October
JuneLuke won't let us down
Great to read and enjoy Bill Corkey’s letter regarding the ongoing "biff" between Adam Barnett (if he really exists), Ken Wood, Alan Walker and myself (26/5).
I fully agree with Bill, and when I receive my home-delivered WP every Friday morning and turn immediately to Your Say I am disappointed if there is not some outrageous correspondence from this genius, be he real or a creation of Winning Post. Either way, hope it keeps up.
With that thought in mind, I see where a couple of weeks ago Adam claimed Luke Nolen would get Black Caviar beaten at Ascot when he falls foul of those nasty little European jockeys. I can only say that, despite recent Melbourne Cups, the only person who should beware of those nasty little European jockeys is any Australian punter who risks his hard-earned on any horse they ride in this country.
Adam has obviously ignored the exploits of Australian jockeys riding overseas going back to "Togo" Johnstone, Edgar Britt, Billy Cook (India in the period of the Raj), Scobie Breasley, George Moore and frankly just about any Australian jockey who has ventured overseas to ply his trade.
Even lesser lights and members of the mediocre brigade become champions when pitted against local riders in any country. These days the focus for these boys has of course swung to Asia, where the real money is now located.
I’m sure Luke, on his first overseas venture, will not let us down.
Talking about Melbourne Cup and overseas, sadly, I was in the UK during our last Melbourne spring carnival. There was very little interest in or information available about our glamour races. For instance, an attendant in a Coral Betting Shop in London in response to my request for a market on Cox Plate day looked at me vacantly and asked if that was some football match somewhere.
Then on Cup Day I found myself in the Scottish city of Perth. The Cup was run at 4am UK time. A request to the owner of the elegant 19th-century hotel in which we were staying was unable to help with any advice about a direct telecast, but he admitted to being a keen punter and in a very interesting after-dinner discussion he was most anxious to discover all he could of Australian racing.
My son, back in Australia and knowing of my frustration, woke me at 4am with a text message declaring they were "At the start". Then for the next few minutes there was a beep-beep-beep every 30 seconds or so as he kept sending me texts of the progress and leaders at different stages, much to the annoyance of my sleepy wife, who threatened violence in the form of hurling my bloody mobile out the window.
When I eventually went down for breakfast in the elegant dining room, my newly befriended hotel owner, chef and punter had a hard copy of an email with the full Cup story and photograph of the finish sitting alongside my breakfast table setting. Lovely gesture.
Brighton (Qld)