The 2015 Sydney Carnival comes to a close on Saturday when the final two of 21 Group 1 races are run at Randwick.
It’s certainly been an interesting event, with debate divided about its success on and off the track dominating the past few days.
From my point of view the Carnival has been a resounding success. The Group 1 racing was among the best I’ve seen in at least the last few seasons in Australia and it was fantastic to have internationally-trained gallopers competing in several races at weight-for-age against the best Australia has to offer at the mile and beyond.
This Saturday, the All Aged Stakes (1400m, Group 1, weight-for-age) gives a fair insight into the quality of the carnival. Offering the base Group 1 prizemoney of $400,000, it has managed to attract a field of 13 – including eight previous Group 1 winners and a further four that have been placed at the highest level.
There is no doubt that the 2015 All Aged will be the best 1400-metre race conducted on these shores since at least the 2013 Memsie, when Atlantic Jewel gave Australia’s best weight-for-age performers a lesson on the art of galloping.
I was not alone when criticising the programming of the carnival, and the positioning of The BMW (2400m, Group 1, weight-for-age) particularly, not too long ago on The Roar. However, having seen the racing play out in what is now a truly modified autumn, I thought the program worked quite well this year.
We were able to see Criterion take a two-race weight-for-age path through to his Queen Elizabeth (2000m, Group 1) success via the Canterbury (1300m, Group 1) and the George Ryder (1500m, Group 1). This allowed David Hayes and Tom Dabernig to leave enough petrol in the tank for a Northern Hemisphere campaign that will see the chestnut son of Sebring fly the Australian flag in Hong Kong and England.
When Criterion returns in the spring, Hayes and Dabernig intend to aim the stallion at the Cox Plate (2040m Group 1, weight-for-age) before another trip to Hong Kong in December. But I can’t see how they can realistically get Criterion to the Cox Plate third-up without starting his campaign off in a handicap. Criterion will undoubtedly be seen at least four times in the spring and that is a positive for racing fans. Hopefully his trainers can still find a way to keep him fresh because that has been attributed to his spike in form.
The Sydney Carnival is crafted around The Championships. There is a weight-for-age path for all types of horses – sprinters, milers, and middle-distance gallopers alike – to take to Randwick. And if that didn’t entice the owners and trainers of the best horses in Australia to travel to Sydney, then The Championships prize-money did.
I just wonder how long Lloyd Williams can hold off before he sends his best horses north in the autumn. Lloyd is a big fan of the Spring Carnival, its majors and giving his best horses a light start to the year, but it would be a brave man to say his Fawkner would not earn more plaudits for winning the $4m Queen Elizabeth than the $3m Cox Plate.
All ratings experts I’ve seen have the Randwick feature rated the better race this season.
Of course it is strange to have the BMW run two weeks before the Queen Elizabeth. Not many trainers are keen on racing their horse back in trip on a fortnight turnaround. But, in promoting such a program, perhaps the Australian Turf Club and Racing NSW have breathed great life into the Sydney Cup (3200m, Group 1, handicap).
The best stayers in Australia – European imported or otherwise – now have a top staying program to target in the autumn. The $1.5-million BMW continues to provide the best 2400-metre horses with a shot a big weight-for-age money (albeit not as much as it used to), while the $1.6-million Sydney Cup is once again a great race. It didn’t have the depth of recent Melbourne Cups (3200m, Group 1, handicap), but the top-end talent in the 2015 Sydney Cup was as close to as good as any of the last few from Flemington.
Where that puts $41 winner and bottom-weight Grand Marshall is not just as clear. He obviously benefitted from a wet track and if we are to get a wet Melbourne Cup in 2015, only the fourth since 2000, he would have to be a chance.
For all the positives I have mentioned, the carnival has not been short on negatives or detractors. A Group 1 track with a super coverage of grass and great drainage should not be rated heavy after 44 millimetres of rain. But Randwick was on the morning of Saturday April 4.
The rain came down heavily later that morning. With the track already rated a Heavy 9, fears of a bog and the dangerous racing surface that goes with it led to the meeting being postponed to the following Monday. The track dried out somewhat on the Sunday, but with the turf cut-up by the ten races that took place on Monday, we were once again racing on a heavy surface on Queen Elizabeth Day.
The criticism levelled at Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club is fair. The club spent $150-million on a grandstand that is best suited to hosting crowds of less than 10,000 people. They could have spent half as much and ended up with a much better facility, and lots of money left over to spend on the track.
The ATC Members have the entire ‘old’ grandstand at Randwick to themselves, as well as all two thirds of the seating on Level 1 of the new stand and a third of the seating on Level 3. That leaves the public to battle for about 2000 seats on Level 3. Not only is it difficult to secure a seat on a Group 1 day, but the view from the clouds is not as good as John Tapp, Ian Craig or Mark Shean may have had you believe!
On another point, whose idea was it to build a $150-million grandstand that can only seat about 5000-6000 people? Randwick had 24,000 attend Day 2 of The Championships but it was so cramped in some areas that you could have been fooled for thinking the crowd was 40,000.
Gone are the days when Randwick could host a big crowd. It’s just as well because the Australian Turf Club has no idea about how to draw a proper crowd to the races at any point of the year. There has not been 30,000 people attend the races in Sydney in at least five years. Black Caviar came twice and could only draw 25000. Of course, the second time, Randwick was in a rebuilding phase and the capacity of 23,000 people was exhausted on that particular afternoon.
I think the Australian Turf Club has realised that they can no longer rely on the party crowd to make up the numbers. But just how they entice the rusted-on fans back to the races is another question. If you don’t hold a membership pass, you’re going to have a long day at Randwick!
As for my highlights of the Carnival, I loved Vancouver’s victory in the Golden Slipper (1200m, Group 1, two-year-olds) when he sat three wide at Rosehill. Along with the brave Pride Of Dubai, the winner of the Blue Diamond (1200m, Group 1, two-year-olds) and Sires Produce (1400m, Group 1, two-year-olds) with a never-say-die attitude, we have a pair of two-year-olds that are sure to dazzle racing fans next season.
Surely I’m not the only one who sees a bit of Pierro and All Too Hard in these two gallopers? If either of their owners decide to race these colts to the age of four, they will do the sport of racing a great deed.
I loved watching the great grey mare Catkins strut her stuff this autumn. Is there a better Rosehill horse than Chris Waller’s five-time Group 1 placegetter? She has won eight races at the western Sydney circuit and deserves her maiden top-level victory. I hope she can achieve it in Brisbane’s Tattersalls Tiara (1400m, Group 1, mares, set weights and penalties) at the end of the season.
My other highlight was Criterion’s dominant victory in the Queen Elizabeth. After a bit of dry spell for the locally bred, it was great to see an Australasian horse stick it to the international raiders. Criterion continues to improve.
I think he’s a live chance in any race he contests on the world stage, especially at a time in world racing when there is no horse officially rated over 130. Watch out if he manages to strike another wet track!
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
With the outlandish cash ($150m) wasted on a ridiculously designed grandstand, 50% of that money could have purchased enough plastic to cover the entire track so we would never have a bog.
mfor45
Roar Pro
Racing wise, the track at Randwick needs to be dug up, There's no point repeating whats been said here but the track is a disgrace. I would say crowd numbers are still disappointing, and the ATC should be hoping for 30,000+ crowds in the near future for each of the 2 Championship days. Getting to Randwick is still a nightmare, so hopefully the new light rail will improve it in that regard soon.
pauliewalnuts
Guest
I was in Melbourne for Lion Tamer's win in an absolute deluge on Derby Day. More rain through the week throughout the week pushed it back into the heavy for Oaks Day. Two days later Black Caviar was breaking 1:08 on a Dead 4. Fewer things more fundamental to racing than a decent surface. They want a world class carnival but they haven't got a picnic class track. Randwick is a farce.
andrew
Guest
justin. they get 120ml of rain in march and april historically in syd. in oct and nov - melb gets 60ml of rain. which state needs the better draining tracks so the perform at their peak when its most important. its a no brainer. this week in syd there has 15ml of rain, yet we open with a slow 6. in melbourne, they put 10ml of water on the track yesterday to make sure it came up as a good 3. if it wasnt so serious, it would be funny. clearly, the priority for the AJC has to be, tearing up randwick and finding a way where it can atleast cope with the average rainfall (ie, 120ml for month) and not only still be race-able, but not a bog either.
Bondy
Guest
Its a hot field and what they're trying to capture with it " the dreggs " of miler's coming back from the Doncaster and sprinters coming up from from the TJ . I cant understand the price between Chataqua and Terravista ....
peeeko
Guest
the all aged should be part of the championships, great race and should have more prizemoney
Jrod
Guest
Not sure about Lloyd placing a government construct with money but no relative history or prestige ahead of the Cox Plate.
Justin Cinque
Expert
Cheers DJ! I did say Australasian ;) We will claim what we can at the moment. We cant breed a middle distance horse in Australia to save ourselves.
Justin Cinque
Expert
The Judge the first and second options may be a stretch. Would he not be a month between runs second up there? Maybe those are options the camp will consider? The horse flies fresh they reckon.
Franky
Guest
I am a member and it is terrible. PLUS why have a 2 week 'Championship' when there are still G1 races this week? The All Aged at $500k is a joke when you consider the field, yes the QE is a nice race now but you just dont need to throw that much coin at it. Gust of Wind in the Doncaster next year might be nice. Another thing about the grandstand - obviously going to be standing for some time, why not build in phone chargers etc? Not as if we are not going to have those for the next 20 years or so. Foresight equal to the decision to only build a 2 lane tunnel to get 7 gazillion cars from the west each day
theJudge
Guest
Criterion could go: George Main 1600m - Turnbull 2000m - Cox Plate ? 3 weeks between runs before cox plate Craiglee Stakes 1600m - Caul Stakes 2000m- Cox Plate ? 2 weeks between runs before cox plate If they don't want him to have a 2000m run before the cox plate, the only option is the Underwood 1800m? 4 weeks beforehand.....
Geoff Parkes
Expert
Hi Justin, excellent wrap thanks. I can't speak for the on course facilities but it does sound like a fail on that count but a very healthy pass for the racing. Good to see the Sydney Cup winning back some of its status.
eee
Guest
I was there last Saturday and had a fantastic day! Mainly from the few winners and cold beer however I agree unless you have a membership you do feel shunted. Being from Brisbane my reciprocal membership couldn't get my mates in unless paying $180 which is a bit ridiculous ... I must say though the grand stand is very aesthetically pleasing although thats where it ends ... Fantastic quality of racing though which is the main thing!
DJ
Guest
Thank you for another superb article Justin but I believe Criterion's suffix is (NZ) ... I thought Who Shot The Barman's effort in the Sydney Cup was outstanding and surely Chris Waller will have him poised to threaten the legion of European imports in the Cup given it's the one race to elude him?
Bondy
Guest
I agree with most of Will's post . Once again track indifferences have spoiled the occasion crowds too overall have been poor for this featured event and its been paid for by taxpayers ..
Jason Cornell
Expert
Great review. Below I have found a summary of the AJC Easter carnival just 10 years ago in 2005. In 10 years basically the same AJC management have managed to take a successful easter carnival to one now where we have the Daily Telegraph writing absolute lies about "huge crowds" at Randwick and stories of increased turnover without backing up with facts. I cant understand why the ATC cannot provide or would want to publish and promote the results of the recently completed The Championships. A healthy stable of interesting facts – and some blatantly useless ones – emerged from the 2005 Tooheys New Easter Carnival. Here's a selection from the Australian Jockey Club's showcase event . . . Photo by Racing and Sports COMEBACK kings provided plenty of feel-good stories over the 2005 Tooheys New Easter Carnival. David Jones AJC Australian Derby victor Eremein almost died from a bout of colic, AJC Doncaster Handicap champion Patezza broke a cannon bone as a yearling and Mahtoum, winner of the Schweppes Sydney, had been spelled for 18 months after suffering a broken pelvis and tendon injuries. THREE rainy days out of four conspired in the AJC's bid to improve on last year's modern-day record crowd figure of 129,017 that ushered in the revised carnival format. Still, 109,741 made their way through the turnstiles over the four days in 2005, including a healthy crowd of 46,251 on what proved a wet and wild Easter Saturday. The Derby Day Lawn Party sold out 10 days before the event. GUY Walter's historic trifecta in the AJC Doncaster Handicap certainly took a few people by surprise, least of all the man himself, who thought Patezza might struggle to run the distance. No trainer in the race's 139-year history had ever filled all three places . . . so you would think the trifecta might have paid more than $1,310.10. ATTENDING the Tooheys New Easter Carnival builds a healthy appetite. Over four days the crowds consumed 20,000 pies, three ton each of beef and ham, 600 dozen oysters, 600kg of prawns and 700kg of cheese. And great food needs to be washed down. About 2,800 casual catering staff served the masses 345,000 bottles and 400 kegs of beer, along with more than 1,000 bottles of Moet & Chandon champagne. HORSES trained at Randwick won 22 of the 53 Group or Listed races over the STC and AJC carnivals, for a strike rate of 41.5 per cent. Next came Warwick Farm-based horses (22.6 per cent), Rosehill and Victoria (each with 9.4), NSW provincial (7.5) and NSW country and New Zealand (each with 3.7). Complete race-by-race analysis is available upon request. EMIRATES Fashions on the Field this year became the world's richest racing fashion event, with more than $260,000 in prizes given away including eight return business class airfares to Europe. Vintage was the fashion theme of the carnival, with tweed, gloves, brooches and lace detail prominent among winners. The event attracted a record 1,082 entrants over the four days. THE fashion judges thought Royal Randwick was living up to its regal name on Derby Day, with many doing a double take as Princess Mary look-a-like Lenia Rockwell won Best Dressed Lady. Persistence paid off for Telisha Nelson on Schweppes Sydney Cup Day. She had entered the competition the previous three days with meticulously organised ensembles, before winning Best Dressed Lady in a dress bought on impulse the previous evening. GRAND Armee's commanding victory in The Daily Telegraph All Aged Stakes signalled Gai Waterhouse's most successful season when it comes to the “majors”. Australian racing's first lady racked up her 11th Group One victory of the season when Danny Beasley guided home the celebrated gelding on the final day of the carnival. Her season prizemoney tally now stands at $5,102,115. TAB betting turnover for the carnival was $45.1 million, up six per cent on last year's total of $42 .4 million. On-course bookmaker and telephone betting was down slightly to $29.5 million, compared to $30.2 million in 2004. THE Schweppes Sydney Cup provided a couple of prominent firsts. It was Rosehill-based trainer Kim Moore's first Group One victory – just a week out from her marriage to former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh. The race also marked champion jockey Darren Beadman's first Sydney Cup win. LITTLE wonder trainer John O'Shea and managing owner Peter Horwitz were elated by Charge Forward's victory in the David Jones Galaxy. The colt broke through for its first group One win in its 11th and most likely final start, ensuring its sale price to Arrowfield Stud – negotiated earlier in the year with performance clauses included – increased significantly. THE Napoleon/Goldwell Princess Pampering Marquee was a popular spot for those keeping up appearances amid trying weather. It is estimated almost 3,000 people took advantage of the free gift packs, make-up artists and hair technicians based on the Fig Tree Lawn. DANNY Nikolic was the odd man out in winning the AJC Doncaster Handicap aboard Patezza. Not only was he the lone interstate jockey to claim a Group One race during the carnival, he was the only jockey not sporting a surname starting with “B”. Darren Beadman, Corey Brown and Danny Beasley shared the other nine Group One races between them. JUST 25 words have Isaac Ferris on a plane to Paris. He won a $32,000 trip to the Arc' de Triomphe race, courtesy of Emirates and the AJC by submitting this little ditty to The Daily Telegraph: Away on wings, soar the sky; to Paris with Emirates I fly; Le Arc at last I see; the world's best race, waiting for me. Australian Jockey Club
Will Sinclair
Roar Guru
The criticism of the new Randwick grandstand is absolutely spot on. When people wonder why the crowds are so poor when it rains - here is your reason. The vast majority of the crowd is now forced onto the grassed areas in front of the grandstand. On a nice day, it's a glorious place to be (unless, of course, you're interested in getting a decent view of the horses), but if there is ANY rain at all it becomes absolutely horrible. So your options are to stand in the rain, or pile into the tiny and over-crowded indoor areas... at which point you can't see the track so you may as well be at home or at the pub. Honestly, the grandstand was a balls up of enormous proportions, the size of which is only now becoming apparent. (And that's without mentioning that they are struggling to sell seats in the Chairmans Lounge and restaurant, both of which are like a ghost town on any but the biggest race days). Surely the Club can look into reconfiguring the seating, so people can go there and actually watch the racing again?
Adam Page
Roar Guru
Completely agree re Vancouver compared to Pierro and All Too Hard. The WFA stocks down under are pretty thin outside Criterion and Fawkner...Vancouver is a serious Cox Plate contender
peeeko
Guest
Justin, i agree completely with your criticism of the ATC and the poorly designed grandstand. i really have a probably with public funds being used for private members facilities