What Does It All Mean?
There were trainers compounding their Newmarket blues by foolishly drinking gin as they fumbled for the anti-depressants.
And I’m talking household names. Multiple Group One-winning trainers who couldn’t get a look in when it came to buying a ‘big, shiny’ one as they say.
There were vendors shaking their heads with something akin to disbelief. All the while smiling broadly. All champagne and bubbles. No gin.
It was pretty crazy stuff. The average ended at $355,875 (a 26 per cent year-on-year increase) with the median at $260,000 (a 30 per cent year-on-year increase). The Session One gross was $107,830,000.
Thus the temptation is to declare that it’s mad, insane or out of control. But the reality is that’s all good. Other than for its potential to precipitate a wholesale culture of breeding to sell (stallion prospects) rather than breeding horses to race and prove their worth on the racetrack.
I remain sure we need depth of competition on the racetrack. That’s essentially the glamour driver and without that, why would anyone with (very) large amounts of discretionary disposable buy expensive horseflesh rather than a boutique vineyard or a yacht. It’s about impressing.
We have had quite a week, parlaying Chautauqua (Encosta De Lago) into the final sales at the Newmarket complex into Winx (Street Cry) chasing her 17th straight win at Randwick this afternoon.
However, the press room banter was interesting through the week as some declared it was fantastic to see Winx running again this weekend while a couple of the more cynical scribes declared it as ‘boring’.
I don’t entirely subscribe to the latter view but get where they’re coming from. I mused a couple of weeks ago how much more exciting the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) would be if exports like Rapper Dragon (Street Boss) and Werther (Tavistock) were taking on Winx this afternoon.
Now we’re always going to lose the tried horses. That’s the lifeblood for many trainers, including some of the aforementioned gin-drinkers, and owners these days.
So how do we assure some depth of competition in our sport, beyond two and three-year-old racing? Keep importing, perhaps? How would today’s race be looking if imports Hartnell (Authorized), Exospheric (Beat Hollow) and The United States (Galileo) weren’t there? Even so, not sure that’s the answer.
Or do we need greater incentives to keep the creme de la creme of this week’s sales offerings on the racecourse. Trust me, none of these ‘big’ shiny’ colts will be gelded in the next 12 months even if a trainer says ‘I think he’s going to be too heavy, but will be a champion if we cut him now.’
And if any of them do emerge as high class racehorse they’ll be having very cameo racing careers. I think we do need to consider monumental bonuses for racetrack performance from two to three and three to four. Come back and win a Queen Elizabeth Stakes or a Cox Plate (Gr 2040m) and there’s a ten million dollar bonus on top of your Guineas win at three.
Or is everything just fine, the way it is….a lack of depth is good? It allows a Winx to win 17 straight and that’s good for the PR machine….and eventually there will be no significant races nor big prize money, in any case, other than those for two and three-year-olds and no races beyond 2000 metres. You could say our Derbies are already anachronistic.
Or should we, further to the notion of ‘stay in training’ bonuses, completely scrap the so called ‘classics’ for three-year-olds and run a Derby for four-year-olds.
In an ideal world, I’d want more than one Winx. I want two, three or four horses of her calibre competing against each other. Haven’t seen much of that since the 90’s.
Just musing (rambling, perhaps) and none of this is particularly ‘new’ nor necessarily more pertinent after this week’s sale. But it was a week which had to get you thinking. After all, there were 17 yearlings sold for $1,000,000 or more (of 22 Australasia wide this year) and we all know that, chances are, very few of them will have a positive return on investment. Notwithstanding that maybe, and hopefully for all concerned, one or two will have a monumental return.
The other question, of course, is the sustainability of overseas investment in the yearlings (read stallion prospects)?
As one observer wondered whether the sales will have the same ’buzz’ next year at Warwick Farm, I couldn’t help but think that might depend (general state of the economy aside) on how this year’s stallion prospect purchases are shaping up. We’ll wait and see and, in the meantime, be cheering for those racehorses Winx and Chautauqua.
TODAY’S RACING: Randwick race nine – Coolmore Legacy Stakes (registered as Queen Of The Turf Stakes) (Gr 1, 1600m); happy to be with the ever reliable Silent Sedition (War Chant). Back her and play some quinellas and trifectas with ‘at odds’ improvers First Seal (Fastnet Rock) and Abbey Marie (Redoute’s Choice) along with the filly Foxplay (Foxwedge).
Caulfield race two, number 13 Rockstar Rebel (Rebel Raider) who will appreciate the return to a dry track.