None for the battlers
What a pathetic excuse for a true representation of country racing in Victoria the Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Final turned out to be.
Who didn’t predict that the lion’s share of the $201,500 purse ($147,500 of it, to be precise) would be won by the dominant Darren Weir stable?
Another Coldie and Night’s Watch, trained by Weir, quinellaed the race.
I sympathise with Doug Whitworth, who trains a small team at Fyan’s Creek, near Stawell, and prepared I Am the Dark immaculately for the race, with wins at Murtoa and Cranbourne, only to be rolled in the finale by the Weir juggernaut.
When the Country Carnival Series was first announced, I proposed that Racing Victoria rule that stables with more than 40 horses on their books be ineligible to participate. Either that or restrict the races to stables that have not won 40 races in a calendar year or accrued more than $400,000 in prizemoney.
For me, the Carnival Country Final was the absolute low point of the four days — a race without colour, class or inspiration, little more than a benefit for what is the biggest racing stable in the state.
It would, of course, have been an entirely different story, a rags-to-riches story, if I Am the Dark had won for a family of true country battlers.
Great Western (Vic)