Beyond the triumph and tragedy of this year’s Melbourne Cup there was another triumph that was overlooked.
Who Shot Thebarman ran third in Cup. The triumph?
Forget about locals winning. Overseas visitors have won the last five Cups and in 2011-12-13 filled all placings. The question wasn’t ‘’would an Australasian-bred horse win it again?” It was ‘’would a local run a place again?”
Who Shot Thebarman did; that was the triumph.
Pre-2010, he might have started favourite.
He’d won the 3200m Auckland Cup, won the 2540m Bart Cummings at Flemington by three lengths, had his pre-Cup hit-out when 13th, but beaten by four lengths in the Caulfield Cup on an unsuitable track.
Thebarman should be shouted lots of oats, barley and his favourite grasses for upholding the fragile honour of local stayers.
Forget about winning? Hope springs eternal. Next year… But billionaire owner-breeder Gerry Harvey has just about given up hope.
He joked after Protectionist’s Cup there should be a Melbourne Cup just for the locals and another race for the overseas visitors. But Harvey had said something else earlier this year.
He’d said local trainers didn’t know how to train stayers (he didn’t need to except Bart Cummings. That was understood)
The response was mute. No outraged trainers defending local honour in response.
Is Harvey right?
Protectionist is an inapt name for the Cup winner, because there’s no question of protecting the locals by barring visitors.
The Cup is now and international event, but if the locals are to win again, it requires a rethink by the industry, and there’s no evidence of that happening.
The programming of the race clubs is simply a disgrace, almost inviting the visitors to win.
Initially, the visitors did receive preferential treatment.
Desert Chill, a Brisbane Cup winner in 2005-2007, was considered not to have met the entry conditions for the 2007 Melbourne Cup.
A dual winner of the time-honoured 3200m Brisbane Cup, formerly a Group-One race and first run in 1866.
The Cup forever associated with Tulloch, who won it in his last race, carrying 9.12 in 1961 and beating his Sydney Cup victor Sharply, who carried just 8.4
The Cup has long lost its Group-One status and was downgraded to 2400m in 2008. It’s just another handicap.
The 3200m Perth Cup is now 2400m, the 2600m Metropolitan is now 2400m and has had its prizemoney reduced. It’s just another race for imported B and C grade stayers to win.
Even New Zealand, once considered the home of stayers, has reduced the Wellington Cup from 3200 to 2400m.
And despite Auckland and Avondale Cup wins, Who Shot Thebarman had to win a Group Three in Australia just to get into the Cup.
What to do?
It’s forgotten that for its first century, legends in Australian racing were made in middle-distance and staying races.
Carbine, Phar Lap, Peter Pan, Rising Fast, Tulloch.
Sprinters and two-year-olds weren’t feted, weren’t who the breeding industry was directed at producing.
Australia followed the pattern of English racing, except that handicaps, from the Oakleigh Plate through to the Cups, were considered the No.1s. That made Auistralian racing unique.
A glamour sprinter in Todman and the 1957 Golden Slipper would change that.
Bart Cummings has said the colonial-bred thoroughbred was once the toughest horse in the world. He’s said overseas shuttle stallions have changed that, contributing to faster but more brittle horses.
Zabeel and his son Savabeel, almost alone, have had the task of producing half-competitive local stayers. Almost.
Who Shot Thebarman contributed to another small triumph. He is the son of the deceased Yamanin Vital, an unfashionable stallion who was in turn a son of Sir Tristram.
Sir Patrick Hogan saw the bloodlines beyond Sir Tristram’s modest racetrack record, brought him to New Zealand, started a dynasty and created a breeding legend.
Nassipour was another import of modest attainment and sired the likes of Let’s Elope.
Gerry Harvey has millions Hogan never had, started the Magic Millions, has a racing-breeding empire.
He might put some money where his mouth is and have a word to Hogan; they might find some stallions, but then that would require patience, no guarantees and no quick return.
But that’s a moral, not a financial choice, that isn’t Harvey’s responsibility alone to make.
Or perhaps he’s right about local trainers. His jibe might stir their competitive juices. Race clubs might restore alleged staying races to their former pre-eminence.
And horses might take porcine flight.
John McDonald is a former Fairfax journalist
kv joef
Roar Guru
Great idea.
Damo
Guest
Humour me, this is an absolute pipe dream but I would love to see a 'Stayer's Cup'. All major city cups (Sydney, Adel, Brisbane, Perth, Melb) all earn points towards an overall Cup for best 'stayer trainer' over a 12 month period. Now I understand you can't ask a horse to run 5 Cups in a year, so that's why the award is aimed at the trainers. He/She earns the most points over the year wins the bonus prize money. All races are minimum 2800m but you can have as many runners in each race as you can get in. Qualification for each race is still the same as it is today, meaning that many horses will need to run lead ups in each city as required, spreading stayers across the country. I'm sure there's a magnitude of details I've ommitted and the logitics would be huge (but not insurmountable?) as well as getting sponsors onboard and guaranteeing prize money to convince trainers to get involved. If done right there could be some epic training battles emerging. There would be risk that focus shifts too much from the horses to the trainers but I think that's a small risk. Like I said a pipe dream buit I think it woul dbe great.
Jack
Guest
Interesting article. I think the Golden Slipper has created a lot of problems for our sport if you are a fan of stayers. Even the 2000m WFA ranks seem to be weakening. And you look at how strong the sprinting ranks are, yet I don't sense a similar level of excitement when a load of good horses race over 1200m vs 2000m or 2400m. Ten years ago I think Who Shot The Barman would have finished midfield in a Melbourne Cup but the flipside is that Australians may now think the race is easier to win and invest in stayers.
Brent Ford
Roar Guru
A great piece on the blood lines as well, I think the breeding, lack of staying races and impatience all plays a role.
kv joef
Roar Guru
Excellent piece JohnM, A short comment about trainers ... remember generally only the good horses and the best OS trainers make it to this shore and it took them a decade to work out how to win AU races. I think Australian trainers more than hold their own as distance trainers. EG DWeir seems exceptional. look at the quality of horse he has got into the race and how they have performed. But more to the point, something happened at this carnival that got me very excited. It seems the 'Upper Hunter Push' have finally worked out how to use AU speed to enhance the quality 'distance' shuttle blood. They have been mucking about for quite a few years for little payoff. It is pretty tricky. anyway, there were enough good signs from the Derby and Oaks to suggest all is not lost as we were only looking at babies. With only a few exceptions, the same Euro-blood is available to us as the Europeans ... we also get quality U.S. blood. Obviously, our mares are capable of producing the world's best sprinters (still are) so the task has been to get that speed to stay ... or as they say 'breeding up'. i like what i've just seen - too many to be a fluke. they have got the blood to a middle-distance ... not far to go.
Pat Malone
Guest
I would have thought it would be impossible for one horse to inspire other horses?