Trip To Paris: all systems go for the Melbourne Cup.
Quite cold and overcast.
I hope you all enjoyed a good weekend. We are still buoyant following TTP’s second in the Caulfield Cup and the team in Australia report him to be in good form after those exertions.
The handicapper’s view of the race was released this morning and the winner, Mongolian Khan, has been penalised 1kg. That is 2.2lbs in old money and we come out favourably on the revised terms, a half-length beating over a mile and half traditionally equating to 0.75lbs. We also know TTP is a better horse over staying trips as well, so we can have no qualms as to where we stand in the handicap leading into the big one.
Two weeks tomorrow I will be hoping to shake off the nickname afforded to me by Simon O’Donnell of OTI Racing, who has started to call me “the bridesmaid.” We now stand at five seconds in Australian Group 1s, so hopefully the sequence is about to be broken in the way we wish!
Champions Day was another real success on Saturday and the standout performance for me was that of Muhaarar, who was simply imperious in the Sprint. To win four Group 1 sprints in any season is an extraordinary feat, but to do it as a three-year-old is even more remarkable. While the weight-for-age scale heavily favours the Classic generation over a mile and middle-distances, three-year-old sprinters have traditionally struggled against their elders. Not this one, who is the best we have seen in a good while.
Finally, major structural changes were announced to the programme this morning with novice races to replace the bulk of maidens in the first-half of next season. The move, designed to increase field sizes and competitiveness, is an intriguing one and the penalty structure will be a particularly important aspect. I remain open-minded.
Back tomorrow.
Ed.