho in the wind when trying to put it on. I managed to save the screen print below from the video.

Rebecca (fellow racehorse photographer) & myself at the fence on the public lawn

Shortly after the above footage was shot, race 6, the Fillies Classic was set to run, so I gave the camera a test run when the fillies moved onto the track and snapped them as they came around the corner into the straight.

Fillies Classic down the straight

It was won by the oddly named Nurse Kitchen, who I admit I had never heard of. She’d only had a few starts previously but surprised even Greg Miles the race caller with her flashing run down the outside to pip race favourite Sezanne at the post at the last minute. I Am A Star ran third.

.
Nurse Kitchen on her way to the barriers

The Cox Plate was scheduled as race 9 on the program, so there were two other races to watch before the big one.

Remarkably, despite the frequent showers of occasionally horizontal rain, it cleared when the races were on.

Back in the stalls area more Cox Plate contenders had arrived and were either in their stalls or in the parade ring.

Hartnell in the parade ring

Hauraki in his stall

Lucia Valentina in her stall

Also out and about in the stalls area, was two time (2003/2006) Cox Plate winner Fields of Omagh the special guest from Living Legends.

Fields of Omagh in the parade ring

Race 7 was the Crystal Mile, so I returned trackside to watch it.

The Lloyd Williams owned The United States was making a delayed start to his spring campaign in this race and successfully held off Lidari and Ulmann to win by a length.

 
Down the straight in the Crystal Mile – The United States is about to pass race leader Federal

With the penultimate race before the Cox Plate being the Moonee Valley Gold Cup, I decided it was timely to grab a possie on the fence as near to the finishing post as possible and reconnected with Rebecca who I’d lost sight of for the past hour and who had snaffled a good spot on the fence in the meantime.

And there we stayed for the remainder of the afternoon, enduring the wind and the rain, surrounded by a jolly crowd of punters.

The Moonee Valley Gold Cup is run over 2500 metres and resulted in a Chris Waller quinella, when Grand Marshall outstayed stablemate Who Shot Thebarman.

 
Grand Marshall & Who Shot Thebarman fight out the Moonee Valley Cup down the straight

There was then an hour to wait until the Cox Plate. The intervening time was occupied with various ceremonies and the traditional appearance of Darryl Braithwaite singing “The Horses” to the singalong accompaniment of the exuberant crowd.

Darryl Braithwaite sings  The Horses on the balcony of the Grandstand

As the clock ticked down….

…the excitement built and a palpable atmosphere of pent up anticipation infected the pressure cooker ampitheatre that is Moonee Valley Racecourse.

The rain thankfully held off and soon enough the Cox Plate field filed out onto the track.

Black Heart Bart

Hauraki

Lucia Valentina

French horse Vadamos

Yankee Rose

A huge cheer erupted when Winx stepped out onto the track to make her way to the barriers at the top of the straight.

Winx on her way to the barriers

The race was run at a pretty leisurely pace initially with Black Heart Bart uncharacteristically ending up in the lead as they raced past the winning post the first time.

Down the straight the first time – Black Heart Bart leads, Hartnell on his outside. Winx is on the inside behind Awesome Rock (checked red silks)

As they sorted themselves out around the back stretch, the French horse Vadamos took the lead and at one stage was five lengths ahead of the rest of the field, setting a rattling pace.  As they turned into the school side of the track before the final turn into straight, the gap between Vadamos and the rest shortened dramatically. Hugh Bowman had got Winx to the outside, and fastest side of the track, and tackled Hartnell as they turned for home. The two horse battle was short lived as Winx zoomed away at the turn and swept up the straight to win by eight lengths, the crowd uproariously cheering her to the finish line.

Hartnell headed the rest with Yankee Rose only ¾ length behind him running third.

The burst mode on my camera shows Winx, then many frames of daylight.

Winx on her way to winning her second Cox Plate

We had just witnessed something extraordinary, which made the whole afternoon of being harried by wind and rain worthwhile.

Winx eight length win broke the previous record seven length winning margin set by Dulcify in 1979 and Sunline  in her second Cox Plate back in 2000.

Winx returns to scale and a media scrum after parading down the straight

Winx in the winners rug

It had been an amazing afternoon at the races, with the ghastly weather being more than compensated for by witnessing the star mare win her 13th race in succession and second consecutive Cox Plate in such a sensational fashion. 

Luckily I was curse free getting home, managing to catch a bus at Moonee Ponds Junction as soon I got there and arriving home half an hour later.

Next Saturday the racing action is at Flemington for Derby Day and will seem like an anticlimax. It’s a quality day of Group 1 racing, but will have to be pretty good to beat the Cox Plate.