October
SeptemberMackinnon not worth a mil
I always like to see good prizemoney on offer in Group 1 races but I think the $1 million recently announced by the VRC for the Mackinnon Stakes is a waste of money.
In my opinion the Mackinnon Stakes is not to be compared with the Makybe Diva Stakes or Turnbull Stakes, and yet its prizemoney is more than is provided for those two races combined.
The Cox Plate has killed off the Mackinnon as a major race, being run as it is seven days previous, and there is always the stigma that some of the Mackinnon contestants are having a final track gallop before the Melbourne Cup. This is allowed to go on without query and frankly is a blot on the derby day meeting.
The Mackinnon Stakes is, in my opinion, a B grade Group 1 race. It has been won in recent times, since the rise of the Cox Plate, by some good horses though not great ones.
But it is some of the placed horses which show up the lack of quality in the race — names like Miss Maren, Barbaricus, Growl, Our Smoking Joe and Lachlan River are not synonymous with Group 1 racing.
It has become fashionable for this race to be targeted by trainers who have a horse that is good but not up to Cox Plate standard.
I wish the VRC would transfer it to the last day of the carnival, because it would draw a better field and its integrity would not be questioned.
Frankston South (Vic)