VISIT DOWN UNDER

The first of these XpressBet.com columns appeared on Oct. 5, 2004. For the next 212 consecutive weeks, I filed a new column.

The streak came to an end earlier this month as a result of a vacation to Australia with my wife to enjoy some racing (most especially the Melbourne Cup) and sightseeing. It’s a trip we had wanted to take for many years. But, for one reason or another, a trip to Australia always seemed to stay on the back burner. But then, earlier this year, we decided that a trip to Australia would be the way to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.

Because I was not about to cart my computer around Australia, I really had no way to file my XpressBet.com column. But I did take notes while I was there to help me share some of my experiences with you.

VICTORIA DERBY

The Victoria Derby was first run in 1855. That’s 20 years before Aristides won the first Kentucky Derby.

This year’s 154th running of the Victoria Derby, which kicked off the four-day Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington Racecourse, was run on a lovely spring day. (For me, this was one of the interesting aspects of being in Australia during this time of the year. While it is autumn in America, it’s springtime in Australia.)

Clare Lindop made history by becoming the first female jockey to ever win the Victoria Derby. The 29-year-old rider collaborated with Rebel Raider for a stunning upset over odds-on favorite Whobegotyou.

Keep in mind that a female jockey has yet to win the Kentucky Derby. In fact, only five females have ridden in the Run for the Roses, with 11th the best finish to date. The five females to ride in the Kentucky Derby are:

Diane Crump (1970 Fathom, finished 15th)
Patricia Cooksey (1984 So Vague, finished 11th)
Andrea Seefeldt (1991 Forty Something, 16th)
Julie Krone (1992 Ecstatic Ride, 11th)
Rosemary Homeister Jr. (2003 Supah Blitz, 13th)

Whobegotyou, the heavy favorite in the Victoria Derby, ran second in the field of 15. Before the race, Alf Mathews had written in the Herald Sun that Whobegotyou “could be our best horse since Makybe Diva (the iconic mare who is the only three-time Melbourne Cup winner).” Whobegotyou is by Street Cry, the sire of superstar Zenyatta and Eclipse Award winner and Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense.

Attendance for the Victoria Derby was 117,776. It looked to me to be a pretty young crowd overall. Lots of young men were walking around with a Heineken in hand. I have never seen so many Heinekens in one day. Meanwhile, lots of young ladies also were strolling around while holding a small bottle of champagne.

The area in front of the various grandstands at Flemington is all grass, unlike the concrete found at American tracks. Many people on hand for the Victoria Derby card spread a blanket on the grass and enjoyed what could be described as a picnic in nice clothes.

MELBOURNE CUP

Horse racing predates any other sporting contest in Melbourne. The first official race was held in 1838. Bets on those early races were settled with rum and other valuable goods.

The first Melbourne Cup was held in 1861 before 4,000 people. Attendance for the race this year was 107,280. Like the Victoria Derby crowd, everyone was dressed up for the Melbourne Cup. But there didn’t appear to be quite as much of a party atmosphere as had been the case for the Victoria Derby. The Melbourne Cup crowd seemed to consist more of true horse racing aficionados than young partygoers.

After Europeans enjoyed such a successful Breeders’ Cup this year, it looked like they also had an excellent chance to win Australia’s prestigious Melbourne Cup, dubbed the “race that stops a nation.” The Melbourne Cup is such a big deal that it is has been a public holiday since 1877, as Earle Mack, the owner of Melbourne Cup favorite Mad Rush, found out.

“I needed a prescription filled and every pharmacy in the city was closed,” Mack later wrote in the Thoroughbred Daily News. “Thus, I had to drive 25 miles to find one open. My friend Laurie Hunter came from America and needed an important document notarized. Alas, there wasn’t [a notary] to be found.”

Mack also wrote: “The racing in Melbourne, a city of close to 3.5 million people, is special. And when the Melbourne Cup and its four-day carnival is staged, it’s something which you have to see to believe.

“Melbourne Cup day itself is truly beautiful -- run in the spring, which produces incredible weather and the prettiest roses in full bloom. Parts of the track could be mistaken for a Botanical Garden, with as many species of spring flowers as you are ever likely to see.

“The enthusiasm for racing in Melbourne and in all of Australia was unbelievable and, at the track, even more so. Flemington Racecourse is very user-friendly, with lush green lawns, abundant flowers, four giant screens in the infield, ample seating and smartly dressed young people everywhere. The day lends itself to tremendous fashion, with the most beautiful collection of hats and women you are likely to see at any race day around the world, including our Kentucky Derby.”

This year’s 148th running of the Melbourne Cup, a handicap race which is run at 3,200 meters (about two miles), had 22 starters, including a record eight horses based in the Northern Hemisphere. The European representation was quite a controversial topic in the press. The Australians were particularly fearful that Europe was going to snatch their precious Melbourne Cup.

The day before the race, a headline in one newspaper, The Age, asked: “Will an Australian horse ever win the Melbourne Cup again?”

Three European horses from Aiden O’Brien’s powerful Ballydole yard -- Septimus, Honolulu and Alessandro Volta -- headed the foreign contingent. Septimus was coming off a scintillating 13-length victory in the Group I Irish St. Leger Stakes. Prior to the Melbourne Cup, O’Brien had threatened to scratch Septimus because of the hard ground, due in large part to a long-term drought in Melbourne. But Septimus stayed in the race.

As mentioned earlier, Earle Mack’s Mad Rush, based in England, started as the Melbourne Cup favorite. He had finished a fast-closing fourth despite traffic woes in Australia’s Caufield Cup on Oct. 18 for trainer Luca Cumani.

In his recap of the Melbourne Cup in The Blood-Horse magazine, Ric Chapman wrote: “Favorite Mad Rush was just ahead in the betting of Septimus, on whom one punter had put $60,000 to win 15 minutes before the race. The Europeans came to Australia with vaunted records, primarily because the world seems to view European form as being superior. And after watching how they had disassembled the Breeders’ Cup meeting at Santa Anita, many thought perhaps the same would occur at Flemington.”

Cumani had nearly won the 2007 Melbourne Cup when Purple Moon finished second to Efficient. In addition to Mad Rush, Bauer represented Cumani in the race this year.

In the early stages of this year’s Melbourne Cup, O’Brien’s trio were first, second and third.

“Each ridden by an Irish jockey, they wrestled for the lead at a breakneck pace -- a suicidal pace, in fact,” Chapman wrote in The Blood-Horse. “They seemed to treat the Australian horses with contempt and went so hard the three led the rest of the field by six lengths as they passed the halfway point.”

I will never forget that sight. It was obvious that all three O’Brien horses were going much too fast too early to have any chance to win. This was one of the craziest things I have ever seen in an important race. Sitting near me were some people from England. I looked over and could see the shock on their faces at the nonsensical tactics by the O’Brien trio. Understandably, all three horses ran out of gas. Septimus finished 18th and reportedly pulled up lame. Alessandro Volta ended up 20th. Honolulu finished 21st and also reportedly pulled up lame.

O’Brien headed for the airport not long after the race, only to be summoned back to the track to answer questions from the stewards, who also wanted to hear what the trainer’s three jockeys had to say.

“The riding tactics of these brazen Irishmen earned the wrath of chief steward Terry Bailey, who hauled them in for a ‘please explain’ after the race,” Chapman wrote.

This post-race inquisition by the stewards not only delayed O’Brien’s getaway, it was reported to have made him furious.

CUMMINGS WINS AGAIN

There has never been a dead heat for first in the Melbourne Cup, but it nearly happened this year. Viewed eked out a nose victory over a hard-charging Bauer.

For Viewed’s trainer, the legendary Bart Cummings, it was his 12th Melbourne Cup victory and 250th Group I win. I saw three statues at Flemington. One was of Makybe Diva. Another was of Phar Lap. The other was of Bart Cummings.

The Melbourne Cup victory by Viewed came 50 years after Cummings’ first starter in the race, Asian Court, finished 12th. The trainer’s first Melbourne Cup win came in 1965 with Light Fingers. Viewed provided Cummings with his first Melbourne Cup win since Rogan Josh in 1999. (Cummings’ father, Jim, won the Melbourne Cup in 1950 with Comic Court.)

Viewed’s Melbourne Cup win was an early birthday present for Cummings, who turned 81 just 10 days later.

For a trainer to win 12 Melbourne Cups is, without question, one of the greatest accomplishments in Thoroughbred racing history. It is akin to a trainer winning the Kentucky Derby as many times. Ben Jones has trained six Kentucky Derby winners, which is the record.

For me, Cummings’ Melbourne Cup record brings to mind what the late Charlie Whittingham accomplished in Santa Anita’s signature race, the Santa Anita Handicap. Whittingham won the Big ’Cap nine times. He also won one of America’s premier grass marathons, the San Juan Capistrano Handicap, a total of 14 times.

Viewed won the Melbourne Cup just three days after he had last raced. He had run the previous Saturday, finishing last, though he did have a troubled trip in that race. Still, this was quite a form reversal, prompting some to wonder why Cummings had not been called before the stewards to explain that.

In a newspaper article written four days after the Melbourne Cup, chief steward Bailey was asked why Cummings “was not summoned before the panel for the stayer’s sudden return to winning form.”

“That’s simple,” Bailey replied. “Anyone that does their form and the tapes and watched closely at the horse’s previous three starts knows he had no luck. We knew that and believe it was unnecessary to bring Cummings in.”

Bailey also was asked about O’Brien’s attitude “during the long hearing on Cup night regarding the performance of his three runners.”

“Sure, he was on the front foot, he was putting his case,” Bailey said. “We had grave concerns about the aspect of pacemakers and we made that clear. But to press the matter any more would have been wrong. So, in this matter, we made our feelings clear and that’s where the matter was left.”

Bailey has a reputation for being a stern steward. He and his colleagues are quite strict, as evidenced by the action they took when jockey John Egan made a disparaging remark regarding the stewards. Egan was fined $8,000 for calling the official veterinarians “tin-pot Hitlers.”

“We won’t tolerate anyone making claims that Egan did,” Bailey explained.

PHAR LAP

Phar Lap is, of course, the most famous racehorse in Australian history, though he was bred in New Zealand. Before Phar Lap, however, there was Carbine.

At the Australian Racing Museum in Melbourne, I saw the skeleton of Carbine, the 1890 Melbourne Cup winner. Foaled in 1885 and nicknamed “Old Jack,” Carbine won 33 of 43 career starts.

Carbine was said to have the rare combination of sprinting ability and staying power. When Carbine won the 1890 Melbourne Cup in record time with 100,000 euphoric people cheering, he did so despite a badly infected hoof. The 1890 Melbourne Cup had 39 starters, which remains the record in terms of the race’s field size.

At the Melbourne Museum across town, there is an entire section devoted to Phar Lap.

As a 3-year-old, Phar Lap won 13 races and finished third in the Melbourne Cup. At 4, between losing his first and last starts of the year, he won 14 straight races, including the Melbourne Cup under 138 pounds.

Each month, American Turf Monthly magazine states the case for a horse under the headline, “The Greatest Racehorse Ever?” In its December issue, Mark Shrager makes the case for Phar Lap.

Shrager wrote about how Phar Lap almost did not run in the Melbourne Cup that he won due to a series of pre-race incidents.

“Rumors had swirled that Australian bookmakers, desperate to avoid a financial bloodbath that would accompany a victory by the heavily-favored superstar, might instigate some manner of foul play to prevent Phar Lap from reaching the starting gate. Precautions were taken, but Phar Lap’s handlers reported that a mysterious man in a black car actually fired a shot at the horse, then sped away as the bullet ricocheted harmlessly off a nearby fence.

“Surviving this, Phar Lap’s Melbourne Cup appearance was nearly derailed when the van that was to transport him to Flemington Racecourse developed battery trouble and refused to start. Everyone but the bookies breathed a sigh of relief when the gelding finally arrived at Flemington just 45 minutes before post time. The race itself was never in doubt, as Phar Lap, carrying 138 pounds, loped to an easy three-length victory at odds of 8-11, the shortest price ever offered on a Melbourne Cup starter.”

As a 5-year-old, Phar Lap won eight of nine starts. His lone loss came in the Melbourne Cup. He certainly can be forgiven for that defeat considering how much weight he was asked to carry.

“Assigned a crushing 150 pounds for the two-mile race,” Shrager wrote, “Phar Lap struggled early, then was not pushed by jockey Jimmy Pike when clearly beaten. He finished eighth, virtually walking past the finish, as White Nose, under just 96 pounds, posted a shocking win.”

Phar Lap won 36 of 50 starts in Australia. After his loss in the 1931 Melbourne Cup, Phar Lap was sent to North America and won the 1932 Agua Caliente Handicap in Tijuana, Mexico.

“There is no need to describe the race in great detail,” Shrager wrote, noting that you can see Phar Lap’s impressive two-length victory in the Agua Caliente Handicap under 129 pounds on YouTube.

Two weeks after winning the Agua Caliente Handicap, Phar Lap died at a ranch near San Francisco. According to William Robertson’s book “The History of Thoroughbred Racing in North America,” an autopsy determined the cause of death as acute enteritis. Phar Lap had eaten either some bad feed, which had developed fungus, or some forage that had been sprayed with insecticide.

Knowing Phar Lap’s special place in the hearts of Australians and that there would never be another horse quite like him, his owners decided to have their champion preserved for posterity.

One of the world’s leading taxidermy firms, Jones Brothers of New York, undertook the task. Jones Brothers were renowned for the realism of their creations, which were featured in some of America’s major museums.

From the moment of its completion, their Phar Lap was acclaimed as a masterpiece of taxidermy, one which “truly reflects the commanding presence of Phar Lap in life,” according to Robertson’s book.

After the Jones Brothers were finished, Phar Lap’s carcass was exhibited at Belmont Park in 1932 on Futurity day, after which it was sent back to Australia. A photo showing that is in Robertson’s book.

Remarkably, it was that very same lifelike Phar Lap that I saw all these years later in a glass display at the Melbourne Museum.

Phar Lap’s heart was preserved separately and his skeleton reassembled. Both also have become prized museum exhibits. His heart is at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, the country’s capital. His skeleton is at the Museum of New Zealand in Wellington.

Was Phar Lap the greatest racehorse ever?

“Trainer Charles Whittingham, jockey Eddie Arcaro and racing official Marshall Cassidy all saw Phar Lap race, and all were quoted at various times as believing that Phar Lap may have been the greatest Thoroughbred ever to race in North America,” Shrager wrote. “The opinions of such outstanding racing men must surely be given credence.

“On the other hand, Australians Maurice Cavanough and Meurig Davies, in their excellent book “The Melbourne Cup,” questioned whether Phar Lap was even the best horse to have raced in Australia. Comparing Phar Lap’s accomplishments with Carbine, a revered Australian-raced Thoroughbred of the nineteenth century, Cavanough and Davies wrote, ‘If a conclusion can be drawn at this distance in time, the evidence suggests that great as Phar Lap was, Carbine was greater still.’ ”

Shrager wrote that Phar Lap’s place in racing history must forever remain in the realm of conjecture. But, really, isn’t that how it is for all champions? Don’t we all have our own opinion as to who was the greatest of them all? Carbine? Phar Lap? Man o’ War? Citation? Kelso? Dr. Fager? Secretariat? Somebody else?

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