Here’s a secret that you won’t hear anyone at Racing NSW mention, and certainly not anyone in their marketing arm (otherwise known as Sydney media) – The TJ Smith Stakes last Saturday attracted a better field with $3 million in prize money than The Everest did last year with $15 million on offer.
Firstly, we acknowledge the horses that ran in both races – Giga Kick (1st in the Everest and 2nd in the TJ), Mazu (3rd and 3rd) Nature Strip (4th and 4th), Private Eye (2nd and 12th), and Shades of Rose (8th and 9th).
They all ran quite consistently, with the exception of Private Eye, and the fact that the TJ was on genuine heavy while the Everest was only on a soft track was a great shame. More on that later.
Horses that ran in The Everest but not the TJ Smith, and what they’ve done between then and now: Jacquinot (won the Orr Stakes), Overpass (unplaced in two starts), Kementari (hasn’t won since), Masked Crusader (four starts for no better than 10th), Joyful Fortune (won a Listed race at Flemington), Eduardo (hasn’t won since), Ingratiating (finished 13th in the Hunter).
It looked like the thinnest Everest we’ve had at the time and has proven to be so since.
Now let’s look at the horses that fronted up in the TJ but weren’t in The Everest, and what they’ve done in-between times.
I Wish I Win has announced himself as the new rockstar of the turf, coming from last to round up the TJ field. This was after winning the Golden Eagle, and following up with eye-catching placings in the Lightning and Newmarket.
(Brett Holburt/Racing Photos via Getty Images)
Mariamia has won the Expressway and Galaxy this year. Lost and Running should have been in The Everest but was scratched in the lead-up. In Secret has won the Coolmore Stud Stakes and the Newmarket. Lofty Strike won the Rubiton and was placed in the Oakleigh Plate and Newmarket. Passive Aggressive won the Challenge Stakes, beating the likes of Giga Kick and Eduardo.
It’s no contest as to which race was stronger. But one of them was worth 20 per cent of the other.
Would The Everest get any less of a field if it was worth $5 million instead of $15 million? Would the Golden Eagle if it was worth $5 million instead of $10 million?
Would racing overall be a better product if that spare $15 million was spent on upgrading the Randwick racetrack? I’m no turf management expert, but it must surely be a start.
It should be embarrassing to all involved how quickly that track deteriorated on Saturday. Most punters would have done their form for a good 4 or soft 5 track, based on the fine weather in the lead-up and what was anticipated on race day.
Weather can be fickle of course, and more rain fell earlier than expected. But to come up a soft five after only 20mm of rain in the previous week, and to be downgraded to a genuine heavy (in what seemed like minutes) after a few showers was a poor reflection on everyone that has been involved at a high level for a long time.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Peter V’landys has done some great things for racing. The Everest and Golden Eagle in spring are two of them. The Championships concept in Autumn is another. V’landys has arguably created the best pure racing in the country and certainly forced Racing Victoria to up the ante themselves.
But he doesn’t care about the end product itself. He doesn’t care about the sport of it. He loves the bold statements, and the accompanying glitz and glamour. It’s all very surface-level. It’s all very Sydney.
Racing NSW arguably has the best product in the country. It may have even set the standard across the world in how to dominate a local market and revolutionise stale thinking. But for too long Randwick and Rosehill either haven’t been able to handle inclement weather or have produced significant track bias that reduced the sport.
Let’s stop the prize money arms race and put the dollars into the place it’s needed most – the playing field.
Barnburners
Roar Rookie
Just got to accept the norm that around Easter time the tracks in Sydney are heavy 9 or 10.
peeeko
Roar Guru
agree with that.i reckon its time for him to move on
sheek
Roar Guru
peeeko, Thanks for explaining the changes in betting, I wasn't aware of that. However, I still believe PVL could have handled the situation better.
Nathan Absalom
Roar Guru
I'm not sure how easy the track upgrade will be. We've seen the complete disaster that was Eagle Farm, for instance. The trouble with Randwick occurs up the side. When they removed the crossings years ago and put in tunnels, the ground can get shifty and uneven when wet or drying, and horses completely lose their action as you saw a lot on Saturday. In big fields it gets exacerbated because you can get caught between horses that lose their action and your race is over as well. But also the rail was better in the straight so jockeys were riding their luck whatever they did. So, a track upgrade is necessary but I'm not sure how easy it will be to get right. PVL is a funny one, he really can market something new but very much struggles to market something established. I mean geez look at what happened to Slipper day with the separation of big races and the chronic lack of marketing for a decade. People forget that he oversaw a really long term decline and was in the middle of some very self destructive fights that only turned around very recently. People's opinion of him is decidedly less nuanced than the reality, imo.
peeeko
Roar Guru
i have mixed feeling abuot PVL but the reason he needed to go for the spring is the change that occured away from the tote over 10 years ago. with the race fields legislation and the move to corporate bookies, betting taxes now go to the place where the event is being held. in the old days NSW punters betting on the big melbourne spring races on the tote were taxed in NSW. Now NSW punters are taxed in Victoria. This meant that NSW was missing huge amounts of funding and needed to react.
peeeko
Roar Guru
Hi Cam i agree that the TJ was a better field than the Everest. WIth injuries and imporvement that can happen. Most years the Everest is a better field. The main issue is that the Everest is not a $15mil race, it is a $7.5 mil race. The slot owners provide a lot of the prizemoney with their entry fee. The slot owners also take out a lot of the prizemoney. normally the slot owner will take 50% of the winnings. so first place is really only only $3.1 mil vs $1.725 for the TJ. One of the reasons for this is that slot holders always take back the first $500k in prizemoney to redeem their investment. this makes running in the $2 mil Manikato stakes a week later an attractive proposition. The MVRC head has stated that it is better money to win the Manikato than come 2nd or worse in the Everest. As for the track it was disapoointing to see the track downgrade so quickly, it rained all morning in sydney and throught the first 5 races. Rain on race day is so much worse than rain earlier in the week.
sheek
Roar Guru
Cameron, I love your work. Always enjoy your articles whether racing or AFL. Is Peter V’Landys really good for racing? Better racing experts than me believe Australia has neither enough good horses nor enough good jockeys to be splitting them in key races between Sydney & Melbourne. Before PVL came along, each of the 7 major carnivals had several weekend windows in which to operate their key races. This allowed connections to send horses & jockeys interstate without severely impacting the local product. Not anymore. Since PVL decided to plonk his Everest in the spring & on the same day as the Caulfield Cup, Victorian racing decided it was only fair to do the same to Sydney in the autumn. A caveat here. I don’t like PVL, he is a money hungry grub. All he talks about in racing is wagering, & how his concepts are cornering the market. His other hobby-horse, the NRL is also the most obsessed market for corporate bookies. The fed govt may have something to say about the insidious creep of gambling & corporate bookies, but we shouldn’t hold our breaths waiting for them to act. Maybe Victorian racing needed a shakeup & perhaps for that we can thank PVL. But he could have handled it better, working with the other states rather than against them. But that’s the mark of the man, it’s all “me, me, me”. I’m amazed the Everest is still going. It’s not an original idea of PVL’s either. He pinched the concept from the Phoenix version in the US, which I think has since tanked. To my mind it’s a shallow concept that panders to the egos of the ultra wealthy, with the horses merely a sideshow. Bart Cummings would cringe at a concept like the Everest if he were still alive today. To him, the horses were the most important players in racing, not to be some sideshow for an egomaniac.