Well, Spring has sort of arrived and the weather is a bit patchy, but definitely warmer, which has been the pattern over my 70 years but I am now told by ‘experts ‘ is a consequence of global warming largely caused by cows farting which probably means we need to eat more meat to save the planet .
That’s all too deep for me to ponder, so tonight I enjoyed a couple of Abbots longnecks on the front verandah, rolled a Capstan ready-rubbed and mused on a great day for the sport of kings.
Horse racing in Australia dates back to the time when we were all wild colonial boys and is part of the fabric of our society. Lately it has been getting a bit of a bum rap as a consequence of social media generating a cultural phenomenon best known as ‘the perpetually aggrieved’ who, to my untrained eye, are so desperate to be aggrieved they become dangerously aggrieved if they can’t on any given day find something to be aggrieved about . I hope that makes sense. If it doesn’t, send me an email stating you are aggrieved because you can’t understand what I am saying or, better still, vent your spleen on social media and disparage my character without consultation.
I digress. On Saturday, there were two seriously good race meetings in Australia. The Caulfield Cup in Melbourne, which was first run 145 years ago and is ‘So Melbourne’ as it’s a distance race and is for the stoutly bred and stout-hearted. The Everest in Sydney was first run nine years ago and is ‘So Sydney’ it’s the richest race on the calendar and is for flighty, precocious, largely fly-by-night sprinters. But it’s arguably the best innovation I’ve seen in racing as it’s attracting a younger demographic to the track.
Jeez, I am getting to the topic with the speed of a snail approaching the first iceberg lettuce to emerge in the vegetable patch. Now, it was a great day of racing and lots of good stories emerged
The Ciaron Maher juggernaut rolled on with wins in the two main races, the Caulfield Cup and the Everest. Not sure who is funding Ciaron but they seem to be good judges and are getting a return.
Bella Nipotina, who is surely the term ‘a bonny mare ‘ was coined for, won the Everest as a seven year old despite being wide in the run. Her prizemoney is now nearing $20million.
Craig, The Freckler, Williams had a day out in Sydney riding two winners and pocketed $400k plus slings for his expertise which probably paid for his plane fare and accommodation plus some change. I like the Freckler. He can talk underwater with a mouth full of marbles but he is a great ambassador for racing and he is a top jockey .
Joe Pride won the time-honoured King Charles Stakes with Ceolwulf at the first running of the event which somehow was designated a Group 1 by Peter V’Landys who makes his own rules and ignores the actual rules. This can be good, and it can be bad.
Pride with 50 to 60 horses in work is an indicator that bigger is not necessarily better and on weight of numbers may well be the best trainer in Australia.
Sickening to watch Think About It collapse mid-race after seemingly having a heart attack or breaking a leg. He has been a grand horse and I watched Joe Pride and the strapper going onto the course to tend to their fallen hero just as the screen of death was erected. As Joe later said, just as they got there, ‘Spud’s’ big boofhead popped over the top of the screen and they led him back. Shades of Galleywood rising from the dead at Warrnambool many years ago.
Despite all of this, the highlight for me was undoubtedly Cousin Harry Coffey winning the Caulfield Cup on Duke De Sessa.
Harry rode him like Jim Pike or, dare I say it, Peter St Albans. I don’t subscribe to the vernacular that Harry is a battling bush jockey. You don’t ride 1200 winners by the time you’re 29 and ride six winners at Wycheproof on Wycheproof Cup day if you’re a battler. Harry is a very under rated jockey and is at his best in distance races as he has the knack of getting horses to relax in the run before setting them alight at precisely the right time. He now has three Group 1s to his credit which isn’t a bad effort for a young bloke with cystic fibrosis. His post-race interviews are always great to watch and full of positivity. He has ridden a few for me including some winners and post-race he is cheerfully frank as to how your horse is going and much more insightful than many of the big names who I’ve engaged.
I can call Harry, Cousin Harry, because his grandmother Rita was a Kelly and she was my father’s first cousin. His grandfather Les was related [maybe first cousin ] to my mother on the Noonan side. Jeez it’s all sounding a bit Tasmanian now!
Austy and Maree, Harry’s parents, came from Birchip and Berriwillock respectively. It’s about 40k or 25 miles from Birchip to Berri and that little patch of the Mallee has now produced:
A Melbourne Cup winning jockey. Ray Neville won on Rimfire in 1948
A Melbourne Cup winning trainer. Darren Weir, Prince of Penzance 2015
A Caulfield Cup winning jockey. Cousin Harry.
Cheers All
That’s Racing
Clarence the Clocker
Read more terrific memoir from Drizzle (The Muse) HERE
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So, Muse, is Harry at HQ or in Wyche this weekend?
And can we expect Cousin Mail, from opening time at the Terminus?
I doubt Cousin Harry will be riding at Wyche but I will be in attendance to watch the running of the time honoured Hayden Kelly benchmark 52 handicap
Looking forward to Darby Day in the country .