Gai in everything, including MJ blunder on Golden Slipper Day

Golden Slipper Day 2013 will be remembered for the outstanding victories of Overreach (Slipper), Fiveandahalfstar (BMW) and Pierro (Ryder).

Gai Waterhouse had another brilliant Golden Slipper Day. She claimed her fifth Golden Slipper (1200m, two-year olds) with Overreach and Pierro’s fifth Group One in the George Ryder (1500m, weight-for-age).

The questions have to be asked – is Gai Waterhouse the best trainer of sprinter-milers in the world? And is she the best trainer of young horses Australia’s ever seen?

Speaking after Overreach’s brilliant Slipper victory, Gai admitted the filly had trained off in February. She asked owner/breeder George Altomonte for patience, and remarkably Waterhouse was able to rekindle Overreach’s thirst for racing – an incredible feat for a trainer working with a two-year old horse.

But Overreach still had to perform on the day. On Saturday, I made the comment to Roar Guru Alfred Chan that ‘the mail’ around Overreach was concerning.

Her detractors claimed she wasn’t carrying a lot of condition and may have been over-trained for the Slipper, and there were concerns about her inside barrier draw on a day jockeys were keen to avoid the inside rail.

On form, Overreach (a winner of her last two starts by a combined ten lengths) had to be rated close to an odds-on chance. Yet on Saturday, brave bookies bet odds as high as $3.5. There was a knock on the favourite.

But from the moment Overreach entered the mounting yard, my concerns were alleviated. She bounced around the parade like a bullish colt. Overreach was on the toe and alert – physically in good form and ready to win.

All credit goes to Gai Waterhouse!

In the run, Overreach received a beautiful ride from 22-year old Tommy Berry. He made the quick decision to ‘take a sit’ on the speedy Overreach and race behind eventual leader Kuroshio.

Coolly, Berry stayed close to the inside rail around the home bend and snuck his filly through a needle-eye opening at the top of the straight. And, as they say, the rest was history.

I wrote twelve months ago that Berry is a rising star among Australia’s jockey ranks but his rapid ascension to big-name hoop would have surprised even his biggest followers – including Waterhouse, whom he is second-choice rider for.

It’s a shame Nash Rawiller aboard More Joyous in the preceding Queen of the Turf (1500m, Group 1, mares, set weights) didn’t ride the same race as Berry in the Slipper.

Like Overreach, More Joyous drew the inside barrier but Rawiller – supposedly under strict instructions from Waterhouse – kept MJ away from the inside section of the track.

Almost famously, More Joyous is a horse that doesn’t like conditions too wet and with the inside section reputedly the worst, Rawiller was told to keep MJ in the best ground, wider on the course.

But the plan backfired. Hugh Bowman on Streama kept More Joyous in a pocket the entire way and when a gap eventually came for the Waterhouse mare the race was over.

Had Rawiller stuck to the inside – and raced directly behind the leader Cathay Lady, he would’ve had ample room in the straight to weave a passage near the inside rail.

Once MJ was clear in the lead – and as the superior racehorse it was probably a formality – Rawiller could’ve brought the mare wider on the track.

It’s a tactic Glen Boss has used on numerous occasions in big Group 1 races – off the top of my head he did it with Private Steer in the 2004 Doncaster; Haradasun in the 2007 Doncaster; and Makybe Diva in the 2004 Melbourne Cup.

Sometimes the inside fence may be the slowest part of the track but often it’s the best place to find a run when the ground is wet.

Appearance hung on to beat Red Tracer with More Joyous languishing in fifth. Amazing for a horse without a big reputation, Apperance has claimed all three Group 1 races for mares (Myer at 1600m, Coolmore at 1500m handicap and Queen of the Turf) this season.

Only June’s Tattersal’s Tiara (1400m, set weights) evades her.

On Monday, More Joyous will be nominated for Saturday’s TJ Smith Stakes (1200m, Group 1, weight-for-age) featuring Black Caviar.

John Singleton, owner of MJ, is keen to broker a deal with the connections of Black Caviar. The reported agreement is More Joyous will race in the TJ Smith if a commitment is given to race Black Caviar against More Joyous in the All Aged (1400m, Group 1, weight-for-age) in two weeks’ time.

Credit to Singo, he is trying to do his best for the sport.

But sadly, the race won’t occur. Black Caviar’s owners have multiple conflicts of interest – the biggest being principal owners Neil Werrett and Gary Wilkie are also owners of All Too Hard, the early All Aged favourite.

And according to Werrett and Wilkie, Black Caviar won’t be racing All Too Hard. A loss could be detrimental to All Too Hard’s service fee at stud. It’s a real shame.

But Singo shouldn’t be deterred; he can make a statement by running More Joyous next week regardless of what Black Caviar’s owners choose to do.

And if I was Singo – acknowledging what a hard decision it is – that’s what I’d do.

Undoubtedly an exciting prospect, the TJ Smith has nothing on the Australian Derby (2400, Group 1, three-year olds) clash between Fiveandahalfstar and It’s A Dundeel.

The latter was outstanding in his seven-length demolition of the Rosehill Guineas (2000, Group 1, three-year olds) field last weekend. And on Saturday, Fiveandahalfstar, profiting from an outstanding front-running ride from Bowman, goes into the Derby off a brave victory in the BMW (2400m, Group 1, weight-for-age).

This could be the race of 2013.

It’s A Dundeel has the acceleration and desire to beat any horse over a middle distance in the country. But Fiveandahalfstar beat It’s A Dundeel comprehensively in their only meeting, the VRC Derby (2500m, Group 1, three-year olds), and is unbeaten at the staying distance of 2400m.

Black Caviar will draw a sell-out crowd to Randwick but it may be the Derby that everyone goes home talking about.

One final word on the audience. Is the Australian Turf Club targeting the right crowd? It was encouraging to see a strong marketing campaign, but the party crowd may be the wrong audience – perhaps they should be targeting the thoroughbred fans.

A modest 19,548 people – possibly the smallest crowd in the 56-year history of the Slipper – turned out for Australian racing’s premier race meeting; highlighted by five Group Ones and record prize-money.

Wet weather that persisted in Sydney through the latter part of last week would have turned away thousands, but the 2013 Golden Slipper (run on a slow track) was the seventh in the last eight years to be conducted on rain-affected going.

Racing has some superstars in work right now – Pierro, More Joyous, All Too Hard and Black Caviar will race during the Sydney Carnival – and the ATC doesn’t know how lucky it is. In my opinion, these gallopers should be the focus of any advertising campaign.

When the general public talk racing, they speak about the great races and the great horses. The party crowd may’ve given Australian racing a boost ten years ago but their impact is starting to wane.