October
SeptemberA bit light
The Caulfield Cup weights (7/9) are very puzzling. We are told that it is an extremely high-class entry, yet not one horse has been asked to carry weight-for-age.
The three-year-old Prince Harada I believe has a half-kilo under weight-for-age, which makes him rated the best horse in the race against that scale. I do not agree with that.
Really though, the weights are surely too low, just as they were in last year’s Melbourne Cup and likely again in this year’s cup.
Not one horse in last year’s Melbourne Cup had weight-for-age, but we were told it was the best field in ages. The weights did not support that and in fact it was one of the dullest Melbourne Cups in memory — hardly a world championship stayers’ race.
With the weights so low and compressed, it’s almost time the Melbourne Cup became a set-weights race.
The VRC has created a monster with the cup being over-internationalised and worth far too much in stakemoney.
Things have gone too far and I don’t have the affection for the cup that I had in the past.
Frankston South (Vic)