Herald Sun racing team reviews the highs and lows of the Spring Racing Carnival

IT was another massive Spring Carnival, headlined by Winx. But while there were many ups, there were also some downs. The Herald Sun racing team gives their hits and misses.

IT was another massive Spring Carnival, headlined by Winx.

But while there were many ups, there were also some downs. The Herald Sun racing team gives their hits and misses.

BLIGHT? DRUNKS, DEATH TAKE GLOSS OFF SPRING

SANTA DELIVERS: VRC SPRINT STAR EYES NEXT MOUNTAIN

TRAP FOR FOOLS: NO COX PLATE BUT GROUP 1 SUCCESS

Hugh Bowman guides Winx to her fourth Cox Plate. Pic: Getty Images

HITS

■ The Cox Plate was far and away the best day and that was all down to one horse — Winx. The build-up was unbelievable and she didn’t let us down. She could have won by six lengths. Hugh Bowman (until Cup Day) had an outstanding carnival and the Ellerton-Zahra Oaks win was one of the best received victories of the spring.

■ Winx isn’t likely to be back for a fifth Cox Plate but The Autumn Sun could make it five in a row for the Waller stable. His effort to win the Caulfield Guineas was astounding. He has unlimited potential and he’s racing’s — and Waller’s — next superstar.

■ They turned up in droves – and paid for the privilege – and left our shores with the lions’ share of the spring riches. Godolphin clinched the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup double with Best Solution and Cross Counter. Werribee’s barns produced their fair share of tragedy, but no shortage of high-class winners. And a different dimension.

■ Kerrin McEvoy was nerveless on Cross Counter in the Melbourne Cup, while Pat Cosgrave might have pinched the Caulfield Cup on Best Solution. Craig Williams delivered a fair share of pearlers but Mark Zahra was in a class of his own on Santa Ana Lane in the VRC Sprint Classic. He was pretty good, too, on Jaameh in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

■ Chris Waller has a simple view of Melbourne Cup carnival – it’s our Royal Ascot. And he’s correct. Ascot is a celebration of British racing excellence. Flemington showcases the best Australia has to offer. Track managers usually cop a pounding this time of year, but Liam O’Keeffe’s performance at Flemington this past week, particularly on a rain-sodden Cup Day, deserved massive kudos. Huge first-up Spring Carnival effort in the role.

■ What a carnival by Irishman John Allen. He capped what finished up a stellar few weeks with a blistering ride on Trap for Fools in the Mackinnon Stakes, having claimed the Derby a week prior. Take a bow.

■ Stallions aren’t meant to trifecta Group 1 races with their first crops. Zoustar did a ‘Zabeel’ this spring, and landed the first three home in the Coolmore Stud Stakes, with filly Sunlight knocking off Zousain and Lean Mean Machine.

■ The story of 82-year-old Paddy Payne Sr. returning to training ranks years after his retirement and taking a $101 chance to third in the VRC Oaks - with his daughter Michelle aboard - was the sort of heartwarming tale the sport needs.

Paddy Payne (left) talks with daughter Michelle Payne after The Oaks. Pic: Michael Klein

■ For once, the Melbourne Cup barrier draw stuck to a timetable, and was all the better for it, as well as a move to the mounting yard. Barriers before interviews.

■ Some may say for the sake of the presentations that it was the best result that Magic Circle didn’t salute in the Cup, but there’s no denying its owner Dr Marwan Koukash proved a flamboyant addition to the carnival. He had everyone talking both here and abroad with that G-string threat, and even better was the lack of do-gooder naysayers trying to bring him down. Just good fun.

■ Racehorse ownership is a rollercoaster with no safety straps. Just seven days after almost losing Kings Will Dream, Brad Spicer experienced the joy of seeing his horse Extra Brut salute in the Victoria Derby, leaving the leaving him close to tears. And what about the Rosemont Stud crew? The vision of them leaving Flemington in jubilation after Runaway raced in the Melbourne Cup is what it’s all about.

■ How is a horse who has won more than $3 million and four Group 1’s still regarded as underrated? Not any more. Santa Ana Lane is a star, and deservedly so.

MISSES

■ The trains leaving Flemington are echoes of a transport system from another century. Surely a train can appear every five minutes.

■ The horrible fall at Cranbourne involving Brad Rawiller and Brian Higgins was the most worrying part of the carnival. It was great to see Brad out and about on Oaks Day, albeit in a neck brace, but a long recovery is ahead.

■ Racecourse deaths have steadily declined over the years but losing another high-profile horse, The Cliffsofmoher, in the Melbourne Cup is a hammer blow to the sport’s marketability. It will be foolish for administrators to bury their heads in the sand and pretend it is unimportant. Mercifully, the right moves are being made to investigate why Flemington and Werribee have seen three horses perish this spring.

The Melbourne Cup included tragedy, with The Cliffsofmoher destroyed after the race. Picture: Jason Edwards

■ The vitriol aimed at the racing industry following the loss of The Cliffsofmoher was a joke. There needs to be a thorough investigation into what happened, but the hysterical reaction from some quarters — mostly on social media — was ridiculous. It’s rubbish to say the people involved in the industry don’t care for their horse. They do. It is gut-wrenching whenever something like this happens.

■ It is a mystery what happened to Hugh Bowman after the Cup when he weighed in one kilo overweight on runner-up Marmelo. He’s appealing the 35-meeting ban over three charges arising from the race on Tuesday, hopeful of a crack at defending the Japan Cup later this month. Owners were philosophical but have every right to be angry.

■ Anyone else sick of aerial views of races? You wouldn’t buy a seat if they were somehow available looking down at an event but for some reason television executives decide that’s what we need. Races filmed from a car travelling alongside the field gives no perspective of the race. Then when the race is over and you want to see how a horse finishes after the line, which is an important part for a serious punter, you get crosses of people in suits hugging each other. After a while every race looks to be the same. Hopefully a change of broadcaster next year brings a change of approach.

■ Spring couldn’t end quick enough for favourite backers, especially in the majors, bar the Cox Plate. If you got the quaddie on any of the big days then you’d be able to get a bigger boat.

Trainer Jarrod McLean and jockey John Allen blew away many quaddie hopes when Trap For Fools won the Mackinnon Stakes. Pic: Michael Klein

■ Why can’t the revamped, prizemoney-boosted $2 million Mackinnon Stakes attract the sort of horses the races deserves now it is on the final day? There was a time when the Mackinnon winner generally came out of the Cox Plate, but as wonderful as she is, Winx stymied the numbers in that race again this year. It needs to change because this year’s Mackinnon was far from a vintage one.

■ VRC boss Amanda Elliott has said the second half of Cup week will be looked at, and have to agree it’s worth looking into. Particularly Oaks day — there is such a thing as too much racing. Better to have premium races contested by premium fields.

■ The embarrassing name change - and the name change back again - saga involving Yucatan and Sound Check wasn’t a great look for the sport. At least sanity prevailed in the end.

■ Another Cup run; another international whitewash. Plenty of soul searching for the Australian breeding industry - and for those buying yearlings - given we couldn’t compete (once again) with the best stayers sent out here. Good to see locally-bred Youngstar run so well in the Cup, and praying that a young staying stallion like Fiorente might help change a few things in the coming years. Patience is required.

■ The only negative from a magical Cox Plate Day was the injury fallout from the race, with Humidor and Kings Will Dream ruled out for the spring with injuries.

Originally published as Herald Sun racing team reviews the highs and lows of the Spring Racing Carnival