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RANKED 10-1: The best moments of the 2023/24 Australian racing season

The 2023/24 Australian racing season was full of great moments, but what were the top 10? Matt Williams ranks his 10 favourite moments. See if you agree or disagree.

Matt Williams
5 min read
July 17, 2024 - 12:00PM
Pride Of Jenni wins the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Pride Of Jenni wins the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

News Corp Australia’s national racing editor Matt Williams has ranked his Top 10 best moments of the 2023/24 Australian racing season.

There were, of course, a lot more than 10, but not everything can make the cut!

Honourable mentions go to Imperatriz’s six Group 1 wins, Cascadian’s second Australian Cup, Lady Of Camelot’s Golden Slipper, Broadsiding’s phenomenal end to the season, and Lachie Neindorf’s first Group 1 on Climbing Star in the Robert Sangster Stakes.

Do you agree or disagree with the list? Comment below.

10 — Celestial Legend’s win in the Doncaster Mile

In an era where we’re used to seeing the likes of Chris Waller, Ciaron Maher, James McDonald and Mark Zahra dominate our Group 1s, it was refreshing to see the unlikely duo of octogenarian trainer, Les Bridge, and young gun hoop, Tyler Schiller, combine to win one of Australia’s greatest races, the Doncaster Mile. They did it with superstar three-year-old colt, Celestial Legend, who stormed home to win carrying the featherweight of 49kg. Bridge has said Celestial Legend could be the best horse he’s trained.

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9 — Bella Nipotina’s end to stellar season

One of the most underrated sprinters in the past decade who rarely starts favourite, six-year-old mare Bella Nipotina had a stellar season, culminating in a phenomenal Brisbane winter carnival where she won the Doomben 10,000 and Tatt’s Tiara, and finished second in the Stradbroke Handicap and Kingsford Smith Cup. Earlier in the season, she bloused Everest winner Think About It and placegetter, Private Eye, in the Giga Kick Stakes, and also finished a narrow second in the TJ Smith Stakes. This year’s The Everest is calling where she will aim to become the first filly or mare to win the $20 million race.

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8 — Think About It’s win in The Everest

How can a horse who wins a midweek Benchmark 72 come out and win the $20 million The Everest nine months later? Well, Joe Pride’s superstar gelding, Think About It, did exactly that. Courtesy of a gun ride from Sam Clipperton, Think About It landed in the perfect position, hit the front 200m out and never looked like being run down. I Wish I Win rushed at him late but the bird had flown. Think About It blotted his copybook in the autumn, but Pride has acknowledged he got it wrong trying to stretch him out in distance. Back-to-back Everests is now firmly in his sights.

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7 — Romantic Warrior’s win in the Cox Plate

Overcoming a somewhat sluggish run in his Turnbull Stakes lead-up when he finished fourth, the Hong Kong superstar returned to his best with a nailbiting win over cult horse, Mr Brightside, in the Cox Plate. James McDonald was forced to call on all his champion qualities to lift Romantic Warrior over the line in one of the closest Cox Plate finishes of all time. It was an incredible season for J-Mac with 19 Group 1 winners (14 in Australia and five overseas). He’s now only two Group 1 wins away from the magical 100.

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6 — The $10m sale of Winx’s filly

When it emerged champion mare Winx’s only living foal, a filly by Pierro, would be put through the sale ring, there was huge anticipation about what her price tag might be. Many experts predicted it would be in the $3 million-$5 million range, but one of Winx’s part owners, Debbie Kepitis, blew everyone out of the water, buying her for $10 million after a spirited bidding war with American business tycoon, John Stewart, who bailed out at $9 million. It was a world record price for a yearling filly, and she’ll be trained by none other than Winx’s trainer, Chris Waller. It reaffirmed the enormous impact Winx continues to have on Australian racing.

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5 — Without A Fight’s Caulfield Cup/Melbourne Cup double

It had been 22 years since a horse won the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup double (Ethereal in 2001). The Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained import, Without A Fight, courtesy of two brilliant rides from Mark Zahra, achieved what many thought was now mission impossible. Overcoming an injury scare leading into the Caulfield Cup, he ran down West Wind Blows in that race before storming home to defeat Soulcombe in the Melbourne Cup 17 days later. His Cups double also stamped Zahra as one of the greatest big race jockeys of the modern era.

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4 — The Championships Day 2 miracle

When more than 200mm of rain fell at Royal Randwick in the hours leading up to Day 2 of The Championships, punters and participants were resigned to the meeting being called off. However, Racing NSW stewards and their Randwick track manager had other ideas. The rain cleared at 6.30am ahead of a fine weather forecast, the puddles started to evaporate and, at 7.45am, the call was made to race. Incredibly, the track was upgraded to a Heavy 9 before the first race, and was upgraded again to a Heavy 8 after Race 4. What eventuated was a great day of fair racing, headlined by Celestial Legend’s Doncaster Mile win. Some dubbed it the miracle of April 6.

3 — Cylinder’s emotional Newmarket Handicap win

Dean Holland and the Racing Gods were looking down on Jamie Kah and Cylinder in this year’s Newmarket Handicap. Kah missed the ride on Cylinder’s stablemate, In Secret, in the 2023 Newmarket when she was critically injured in a fall earlier in the day. Wind the clock forward 12 months, and Kah won the Newmarket on the unfancied Cylinder with Holland’s family presenting her with the Dean Holland Trophy. After Kah fell, Holland picked up the winning ride on In Secret. He tragically died in a race fall six weeks later.

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2 — Damien Oliver’s final day hat-trick

Talk about a movie script playing out in real life. Damien Oliver is our greatest ever Group 1-winning jockey with a litany of amazing moments throughout his glittering career. His final day in the saddle in Australia, in his home town of Perth in December, however, will be remembered for generations. Ollie won on his last three rides, culminating with a magical steer on Munhamek from barrier 14 in the “Damien Oliver Gold Rush” — the race named in Oliver’s honour. An incredible moment in Australian sport.

1 — Pride Of Jenni’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes romp

One of the greatest Group 1 wins you’ll ever see. The superstar front-running mare got more than 30 lengths in front at one stage, and still won by nearly seven lengths at the finish. Whether the other jockeys snoozed for too long is now a moot point. Pride Of Jenni’s Queen Elizabeth win will go down in folklore, and be replayed on TV for decades to come. It’s a race which those who watched it live at the track, or on TV, will never forget. It was one of those moments which made you think ... “how bloody good is racing!”

Originally published as RANKED 10-1: The best moments of the 2023/24 Australian racing season

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/horse-racing/ranked-101-the-best-moments-of-the-202324-australian-racing-season/news-story/284eebb91a87dfd83d75a854ef3a44fe