With Royal Ascot contender Anamoe to the fore, the stars of Australian racing are coming back for the autumn – but their exploits will be played out against a backdrop of warring factions in Sydney and Melbourne. JA McGrath reports on the rancorous schism.
From the outside, Australia is the envy of the racing world. Soaring prize-money, a buoyant bloodstock market, and betting turnover reaching previously unheard of levels. Countries such as Britain look pitiful in global comparison.
But a rocket has been launched in the orbit of the country’s two leading states. Let it be crystal clear: Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s two major racing jurisdictions, are at war.
And, with papers being served by Racing NSW (New South Wales) on Racing Victoria in the Supreme Court – and also on the governing bodies of Queensland, South Australia and West Australia – that declaration of war is official.
Through the court, Racing NSW is seeking documents be produced amid concerns of anti-competitive behaviour. This unprecedented legal action threatens the stability of a racing environment that on the surface has everything going for it.
High-level ‘paralysis’
Dig a little deeper and you uncover alarming details, such as the Racing Australia board not having met for over two years due to a “paralysis”, according to Racing Victoria chief executive Andrew Jones, for which he blames Racing NSW and its combative supremo Peter V’landys.
There has always been rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne — over 160 years of it — but in recent times it has become so intense as to be stretching the boundaries of acceptable conduct at administrative level. The jockeying for racedates, many of which have been successful traditional fixtures, has been one nagging issue; demands for harmonisation on whip reform is another.
The timing of the litigation guarantees wide interest. It will be played out in Sydney’s Supreme Court just as the 39th Asian Racing Conference, which hosts delegates from a number of key racing countries, opens 600 miles away in Melbourne. Australia’s dirty linen is set to be hung out in embarrassing detail.
Meanwhile the best horses down under prepare to launch their autumn campaigns in different states this weekend, and media coverage has increased significantly. Earlier this week, the industry-owned radio station RSN 927 sent a reporting crew for live coverage of barrier trials at the Cranbourne training complex, 30 miles south-east of Melbourne’s CBD (Central Business District).
Ramping up the coverage
Newspapers have extended their space to cover the sport, albeit as part of an ongoing commercial contract that guarantees race fields, form and tips in a pull-out racing guide supplement in at least two publications on a daily basis.
Television is also ramping up its coverage, filling a slot between the Australian Open tennis championships and the start of the AFL football and NRL rugby seasons.
All the while there has been speculation about changes to the Melbourne Spring Carnival in October and November, but latest indications are that the Cox Plate is set to remain in its traditional slot between the Caulfield Cup and the Victoria Derby and Melbourne Cup, at least for 2023.
Starting tomorrow [Feb 11], Melbourne will kick off its six-week Festival Of Racing, featuring nine G1 races, the first of which, the CF Orr Stakes, is run over seven furlongs at Sandown and showcases major contenders for the A$5m All-Star Mile, run this year at Moonee Valley on March 18.
I’m Thunderstruck is tipped to be one of the stars of the Australian autumn. He finished second in last year’s All-Star Mile, second in the Doncaster Mile and also second in the Cox Plate in October, the latter an outstanding effort in coming from well back due to an awkward draw.
He is understandably popular and deserving of a feature race triumph, though with seven wins and A$8.1m already to his credit, he is not doing too badly. The C F Orr is an ideal starting point for him.
Likely favourite, though, is Jacquinot, a three-year-old by Rubick carrying the maroon and gold braid colours of Qatar Bloodstock. The colt was courageous the way he picked his way through runners on the inside to win a G3 at the course last month.
However, an even bigger name is back in Sydney with the return to action of Anamoe, the superstar of Australian racing and conqueror of I’m Thunderstruck in the Cox Plate.
Trained by James Cummings for Godolphin, this much-lauded four-year-old is currently the leading racehorse in Australia according to Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings at world #6 – behind only Ascot Gold Cup winner Kyprios and Hong Kong’s finest Golden Sixty among active racehorses.
Anamoe confidence
With Royal Ascot in the offing later this year, seven-time G1 winner Anamoe resumes with stable confidence high ahead of the G2 Apollo Stakes at Randwick, for which he is odds-on favourite.
He won four Group 1s in the spring, and although he was comfortably held by Zaaki in the G1 Champions Stakes on his most recent in November, the widely-held opinion is that he was over the top following a hard run in the Cox Plate.
Certainly, his trainer is making positive noises about this comeback effort for a horse he describes as a “rare diamond”.
Cummings adds: “He’s going beautifully. We’ve got him just where we want him first-up – he’ll have a suitable amount of improvement after this run, but we’re very pleased with him.”
In a strong-looking field for the Apollo, Chris Waller will saddle former British-trained El Bodegon, who has not raced since his fine third in the Cox Plate on his Australian debut. There are also understandable expectations for the Prix du Jockey Club runner-up, though he is likely to find the seven-furlong trip a bit too sharp.
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