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The very bad, no good 2016 Caulfield Cup

11th October, 2016
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(Image: AAP)
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11th October, 2016
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Saturday’s $3 million Group 1 Caulfield Cup is under fire thanks to the less-than-stellar field assembled. Are the knockers right?

Michael Lynch penned a column in The Age with the headline “…claims Caulfield Cup lacks glamour, depth and stars“.

The piece stemmed from the defence of the race that Melbourne Racing Cub chairman Mike Symons launched via weekly radio programme Jury Duty, which Lynch also appears on.

» 2016 Melbourne Cup
» 2016 Melbourne Cup field
» Melbourne Cup TV guide
» 2016 Melbourne Cup raceday schedule

Symons hit back at the claims, running through the competitiveness of horses in the race, and noting that until the last minute, two of the world’s best horses, Highland Reel and Order Of St George, were possibilities to run. Their trainer, Aidan O’Brien, chose the prestigious Arc in Chantilly, France instead.

Racing Victoria’s Racing Operations Manager Paul Bloodworth also hit back at “negative talk” on Twitter, questioning why each year needs to be better than the last:

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Part of the negative talk is recognising that even the European horses aren’t quite top line – none of the raiders have won at the elite level. That can’t be denied. There’s also no Japanese horse, which means Caulfield misses out on Japanese punting returns, as flagged yesterday in The Age.

Another part of it is a natural desire for Australia’s racing industry to continue to prove worthwhile on the world stage, as racing in Hong Kong, Dubai, Royal Ascot, and more, prosper and grow.

Perhaps the remaining part is simply seeing what’s coming next week.

Cox Plate wins all the favours: Winx vs Hartnell

On the other hand, the Group 1 WS Cox Plate (2040m) next week has huge pull and will attract global racing interest.

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Glamour, depth, and stars are there in spades.

Winx

The race is headlined by a showdown between Winx, going for 13 straight wins and who dominated the race last year, and Hartnell, who has shown a freak turn of foot in his last three runs. That’s all the glamour and stars you need.

For depth, throw in Yankee Rose carrying just 47.5kgs on the weight-for-age scale, Black Heart Bart, who kept Winx honest enough last week, Palentino, who beat Black Heart Bart before struggling in the Epsom and should go better the Victorian way around, and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Lucia Valentina.

That’s not even mentioning French-trained Vadamos, a last-start Group 1 winner over 1600m in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp over 1600m at Chantilly. The bay stallion has collected eight wins and five placings from 18 starts, is trained by Andre Faber and will be ridden by Damien Oliver.

Why’s the Caulfield Cup down?

The race is down in numbers, at one stage looking like a field smaller than 18 would start. By third acceptances, only 30 horses were left, well down on previous years.

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While the field does have plenty of Group 1 winners, formlines are a bit mixed and the low end of the race looks soft.

There’s no one big obvious reason that can explain it all, especially given the lucrative prizemoney on offer.

Still, there are factors. Money can’t buy everything.

One is the Melbourne Cup. It shows no sign of falling out of favour and all eyes are on it across the full year. Even it, though, has suffered a downturn in numbers.

It’s reasonably well-known that staying races in Australia and New Zealand are suffering from falling numbers and distance races are being reduced in length. Even the Irish St Leger, in stayer-rich Europe, had just four runners.

Another reason is the Cox Plate. It holds higher sway because the winner isn’t penalised for the Melbourne Cup with additional weight by Racing Victoria’s handicapper. The Caulfield Cup is, and the winner on the weekend will expect a penalty if they are headed on to the Melbourne Cup. That doesn’t suit owners and trainers who very carefully plot courses to the Melbourne Cup that are able to duck the handicapper.

The Cox Plate is just one of four races exempted for the Melbourne Cup. The Caulfield Cup is not one of these races, as a handicap.

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Symons explained the MRC would be keen to have the penalty removed, and have attempted this before, but that would likely involve another factor that’s hurt the race: cooperation in Victoria.

Each club in Melbourne is its own fiefdom. The biggest is the Victorian Racing Club, the VRC, who own Flemington and the Melbourne Cup Carnival. They don’t let much out. They announced last year that the Group 3 Bart Cummings (2400m) would become an exempt race. Guess where that race is run?

Patrick Smith penned a quality column on the problems for racing’s keen self-interest. It’s worth a read, even during this busy Spring Carnival.

Smith pins the blame for disjointed behaviour on Racing Victoria, who are unable to corral all parties.

Racing NSW is certainly in a different position, having moved to better represent racing across the whole state.

Criticism says that too much is decided up top as clubs get less license. It can’t be both ways.

Great races aren’t just about the stars

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The Caulfield Cup remains a great race. One of the big three majors. One that every owner, trainer, and jockey wants to win at least once. And one that a punter won’t mind winning more than once either.

Just like the men’s 100m final at the Olympics, it’s a must watch. It’s nice to have Usain Bolt in the field if he’s fit and firing, but without him, it’s still a massive event. (Click to Tweet)

The formlines from the Caulfield Cup to the Melbourne Cup alone make it worth watching, and the value in the race if you go around race favourite Jameka makes it huge. Exotics are likely to pay a fortune, with plenty hoping to land juicy trifectas and first fours.

On paper, the race looks like it’ll be either Jameka, or a lottery.

She’s carrying 52.5kgs and is the $3.50 early favourite, after her second behind Hartnell last start in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m). While she was comfortably beaten by the flying Godolphin horse, she thrashed everything else behind her, and won the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes at Caulfield before that.

It’s by no means certain though. Given she has missed some big races where she was favourite in the past, it will be interesting to see what the form analysts can offer. (The Roar will have full in-depth previews in the coming days.)

European raiders Scottish and Exospheric are next in the market, along with Real Love, who won the JRA Cup, each at around $9.

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German horse Articus, from the Andreas Wohler stable, is $10, blue-blood stayer Sir Isaac Newton for Aidan O’Brien is $13, while Sir John Hawkwood, the Group 1 Metropolitan (2400m) winner, is $15, rounding up most of the top chances.

Given it’s a handicap, roughies have thrown their hat in the ring due to the lower numbers of entrants this year.

Big Memory wouldn’t be the worst $80 shot going around, and Go Dreaming, a country cup horse, goes around at $201 or more carrying just 50.5kgs but is prohibitively close in weights to classier types. Could one of those horses do a Prince of Penzance and steal a victory?

Gates crash back at 4:30pm local time.

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