It’s 3am on Monday and Tiger Woods is vying for the lead in The Masters.
There hasn’t been this kind of electricity at Augusta since 2005, the year Tiger beat Chris DiMarco in a playoff.
While plenty of great golfers have donned the green jacket in the past 15 years, none of them were Tiger Woods.
You see, golf, like most sports, needs champions.
When Patrick Reed won The Masters last year, it was well noted in the media. But the story didn’t last more than a day and it certainly didn’t lead all news bulletins around the globe.
When Tiger Woods wins, it’s a big deal. And he doesn’t even need to win for it be a big deal.
Golf’s greatest of all time is a walking headline. He’s big money for TV networks and box offices.
No Tiger, less hype.
The same can be said about horse racing.
Outside of a handful of races – the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Golden Slipper – racing in Australia struggles to break into mainstream media.
The only time that changes is when champions step out onto the track.
What Winx did for the racing industry on Saturday cannot be measured. The atmosphere at Royal Randwick was unprecedented for a Sydney race meeting.
In fact, I doubt Sydney has had that much atmosphere at any event since the 2000 Olympics. The buzz at the track certainly surpassed any State of Origin match.
Perhaps the only thing that comes close in the post-Olympic era is Steve Waugh’s final-ball SCG century in the 2002-03 Ashes.
The challenge for the racing industry, just like the PGA, is to keep the momentum rolling when the champion is no longer there.
How can racing leverage the huge public interest for Winx into more regular attendances and increased column inches?
You cannot replicate what occurred at Randwick on Saturday, but you can build on the momentum and use it to remind people that the racetrack is where dreams are realised.
There’ll never be another Winx, but there’ll be another champion.
(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
The next generation
I’ve written so much about Winx in the past 12 months and I don’t think there’s much more to add, other than she’s a freak of nature.
Her win on Saturday was first class.
But who are the contenders to take her crown as Australia’s best racehorse?
A filly who raced on Saturday could be in the mix.
Australian Oaks winner Verry Ellegant looms as the real deal. She had issues in the spring under the care of disgraced trainer Darren Weir, but turned a corner since being transferred to Chris Waller in Sydney.
The three-year-old’s Oaks win was first class and she might emerge as a good middle distance horse in the spring.
A Caulfield Cup would not be out of the equation, while I’m sure Waller will have the Melbourne Cup in the back of his mind.
“It’s hard to say if she’ll stay or not, time will tell, but the best is yet to come,” the trainer said on Saturday.
“We’ll be remembering Verry Elleegant’s win here. It was a great race and she’ll have a great spring.”
It might be premature to declare a horse with two races under his belt to be the next Australian champion, but all signs have been good for two-year-old Super Seth.
Another horse previously in the care of Darren Weir (karma, much), the Anthony Freedman-trained colt won by six lengths on debut at Ballarat last month and was sent out a $1.65 favourite at Caulfield on Saturday.
His win was ultra impressive, running over the top of some good horses to win comfortably.
The son of Dundeel should get over further, too, and will be one to watch in the spring.
“I’ve only had him a short time – he came from Darren Weir and I know they had a good opinion of him – and he won really well at Ballarat and today was probably not that much tougher but the way it turned out, he had to be quite good to do what he did,” Freedman said.
“You would love to think he might run a nice mile in the spring. He’s still doing a few things wrong but he’ll work it out.”
Freedman suggested a tilt at a Flemington race on Anzac Day was an option, as was a trip to Brisbane for the winter carnival, but I suspect Super Seth will be spelled and asked to return in August to prepare for some of the rich three-year-old events.
The other likely contender for the crown could be emerging Tasmanian filly Mystic Journey.
Trained by Adam Trinder, the three-year-old has won 10 of 13 career starts, including six victories in a row.
She showed talent last spring, winning a Listed event at Caulfield and a Group 2 at Moonee Valley, but took the next step this autumn with victories in the Group 1 Australian Guineas and the inaugural All-Star Mile.
Purchased for just $11,000, the daughter of Needs Further has already collected more than $3.2 million in prizemoney.
I dare say she’ll be targeted at some spring classics and we’ll get a fair idea of where she sits in the pecking order then. But don’t be surprised if she becomes Australia’s next wonder horse.
The weekend punt
I thought things were looking grim after the first three races produced no result for followers of my selections.
Things slightly improved when each-way tip American in Paris ran third at Caulfield, paying $2.80 for the place.
But it exploded when Sydney Cup selection Shraah saluted for Jay Ford in the 3200m feature at the huge price of $13.80 and $5.10.
If you invested $20 on each race, you would have spent $100 and collected a tidy $217. Not bad when only one of your five selections wins.
Keep checking back on Fridays as my selections will become a regular feature on a weekly basis. I also make sure to keep a running tally so you know just how well (or poorly) I’m going.
Mick_Lions
Roar Pro
I second that nomination
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Breeding is part of the industry. Owners are doing exactly what you and I would do. Trapeze Artist is getting 90k, The Autumn Sun 70k, risk free, little chance of injury. Trapeze Artist will need to serve just 18 mares to match the winners prize money for the TJ Smith. Redoutes Choice added more to the local racing industry in his first 2 years in the barn then anything he would have done had he raced on It's not the breeders that have stopped breeding the stayers, its the buyers who stopped buying them. I'd rather see a race with the field like this years TJ Smith and last years Everest then watch Count Chivas plodding along beating Skybeau and Joss Sticks in an Adelaide Cup. You have to remember that breeders aren't just breeding for the Australian industry, but are exported to Asia and South Africa, that is what their buyers want too. New Zealand haven't gone backwards by breeding sprinters, they have done so because they sell horse to Asia at the first possible oppurtunity
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Mystic Journey won't win another group 1 race
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Sunlight won't do anything more. Won a low-rating Coolmore, beating a couple of non-winners, won a handicap on the limit in another G1 and beat Spright and ellizacoom in another. Well beaten in the TJ and Manikato
max power
Guest
Filante
sheek
Roar Guru
BTW, I meant Fiorente, not Florence. Auto spellcheck has this crazy idea it knows better than I what I'm typing!
Raimond
Roar Guru
I think the addendum about betting in this article highlights the problem with a sport that is dependent wagering for survival.
Matt Nicholls
Expert
A lot to process there, sheek. I agree that breeding has crippled the progression of some outstanding horses, but in a way, Australia is just following the trend that had been set in the UK and the US beforehand. I would have loved to see The Autumn Sun race on to see if he was the real deal. One of my favourite horses was All Too Hard. The issue for many entires is that they encounter problems as they get older - not many stallions can actually race into their 'senior years'. I don't think racing is being killed by breeding, but it isn't helping. Horse ownership is hard, but it doesn't appear to be slowing down at an alarming right. Jason is right, probably an article in it.
Jason Hosken
Roar Guru
I don’t follow racing but that was a good read. Be worth posting as an article.
sheek
Roar Guru
Matt, Here's a question, probably mostly rhetorical because the answer is always money. But anyhow, here goes, if the phenomenal publicity & support Winx has attracted not only in her last race but during her sequence of 33 successive wins, why don't we see more champion racehorses racing longer? Like I said, the answer is always money. But it's short-sighted money to fill someone's pockets over & over. So horse racing is all about breeding. It's not actually about racing horses, or betting on them, but breeding. That's all racehorses exist for, to make money for people. I detest the attitude. Racehorses are expensive to operate, I'm repeatedly told. Has anyone bothered to find out why? Probably not, because the common reason might be financial greed. And not many like to be told they're greedy, even if they know they are. When I was first exposed to racing in the mid-1960s, it was pretty even across the whole spectrum. Horses were expensive to buy even then, but there were still plenty of single owners around. Syndicates only proliferated in the late 1970s as costs ballooned. But back to the 60s. Staying handicaps were still king, but all types of races were respected. The Melbourne, Caulfield, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth & Australian Cups were the kings along with the Metropolitan. But the mile & sprints like the Doncaster, Epsom, Stradbroke & Newmarket all enjoyed their time in the sun. As was the Golden Slipper. It was the best race for two year olds, nothing more, nothing less. Weight-for-age races were respected as the true test between horses of similar age & stamina. The Derbies & Oaks were a big deal when it was their turn to shine. Fast forward to the present & staying races are disappearing before our eyes. Only the injection of overseas horses keeps the Melbourne Cup relevant. Pretty soon they will either have to mothball the race, or reduce its distance. Australia & New Zealand, which once produced outstanding stayers, has become obsessed with sprinters, most of whom are as ordinary as each other. The variety of Australian racing is being slowly destroyed. To keep it pepping, gimmicks have to be found, like The Everest. Any decent racehorse that isn't a mare, is immediately sent back to stud at the end of their 3-y-o career, or 4-y-o at worst. The public is denied seeing 3, or 4, or 5 horses of similar ability racing against each other, & beating each other. I remember back in the mid-1990s, there was a bunch of outstanding 3-y-o's come together - Octagonal, Saintly, Nothin' Like A Dane & florence. Add the older Hyperno & younger Might And Power, & you had half a dozen outstanding horses racing against each other. Those days are gone. I know when the rot started. it started with a guy named Robert Sangster. or maybe we should blame his Australian wife Susan Rossiter-Peacock-Sangster-Renouf for bringing him to Australia. The suave, urbane, somewhat supercilious Englishmen turned his nose up at the egalitarian style of Australian racing & told anyone who would listen, they become more like Englishmen. Forget the staying handicaps, concentrate on wfa sprints & milers. Developing stayers takes too long, we want quick turnaround in profits. Win a couple of group ones then send the stallion back to stud. Make a financial killing. Repeat ad nauseam. Unfortunately a few people with too much money listened to him, people like Robert Holmes a Court, John Singleton & Gerry Harvey. Pretty soon horse racing became more expensive as breeding costs skyrocketed, forcing the mushroom of syndicates to keep up with the filthy rich. Anyway, here we are in 2019 watching a sport that for me has lost its soul. Not that the winning punter cares. End of rant!
Omnitrader
Roar Rookie
Also young one going to Honk Kong hurts as well, classic legend who won on saturday is owned in Hong Kong so is probably destined to end up there. Also a lot of our middle distance depth has ended up there, Werther, Beauty Generation, Dark Dream etc all raced here as 3yo’s.
Don
Roar Rookie
Matt, Until the next superstar comes around I’ll be happy to see Hartnell and a couple of others collect a few more big wins now that the amazing Winx has been retired.
pwa
Roar Rookie
Sunlight is another 3yo with considerable promise. Like Verry Elleegant and Mystic Journey (and maybe Arcadia Queen) it will be interesting to see which come back as top 4yos. It's a pity that very few high-class entires get to 20 starts now.