THE calendar year was ushered in with a bright start to the yearling sales as 31 yearlings made A$1 million or more at the three major sales. As ever the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale led the way bringing a top of $2.8 million and an average of $353,511 from 349 yearlings sold. Those and the rest of the 35,000 plus horses registered in Australia will be set to vie for over $810 million in prize money spread across just over 19,000 races in Australia.
At the peak of summer the proverbial hit the fan in Victoria as police raided the stables of Darren Weir. This set in motion the demise of the country’s leading trainer with police laying charges and the alleged use of ‘jiggers’ or electrical devices, seeing Weir disqualified for four years. With his stable imploding, many of Weir’s top horses were quickly moved as the partnership of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stepped in to absorb his Ballarat training base.
In early February the return of Winx was celebrated and just a week later the Caulfield Guineas winner, The Autumn Sun also made a winning return. By early March the latter had won his fifth Group 1 and was seen as a natural successor to Winx and destined to wave the flag at Royal Ascot. However those plans were scuppered when his owners Arrowfield Stud mourned the death of the colt’s own sire Redoute’s Choice at age 22. Undoubtedly the most influential sire of his generation, Redoute’s Choice has left over 160 stakes winners, with his son Snitzel taking up the baton as Champion Sire in each of the past three seasons.
A June winner of a Group 3 in Brisbane set in motion a long range Melbourne Cup plan, with the win in the 3,000-metre Tattersalls Cup qualifying Vow And Declare for the race thats stops a nation. Trainer Danny O’Brien duly delivered, winning the Melbourne Cup with the Declaration Of War gelding, taking the Victoria Oaks with Miami Bound and winning races on each of the four days of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
Much was made of the northern hemisphere influence in the Melbourne Cup, and for the foreseeable future that trend will continue. Undeniably though, Vow And Declare’s victory has boosted the hopes of those breeding locally. Preceding Flemington the Japanese-trained horses of owners Carrot Farm threatened to sweep the jewels of spring winning the Caulfield Cup (Mer De Glace) and Cox Plate (Lys Gracieux).
Again The Everest proved to be a media juggernaut generating tremendous interest in its third edition with Coolmore the beneficiaries of a Chris Waller training masterclass as Yes Yes Yes became the first colt to win the $14 million sprint, catapulting his sire Rubrick to the top of the General Sires’ table.
The race has been at the forefront of Racing New South Wales reinvigoration of their State’s calendar which has also seen the addition of $1 million races beyond the confines of the metropolitan race clubs.
The best moment of the year
Certainly the closest thing to stopping the nation this year was the finale of Winx on April 13th at Randwick. It was the hottest ticket in Sydney and must surely have pressed this year’s Melbourne Cup for television viewing. Long flagged as her farewell race, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes closed out her career at 43 starts and 37 wins for A$26,451,175 in stakes.
More significantly, it was her unbeaten run of 33 consecutive wins that captured the general public’s imagination. Rarely has a horse transcended the mainstream the way Winx has. For her final piece of work, two days prior racing, 14 television crews gathered at Randwick at dawn that included the added drama of Winx getting upset and kicking an advertising sign. Winx was everywhere.