Winning Post

This week in Winning Post

Black Caviar is back, and Winning Post is out a day early to celebrate.

Racing's biggest drawcard (pictured) returns to the fray this Friday night in the Group 2 Australia Stakes at Moonee Valley, one of 17 meetings from Thursday to Sunday covered in full in this week's edition.

Winning Post will be out Wednesday afternoon in Melbourne and surrounds, first thing Thursday everywhere else.

Our form coverage kicks off on Thursday with full form guides for five TAB meetings, including the Blue Diamond Preview program at Caulfield. We've got six more full guides for Friday including the night races at the Valley and the Sunshine Coast. The metro racing this Saturday is at Sportingbet Park in Melbourne, Canterbury in Sydney, Morphettville in Adelaide and Eagle Farm in Queensland. (The Ascot meeting in Perth accepts too late for our deadlines.)

Winning Post carries full-colour liftout guides for all those meetings, plus Donald (Vic/SA/Tas/WA edition), Newcastle (NSW edition) and Gold Coast (Qld edition), as well as fields, tips, ratings and/or colours for other TAB Saturday cards.

On Sunday we've got a full form guide for Werribee Cup day.

Don't forget Winning Post now carries trackwork reports for all four Melbourne training tracks, all three in Sydney, Morphettville in Adelaide and a general Brisbane report.

Away from the form, Roy Higgins on page 5 gives his views on the Australian racing scene and we've got news columns from Queensland, NSW, six Victorian districts, SA and Tasmania.

On page 4, our readers are fired up across all the big issues while further back in the book Paul Richards brings readers his unique take on the game and Peter Lucas and John Barker go head to head on the burning issues in sport.

If you're a breeding enthusiast you won't want to miss our 8-page WP Thoroughbreds liftout , featuring contributions from TVN's Tara Madgwick. And sports punters get a page of previews, stats and markets in Sporting Post.

Don't miss this week's Winning Post, available from Thursday afternoon in Melbourne and surrounds, the crack of dawn Friday elsewhere around Australia.

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Inside Winning Post January 28 edition you'll find liftout form guides for:

Thursday:

Caulfield, Warwick Farm, Wyong, Sale, Kyneton

Friday:

Moonee Valley (night), Mornington, Armidale, Canberra, Ipswich, Sunshine Coast (night)

Saturday:

Sandown, Canterbury, Morphettville, Eagle Farm, Donald (Vic/SA/WA/Tas ediiton), Newcastle (NSW edition), Gold Coast (Qld edition)

Sunday:

Werribee

Eye Catchers

Each week Paul Richards identifies horses from recent race meetings that he believes are ready to win. Here we update you when they are about to have their next start.

Sportingbet Park Sandown Lake Saturday - R6 N18 Valedictorian 2nd

Sportingbet Park Sandown Lake Saturday - R6 N9 Ben Zena 4th

Werribee Sunday - R7 N11 Mythical

Results

Letter of the Week

Don't forget Keith

I read with a lot of interest Paul Richards’s column about the burial places of champion racehorses (21/1, contunues page 118).

Horse racing is full of history, yet sometimes history is neglected and can be forgotten. But it never should. It should be revived constantly for the benefit of all, young and old.

I have recently researched the life of Keith Voitre. He was a champion New Zealand jockey who came to Melbourne to ride in 1934 and had phenomenal success all over Australia. He won a host of major races including the Melbourne Cup in 1935 on Marabou at the ripe old age of 22.

He suffered a lot of injuries in his career and the papers around Australia were full of stories about Voitre. Sadly, he died in a race fall at Moonee Valley in 1938, at just 25 years.

We will never know what he could have achieved. According to the Argus newspaper, six train carriages were filled with mourners and thousands of people attended his funeral and final burial place at Fawkner cemetery, which I visited recently. He was an extremely popular jockey. Voitre’s memory could easily be filed away as gone and forgotten. But I have other ideas.

For a start, a book is waiting to be written about his life. Then, one of the Victorian race clubs should honour his memory with a memorial annual race named in his honour. As he was a New Zealander, it should be an invitation race open to both Australian and New Zealand jockeys to compete for a memorial trophy. The race should be marketed as a highlight of the calendar.

The race clubs should jump at this opportunity. Next year, 2013, Keith Voitre would have celebrated his 100th birthday, so the race should be instituted at least before this time.

I think that it is time to not let history get away, but to embrace it and celebrate it. If not, it will be forgotten.

With Keith Voitre, there is a chance to celebrate a brilliant young man’s life once again.

Paul Baines
Melbourne