The biggest week of racing is finally upon us, once again bringing to the fore ways we could improve the Victoria Racing Club’s Spring Carnival.
Here a few of the major talking points.
VRC Derby distance
Currently 2500m, most feel 2000m is the limit for spring three-year-olds.
In previous years, the Australian Derby was also run during the spring and provided natural targets for the lightly-raced, progressive horses. The recent arguments in favour of the move revolve around horse welfare, with many believing young colts and geldings should wait until the autumn before stepping up in trip.
However, a 2000m race may entice some three-year-olds to skip the Cox Plate and run here instead, which would surely affect the quality of the Moonee Valley feature.
With Fiveandahalfstar, Super Cool, It’s A Dundeel and Criterion all going on to win Group 1 races in their next preparation, I have no doubt 2500m is the perfect Derby distance.
If owners don’t want to risk their horse at the trip, the Mackinnon is a viable option.
Mackinnon Stakes/Emirates Stakes switch
Many prominent trainers, including Mike Moroney and Andrew Balding, came out this week in support of swapping these two Group 1 races. This move would certainly assist horses backing up from the Cox Plate and entice international horses to also target this race.
Additionally, it would provide the perfect springboard to International Day in Hong Kong. In recent years, the Mackinnon field struggled to attract a large field, although this year is an exception. The major downfall is many horses still use the Mackinnon as a lead-up to the Melbourne, Cup with the winner exempt from ballot. It would also affect the 1400m race on Derby Day, which they would have to restructure.
Ultimately, switching these races would provide the VRC will an additional international flavour and is definitely worth considering, particularly if they could increase prizemoney.
Ballot exemption races for the Melbourne Cup
Currently the only horses exempt from the 2014 Melbourne Cup ballot are Admire Ratki (Caulfield Cup), Adelaide (Cox Plate) and the winner of the Mackinnon Stakes and Hotham Handicap (Lexus Stakes).
The VRC Derby winner along with the second placegetter in the Hotham were once given a free ticket to the race, but this changed in the past 10 years. In order to reward in-form horses and strengthen the lead-up races to the Cup, the VRC should consider making races like the Geelong Cup, Moonee Valley Cup and to a lesser extent the Bendigo Cup ballot-exemption races.
It rewards in-form horses, will help boost the quality of those lead-ups, and increase turnover for the Cup.
Cap on international runners
This should simply never happen. The VRC work tirelessly to make the Melbourne Cup truly international and now some in the industry want to wipe it out. Australian-bred stayers simply are not good enough and the Cup is a richer and stronger races thanks to the raiders’ presence.
Hopefully the recent success of the French and Japanese can motivate our breeding industry to start focusing on stayers. With recent victors Americain and Fiorente now standing at stud, maybe a few of their progeny can emulate their fathers’ deeds and help restore some local pride.
What are your thoughts on some of the proposed changes or are there more alterations the VRC should consider?
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