Gilbert Gardiner reflects on the Melbourne Cup Carnival that was with his ‘Yeas’ and ‘Neighs’:
Herald Sun racing writer Gilbert Gardiner on the yeas and neighs of the 2023 Melbourne Cup Carnival.
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Herald Sun racing writer Gilbert Gardiner shares his Yeas and Neighs from another bumper Melbourne Cup Carnival.
YEAS
SAFE RACING
The Melbourne Cup, the most watched race in Australia and broadcast in more than 200 countries worldwide, was won brilliantly by Without A Fight and most importantly run without a serious injury or casualty for the third straight season. Credit again to Racing Victoria and Victoria Racing Club for making the necessary stand in 2021 to introduce their proactive and now world-leading suite of veterinary safety checks to identify potential issues before it is too late. Jockeys competed strongly and safely on race day also, with only a handful of careless riding and whip indiscretions.
GREAT RACING
The eight Group 1s at Flemington were absolute crackers. Speed, endurance, toughness and luck, of course, was needed to succeed on the big stage. The undercard (29 races) was just as good and competitive, with 26 trainers sharing in the 37 races. A similar spread occurred in the jockeys’ room, with 19 individual riders winning at least one race.
CROWDS
Flemington cemented what we saw at the Caulfield and Moonee Valley carnivals in the lead-up to Melbourne Cup Week – a genuine thirst for all things spring racing. Great weather, for the most part, helped the cause but crowds generally flocked to Melbourne racecourses. A heaving 260,000-strong crowd went through the turnstiles at Flemington, including 84,492 on Melbourne Cup – a 14 per cent increase year on year.
Handled the Melbourne Cup prelude and postscript with trademark professionalism and class. From jubilation in the mounting yard with all the stable staff to phone calls to loved ones watching from afar, father and co-trainer Anthony and uncle Lee. Freedman, 27, like so many other active strong advocates and ambassadors for racing, is a major player in the sport’s generation next. Expect racing suits, desperate to tap into the 18-35 age demographic to help future-proof the sport, to actively engage Freedman. As the Victoria Racing Club’s slogan for Melbourne Cup Week read: Seeing is believing.
What a cup!
— Damian Lane (@LaneDamian) November 8, 2023
The training performance - Elite 👌
The Horse - Special ðŸ‘
Can’t stop re watching Marks ride. Will have to go down as one of greatest ever! https://t.co/UMUCw651BH
MARK ZAHRA’S CUP RIDE
Brilliant by any and every measure. The best big race jockey in the land, alongside James McDonald, nailed the 3200m Group 1 aboard Without A Fight. It left punters, pundits and contemporaries alike mesmerised, including Group 1 jockey Damian Lane. “Can’t stop re-watching Mark’s ride. Will have to go down as one of the greatest ever!” the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate-winner posted on X.
A mantra which resonated with Kah early in her career, probably best summed up her Melbourne Cup Week. “Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise.” Kah silenced the critics in the best possible fashion, standing in the winner’s enclosure. The 27-year-old topped the week with six winners from 26 rides and placed on a further three occasions. The haul included the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes, Group 2 The Damien Oliver and Group 3 Rising Fast Stakes. She capped the four-day carnival with a treble on Champions Stakes Day.
What better way to toast a farewell Melbourne Cup Carnival than with winners and a champagne shower! The GOAT got on the board early with a double on Derby Day and added a third winner on Melbourne Cup Day. While the wins dried up there, Oliver placed in the Group 1 VRC Oaks and Champions Stakes. The legendary jockey embraced the Flemington farewell, countless media opportunities and engagement with racegoers.
NEIGHS
PUNTER PAIN
In keeping with tradition, Melbourne Cup Week was again character building for punters. The average price of winners hovered at or above $10 through the first three days before a surge on Champions Stakes Day, three favourites and a couple more fancied runners saluted, to dip back into single figures. Only six favourites saluted during the 37-race carnival, with the average win price a healthy $9.39. Pascero, one of three winners in Cup Week for trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young was the longest priced winner at $51 with TAB, while Imperatriz saluted as a $2.15 favourite in the Champions Sprint.
LAME AMBIGUITY
‘Three Melbourne Cup horse pull up lame after race’ read a mainstream headline, minutes after Without A Fight sealed a famous victory last Tuesday. Sure, it is fact, elite athletes, human and equine, do on occasion pull up sore after sporting pursuits, but what purpose did the hot take serve, other than to fuel the anti-racing misinformation machine? For the record, the three horses (Gold Trip, Right You Are and Alenquer) all recovered fully after a good night’s rest. Gold Trip worked through a bag of lolly snakes, while Right You Are had only minor cramps after recovering from heat stress. Alenquer trotted up sound the next day and was sent for a spell.
SATIRICAL S***SHOW
Everyone is entitled to opinion, but for alleged satirist Tobias Manderson-Galvin’s material to include the massacre of anyone, lest jockeys and Flemington racegoers, is embarrassing, disgusting, abhorrent and dangerous. The Nup to the Cup event was organised by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses and hosted at the Kensington and Flemington Bowls Club. Both organisations distanced themselves from the controversy, claiming the contents of the Manderson-Galvin poem did not reflect their views. Here’s an idea, why doesn’t the Coalition donate money or time to Racing Victoria’s 50 acknowledged re-trainers who specialise in re-educating and rehoming racehorses for equestrian purposes?
Originally published as Gilbert Gardiner reflects on the Melbourne Cup Carnival that was with his ‘Yeas’ and ‘Neighs’:
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