October
SeptemberToo easy
Regarding “It’s ladies’ day” (16/9), it is interesting that all these champions are females (Sunline, Makybe Diva, Black Caviar, Winx).
The main reason for this is the inequitable allowance that fillies and mares are allowed at weight-for-age.
If the female horse was slower than the male, then they would have all been eaten many years ago, by the sabre-toothed tigers, or whatever predators were present, since the slowest horse in the herd would be the first eaten.
Admiral Ross, in propounding the weight-for-age theory, tried to “humanise” horses, whereby the female was the weaker of the species.
Since he did this 300 years ago, he would have to rate as a genius, if it was in fact accurate. There have been some modifications since, but totally inadequate.
In the equine kingdom, they all run at the same speed, since they have the same physical attributes, and need the same defensive capabilities for survival.
Who could forget the massive hindquarters of Black Caviar, or the sheer physical specimen that was Sunline? And what male could get into winning their third Melbourne Cup with 58kg as Makybe Diva did? Phar Lap was given 10.10 (68kg) in 1931 and he had only won it once.
So, with all our precocious breeding techniques, and the equivalent strength inherent in the female horse, the out-and-out champions will be female for a long time. That will only be corrected when the allowance for fillies and mares is removed, from all races.
Gold Coast (Qld)