October
JuneThe main event
Australian Pattern Committee chairman Alan Brown says people who decry races such as the Memsie Stakes as "lead-in" events are making a false argument.
"I mean is the Caulfield Cup a lead-in to the Melbourne Cup?" he told Paul Richards.
If Brown is seriously comparing the Memsie Stakes to the Caulfield Cup, one could be forgiven for wondering if the lunatics have indeed taken over the asylum.
The Caulfield Cup is a bona-fide target race, a championship race in itself, requiring a unique brand of horse — the stayer with speed.
Eleven horses in 134 years have won the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup in the same year (none since 2001) while Skipton and Dunaden won one of each in different years.
But the Caulfield Cup is of a distinctly different character to the Melbourne Cup and many a horse will be aimed specifically for it, even if the trainer of the Caulfield Cup winner can rarely resist the temptation to run the horse at Flemington.
Have you ever heard any trainer say that the main target of a horse’s spring campaign is the Memsie Stakes?
Cremorne (Vic)