Ray Thomas: Away Game poised to break convention when she tackles older horses in Adelaide
With a two-year-old not succeeding at the highest level against older horses for 44 years, Away Game stands on the verge of a unique mark. She can also make voting for a top award very interesting.
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Away Game continues to snub convention as she races for champion two-year-old honours when making a historic Group 1 bid in Adelaide on Saturday.
Trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace are sending Away Game into the fray against older horses in the $400,000 TAB Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville.
Away Game has earned an “iron filly” reputation this season. She has had at least one start every month since November and the Robert Sangster Stakes will be her eighth race of the season.
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Farnan is favourite to be awarded the juvenile title with his Golden Slipper win beating Away Game but the filly can make the final voting very interesting if she wins the Group 1 fillies and mares race.
A two-year-old hasn’t succeeded at the highest level against older horses since champion filly Desirable held off Leica Show to win the 1976 Lightning Stakes at Flemington.
Hall of Fame jockey Malcolm Johnston was still an apprentice when he won his first Group 1 race on Desirable.
“I remember my old boss, Theo Green, telling me that I was going to have my first ride for Colin Hayes on Desirable and I would have to ride her at 43kg,’’ Johnston said.
“In those days, two-year-olds did take on the older horses more regularly than they do these days.’’
Johnston’s elation at winning his first Group 1 was tempered momentarily when Roy Higgins, rider of runner-up Leica Show, protested against the winner.
“I wasn’t too worried about it – until Roy started giving evidence in the stewards room,’’ Johnston said.
“I only knew of Roy Higgins at the time, and I had never heard him at a protest hearing, but I soon realised why they called him ‘The Professor’. He had me convinced I was guilty of careless riding, he was that good a talker.
“Luckily there was a stewards head-on film of the race and it showed that Desirable had raced in a straight line, there was no interference and the protest was dismissed.’’
Desirable’s win in the Lightning Stakes ensured she was the champion two-year-old of 1975-76 even though she didn’t win either the Golden Slipper (third to Vivarchi) or Blue Diamond (second to Out Of Danger).
Away Game hasn’t won either of the majors, either. Her Golden Slipper second placing aside, she also ran a luckless fourth in the Blue Diamond (won by Tagaloa).
But she has won four of her seven starts including the Magic Millions, Widden Stakes and Percy Sykes Stakes, amassing more than $2.7 million prizemoney.
This compares to Farnan’s record of five wins from six starts – his only defeat was when unplaced in the Magic Millions – earning just over $2.5 million.
Farnan became only the third winner of the Silver Slipper-Todman Stakes-Golden Slipper treble after champions Luskin Star (1977) and Pierro (2012).
In any other year, he would be a shoo-in for champion two-year-old honours - unless Away Game wins the Group 1 against older horses.
“Farnan’s win in the Golden Slipper was absolutely brilliant,’’ Johnston said.
“But what Away Game has done, even up to now, has been amazing. She blew them away the other day in the Percy Sykes Stakes at Randwick.
“If she does a Desirable and wins the Group 1 as against older horses, something that hasn’t been done for such a long while, I’d probably have her in front of Farnan.’’
Hawkesbury again sets tongues wagging
The Hawkesbury stand-alone has a history of consistently unearthing future topliners and last Saturday’s meeting, run at Rosehill Gardens, should continue the trend.
Saffiano, trained by Chris Waller, created a big impression winning the two-year-old feature, the Clarendon Stakes.
Waller used this race to kickstart Zoustar’s career seven years ago with the colt training on to win at Group 1 level in the Golden Rose and Coolmore Stud Stakes later that year.
Team Hawkes’s Chautauqua remains the best horse to come out of the Hawkesbury stand-alone meeting, winning the Guineas in 2014. The champion grey developed into one of the world’s best sprinters, winning six Group 1 races and nearly $9 million prizemoney.
Dawn Passage is unlikely to reach the heights of Chautauqua but there was a lot to like about his Hawkesbury Guineas win and he could be aimed at the Stradbroke Handicap in Brisbane later this year.
Champion’s part-owner dies
Chris Biggins, the part-owner of Hall of Fame champion Super Impose, passed away over the weekend. He was 84.
Trainer Lee Freedman described Biggins as a “great character who loved his racing”.
Super Impose won 20 of his 74 starts including his famous Royal Randwick “mile double double” when he won the 1990 Doncaster-Epsom double then repeated the feat a year later.
Spring carnival braces for stiff rivalries
Sydney’s spring racing carnival, including The Everest, is set to continue as scheduled despite the increasing likelihood it will clash with the revised NRL season and other sporting codes in what shapes as a blockbuster month of sport in October.
Racing NSW and Australian Turf Club haven’t had the opportunity to concentrate efforts on spring program planning given it is still six months away and most of their energies are channelled on the daily issues that need to be addressed to keep racing operating during the coronavirus pandemic.
But racing officials are taking a business as usual approach for the spring carnival, which includes The Everest, due to be run at Royal Randwick on October 17.
Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys wears two hats these days in his role as chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission and he is hellbent on restarting the NRL season on May 28.
There are further talks this week to determine the length of the NRL season but with three State of Origins to be played after the grand final, rugby league will still likely be playing through to November.
The revised AFL, rugby union, A-League football seasons could also be going deep into the spring while Cricket Australia is continuing plans to stage the T20 World Cup in October and November.
This means there will be inevitable and unavoidable clashes with Sydney’s spring carnival and The Everest.
The existing social distancing protocols are unlikely to be relaxed anytime soon so there is a likelihood that all sports, including racing, that are in operation later this year will need to be staged before empty grandstands.
But there are obvious difficulties predicting what biosecurity protocols will be in place next week, let alone in six months’ time, so Racing NSW and ATC can only assume and continue to plan for every contingency for the spring carnival.