October
NovemberMainly plodders
One can only agree with Moody, Hayes and Freedman that European raiders are treated too leniently.
Having followed these horses for years I never recognise them when they are expounded in our press as world beaters.
I know all their best horses. These are the ones that compete in the Arc and Breeders’ Cup. These are generally the horses that have won Derbies and Group 1 races, the European races I mainly target as a punter.
Greg Carpenter knows them also as he always allots them the weight they deserve — a featherweight, which prevents them from getting a start.
Apart from Dunaden and Americain, this year’s bunch, headed by Gatewood, are a bunch of plodders who will end up as jumpers.
Dunaden and Americain were not very well credentialled horses until they came here and improved significantly. This is rare.
If any of them, Americain and Dunaden included, were good enough to compete in the Arc or Breeders’ Cup they wouldn’t be here. Our own So You Think was the first male home in the Arc last year and would have won this year if trained by Bart.
Whether So You Think could have beaten Dunaden and Americain in the last two Cups is doubtful as he would have to have given them 3kg, but they would have been many lengths in arrears if they were game enough to take him on in the Arc at weight-for-age.
The only Melbourne Cup winners I have backed in the last 15 years were Media Puzzle, Americain and Dunaden.
Maybe Bart is spot on when he says our Australian sun is good for their bones and general wellbeing, thus their remarkable improvement. But had it not been for Dunaden’s Caufield Cup, none of these three would rank as highly as our own Melbourne Cup champs from Phar Lap and at least 20 others down to maybe Think Big.
So Dunaden is a great and worthy Cup winner but I wish the racing scribes would be as patriotic as me and just welcome these raiders for what they are — 90 percent plodders.
This year the only imports or raiders with a chance of winning the Cup are Dunaden, Americain and Mourayan.
Since So You Think went overseas, most of our weight-for-age stars have succumbed to injury or been sent to stud duties but an industry-wide leaning towards better stayers will ensure we recapture our lost position.
Then they will have to bring out the likes of New Approach and Workforce to beat us, just as our sprinters clobber them in their own back yard.
Bendigo (Vic)