October
OctoberSystem must change
Regardless of whether Vigor could squeeze into the Melbourne Cup field on Tuesday, action must be taken to ensure that a Caulfield Cup placegetter never again has to rely on the attrition rate of rivals just to gain a start.
The anomaly with the current balloting system is that the order of entry is largely determined by weight, which basically comes down to one man’s opinion. And when half a kilo can be the difference between gaining a start and missing out, horses with proved current formlines need to be protected from the fate faced by Vigor.
As it stands, the "kilos under weight-for-age" system greatly favors older horses because they have had far more opportunity to win or be placed in nominated races, many of which are just second-tier handicaps and country cups.
On the other hand it puts four-year-olds and lightly raced five-year-olds at a distinct disadvantage, for unless a young horse can win or be placed in a derby, oaks or guineas as a three-year-old, the chances are that horse won’t receive much more than Vigor’s 51kg.
Something is wrong when a horse placed in the Caulfield Cup can be kept out of our nation’s greatest race by a glut of old, slow and out-of-form goats.
One of many examples I could use is Spin Around, a nine-year-old allocated just 1kg more than Vigor (but enough to elevate him above that horse) despite the advantage of having had four more years of racing. Never mind that his Auckland Cup victory was akin to winning a jumpers’ flat at Pakenham.
And never mind that many slow and overrated European stayers are continually allocated one or two kilos more than similarly (or better) performed Australian horses. The latter is often confirmed when horses such as Crime Scene (53kg) and Basaltico (51.5kg) come out here and fail in our second-tier staying races.
One solution is to make minor placegetters in all future Caulfield Cups exempt from the ballot in that year’s Melbourne Cup. As the system stands, young horses are being penalised for their inexperience and older ones rewarded for mediocrity.
Our greatest race deserves the best possible field and the Caulfield Cup deserves more respect than it is getting.
Ringwood (Vic)