Gun sprinter Hay List recorded the biggest win of his career when taking out the Newmarket Handicap on Saturday. In an era where the highest superlatives are saved for Black Caviar, where does the son of Statue Of Liberty stand?
Hay List carried a huge top-weight impost 58.5 kilograms to victory.Hay List is a three-time Group One winner that is best known as the horse that has troubled Black Caviar on three occasions.
But there is more to the John McNair-trained galloper than being best man to the mare on her biggest days. Hay List may not tweet like @BlackCaviar2006 but he’s a star in his own right.
After winning his first eight starts in Perth, Hay List was transferred to McNair’s Gosford stables and he burst onto the scene with an emphatic five-length win in the Healy Stakes during the 2010 Brisbane Winter Carnival.
The big bay (or brown) gelding then returned in the spring of that year where he claimed three group wins, including his maiden Group One in the Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley.
He faced off with Black Caviar for the first time in the 2010 Patinack Farm Classic at Flemington.
Hay List nursed a leg injury into the Patinack Farm Classic and despite being passed fit for the clash with the champion mare, recorded the worse performance of his career.
Hay List finished sixth behind Black Caviar on the day she chose to announce herself as the best sprinter in the world.
Black Caviar had shot into stardom. Hay List, seemingly, was a beaten pretender.
The five-year old Hay List then returned in the Lightning Stakes with another injury cloud hanging over his head and again proved no match for Black Caviar – this time he finished a well-beaten second.
It was this defeat in the 2011 Lightning Stakes that was the turning point in the career of Hay List.
In retrospect Hay List may never have been in the physical condition to challenge Black Caviar, but consecutive spankings at the hands of the mare, in the space of three months, served to severely hamper his reputation.
In his next start, he won the Group 2 Challenge Stakes before being declared 100 per cent fit for a third clash with the mare.
And it was after the 2011 TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick that the racing world stood up and took notice of Hay List. It was probably the first time Black Caviar was placed under pressure in a race and it was Hay List’s doing.
In a bold move, jockey Glyn Schofield, who has partnered Hay List in ten of his 22 starts, went for home at the 600 metre mark.
At the home turn Black Caviar was being hard ridden and looked to be in some trouble; by the furlong pole she had the race wrapped up.
Hay List was well beaten at the winning post – the final margin was three lengths, but it was the first time the racing public was properly shown the true quality of the former West Australian.
There was no appearance of Black Caviar on the final day of the Sydney Carnival. With the spotlight firmly placed upon him, Hay List destroyed the All Aged field to claim his second group 1 in a canter; his winning margin for the Weight-for-Age race was three and a half lengths.
Hay List was then sent to Brisbane for a fourth meeting with Caviar; this time in the BTC Cup.
Glen Boss took the ride and despite stretching the world-champion sprinter for a second time, Hay List proved no match for Black Caviar in the final 100 metres, eventually being defeated by two lengths.
A leg infection kept Hay List away from the track for nine months. His next start was in last month’s Lightning Stakes. Against a slightly exposed Black Caviar, Hay List won plenty of admirers.
Hay List headed Black Caviar at the 300 and had her in a spot of bother. Luke Nolen pulled the stick and after some hard riding, Black Caviar regained control and held off the valiant Hay List to record her 19th, hardest fought and best victory.
On the weekend Hay List carried the biggest weight to victory in the Newmarket Handicap since 1959. It was the crowning glory for a horse that has too often been overshadowed by the greatness and grandeur of the phenomenal Black Caviar.
Saturday was Hay List’s time in the sun. And didn’t he deserve it.
Is Hay List a champion?
There can only be one champion in one region, at one distance, at a particular time. And this is undoubtedly Black Caviar. Where then does that leave Hay List?
Before the weekend, the English Timeform ratings ranked Hay List as the equal 18th-best-horse and the fourth-best sprinter in the word behind Peter Moody’s mare, Singaporean Rocket Man and Australian Sepoy.
As far as I’m concerned Hay List is the second best sprinter in the world.
Rocket Man was outstanding winning in Singapore two Sundays back but he hasn’t won a Group One race this season.
Sepoy is an outstanding colt that will do Australia proud in Dubai, but was found out in the Oakleigh Plate against older horses.
Better than a great horse, Hay List is the best male sprinter in the world.
There’s still a lot to play out in the Hay List story – a 2013 overseas campaign has been touted and more clashes with Black Caviar in the back end of this year are almost certain – but he’s already beginning to forge a legacy.
It’s nowhere near over for the six-year old gelding that’s trained at Gosford on the New South Wales central coast but if Hay List retired tomorrow, with a record of 15 wins and five places from 22 starts, here’s how I’d remember him:
A grand, world-class, multiple Group One winning sprinter that not only pushed world champion Black Caviar into reaching new heights but won respect and acclaim for his valour, spirit and consistency.
nan
Guest
oops i may have been premature, AJ may be the next big thing. No hang on she is the next big thing, she would flog hay list and she would make bc work which would let us see how much bc can dig. Gee im lucky following races since 1970 and now i have witnessed the 2 best horses in 42 years. Go you good things
Jon
Guest
Black Caviar is like Black Beauty nice to watch but your never going to make any money out of her. I would rather park my peepers on a camel romping home in a maiden at Townsville at 10's. Punting is all about cash not records hard I know but hay folks it's a bloody hard game.
nan
Guest
More and More we just hear what if, i like hay list he is a great horse and obviously the second best horse in the world up to 1400 but you cant take a thing away from the worlds best horse ever , inc phar lap , secretariat etc etc. Black will show the world and if moody wanted her to she could run 1600 and i would certainly back her if she was running in a cox plate. I have never seen a horse who just looks like she is being towed around she is that relaxed. Go black i am indebted to you for i will never see another race like you do.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Love Hay List and BC. Black Caviar is more than a once-a-generation horse. Hay List has helped create some of the aura around BC. Despite wanting her unbeaten run to continue it was pretty boring watching her win without little effort at $1.06 every week while HL was out injured. BC's greatest wins to date are her battles with HL in the TJ Smith and Lightning - these are the only races where she's had to dig really deep to win, although I recall a race early in her career where BC lunged at the start and injured herself and still won. BCs win in the TJ gave me goose bumps but it was because of the challenge that Hay List threw down otherwise it would have been another canter. I tried explaining HL legacy to my wife recently - 2 lengths behind BC but four in front of everyone else. Hopefully he doesn't finish up just as the answer to a trivia question.
Les Darcy 5
Guest
This is a Hay List blog,so lets just say GO BIG FELLA GO and win everything they put you in (Which I think he can) Then ill just be nodding my head and saying wow hes good.We all know you know who is gonna win whatever Moody decides to put her in.If Hay list keeps fit, his record is gonna look pretty darn good in say two years and will more than match the records of "Australias Champions" All we can do is watch and appreciate in awe,just like when Usain Bolt runs.Happy to be alive and watching!
Purdy
Guest
Hay List is a star and a wonderful horse. He's also unlucky to have run into the big girl. I note that usually, when he comes second, he beats all the other horses by a furlong or two, too. His money is diminished by Black Caviar's continually winning, but not his reputation. I wish him every bit of good luck possible and I hope that he makes a huge amount overseas
Australian Rules
Guest
Great topic for another time Cam...sporting nemeses. You're right that the presence of another sporting great enhances (even legitimses) the quality of a champion. Michael Jordan was considered the best not just because he had great skills, but because his abilities dwarfed genuine champions like Magic, Bird, his teammatre Pippen etc.
peeeko
Roar Guru
my point was at their last meeting she carried 2kgs less than him. is that fair? maybe it could have been a different result, no one said he would have trounced her. no one has questioned the greatness of BC at all. take some pills to come down
Justin Cinque
Expert
I think it's an interesting question. Certainly, in recent times the quality of mares in this country has been outstanding - caviar, diva and sunline have all acquitted themselves brilliantly against the boys using the 2-3 kg concession for mares. Away from that top level of girls, i think they need that allowance. I don't like backing a filly/mare that is top weight against the boys and they rarely win. In saying that, I part-own a racing bitch that gets no allowance in greyhound races because of her sex and i don't have a complaint.
peter petra
Guest
Australia's tall poppy syndrome is again raising its ugly head. Time and again there are some who just cannot believe a champion is squarely standing before them. The excuses they raise - are tedious to say the least. HL has lost all five meetings with BC. Yeah, but HL wasn't sound, HL would've trounced her at level weights etc etc. The fact is he didn't. To suggest his connections would've raced an unsound horse on the day is ludicrous. Try looking beyond HL. All the arguments I've heard are what a great champion he would've been if there was no BC. Get a life, BC has won 19 straight - never been beaten - in fact, nothing has gotten within a length or two of her at the finish, and that includes HL. He had his chance at their lst meeting, but she still came up with the goods to put paid to his valiant efforts. BC is about to embark on an overseas trip that will either underline her greatness, or lay bare her perceived weaknesses. Let's take a step back and cheer greatness unfolding. The arguments can come at day's end. Until then, good luck BC -- and good luck HL.
Shaune
Guest
It really is great to see Hay List finally getting a bit of the recognition he deserves so much. Were it not for Black Caviar he would have been declared one of the greatest sprinters of Australian history. Unfortunately, she is here, so he will never be a household name. I've always considered Hay List a braver and more honest sprinter than Black Caviar. He fights for his races, he throws his heart into them, even when things aren't going his way, and his connections are much braver with him than with Black Caviar. I mean, sending him out into a race where he has to give the likes of Buffering and Foxwedge more than five kilos? He's been under an injury cloud for the majority of his life, and for the first time since leaving Perth he seems to be fully sound. In a perfect world I would also like a new report on the Sydney Group Ones he wins to be completely free of that mare's name. That won't happen, but he will probably race on after she retires--either after a loss or after one last spring campaign, whichever occurs first--so who knows? If he grabs enough Group Ones he might step out of her shadow permanently. I fully expect him to win the Global Sprint Challenge and thrash Sepoy at Royal Ascot or Dubai. And Sepoy, while not a champion in my book, is no featherweight either--clearly the best three-year-old sprinter outside of Vain. But I don't think he's quite earned his stripes yet.
peeeko
Roar Guru
Hey JCinque, what do you think of my comment about mares having their WFA allowance removed?
Justin Cinque
Expert
Les, BC was handicapped with 61.5kgs for the Newmarket. That's a five kilo turnaround on the previous meeting in Lightning where margin was 1.8L. You know Hay List is 0-5 v Black Caviar but each time they've met he's got closer and closer to the mare. 11.5L, then 3.5L, then 3L, then 2L and finally 1.8L in the Lightning. If they met in the Newmarket, it would've been the best chance of victory he would've had against the mare but if I owned Black Caviar I wouldn't have run there. I wouldn't want my mare to carry 61.5kgs down the Flemington straight against Hay List no matter how good she is.
Les Darcy 5
Guest
I agree. I think that the mighty Hay List is the best sprinter in the world (Not counting the freak Nellie )I also believe he is way underated by the mainstream racing public.I also think that she would have really really struggled to win on saturday.Think about it,I am not sure what she was handicapped (would have to have been about 60.5 ?) and she would have had to run probably 1:7.9 .Dont get me wrong I LOVE the mare but his win on saturday got me up and cheering like I had bet the house on it. Racing follower since 1965 and Kingston Town is still my favourite.
Justin Cinque
Expert
I should also add that in racing in particular the word 'champion' has been thrown around far too often and prematurely. I'd be happy to say that in the last 20 years there has only been two champions in Australia - Makybe Diva and Black Caviar. I think Octagonal was a champion three-year old and Dance Hero a champion two-year old. Maybe Sunline can be added as a third champion. I think longevity is important and that's why champion shouldn't be used frequently.
Justin Cinque
Expert
I think that's a really good, thought-provoking and interesting post. On your first point, i think that black caviar was advanced early on in her career without hay list. Her wins in the 2010 Patinack and 2011 Lightning were two of the best wins I've ever seen and, while hay list was in the field both times, he performed moderately by his standards. I thought they were two wins that won black caviar a lot of plaudits because she destroyed her opposition, of which they were no huge names at the time. But at this stage in her career, I think caviar needs to be taking on hay list and the other good sprinters in the world to enhance what is already a BIG reputation. By taking on the best and beating them, she gets immediate recognition and the rewards later on when that form is franked. As for your second point I agree with what you say - duals are hugely important and it's why I think hay list and black caviar need to travel...so they can forge international, cross-hemisphere rivalries that the sport rarely sees. It's purely opinion, but I think nadal and federer have never been simultaneous champions on the same surface - and tennis is a bit different with four or five surfaces suiting different players - but at the end of their careers they will both be remembered as champions, and rightfully so, because they have been the champion tennis player overall and on particular surfaces on more than one occasion. If black caviar retires or races in a different part of the world or distance to hay list, then hay list will have an opportunity to win champion status in the absense of the mare.
While Hay List generally enhances his standing whenever he steps out, he actually does more for Black Caviar's reputation when he races without her. The tier of quality sprinters behind these two duck the mare, but they don't avoid him. When he destroys them, as he did so impressively in the All-Aged at WFA, or under the history-defying 58.5kg's of Saturday, he merely confirms his own greatness, but sends BC's into the stratosphere. Sports needs a duel, and I think you can have two legendary champions at one time. Does anyone suggest that Nadal is not an all time great, merely because of the presence of Federer. Agassi and Sampras is another that tennis provides. Essendon and Hawthorn in the mid-80's had their standings enhanced because of the other. Warne and Muralidaran might be another example.
Andyc
Roar Rookie
Only really good horses win a Group 1 handicap carrying 58.5kg. And with Buffering running second it enhanced the Black Caviar form.
John Hunt
Guest
I heard the other day that if not for Black Caviar, it would have 20 out of 22 races. Will be the forgotten sprinter despite its prowess
baller
Guest
a good horse but still couldnt beat the best ......