So the two box office stars of the sport get rolled at $1.08 and $1.40 on Saturday night.
And just for a fun fact, it is by their older (half) brothers. Where does that happen?
Catch A Wave, the Miracle Mile winner, by a millimetre, Leap To Fame, just a week ago labelled as arguably the best pacer in the world, but for use of a cliché “not disgraced”. But both beaten. (Sorry if you took the shorts though).
Back to the old days of the “red hots”? Have the wheels fallen off?
Of course I am being a little (well, yes a lot) facetious and in Leap To Fame’s case, the wheel did virtually fall off (a flat tyre, tube wrapped around the rim, like a hand-brake” - surely didn’t help.
But that I am writing about them tells you I was interested in watching them, and after a fairly mundane and pedestrian day at Caulfield on Saturday, ok Ingratiating was back being good but hardly inspiring, the harness stars were lining up at The Creek and Melton and had me intrigued.
Harness racing is on the verge of a mainstream explosion, there will neverbe a return to glory days where “Poppy” – Popular Alm, Gammalite, Preux Chevalier Village Kid, Westburn Grant, even going back to Pure Steel, Paleface Adios, Hondo Grattan – all virtually household names when the sport tested the gallops for wagering share and crowds. Why, even Leap To Fame went under in the “Black’s A Fake” carrying the name of another legitimate harness star.
Drifting off from the metropolis’ in Sydney and Melbourne to the midstream Menangle and Melton, Albion Park (The Creek) soon to go too from Brisbane’s heart, along with the rapid fire 30 second action every couple of minutes of greyhounds, has seen punters shift like society into short-term focus and punting action, leaving the pacers and trotters clip clopping about and gasping for airplay and appeal.
But in the happily re-branded “the trots”, I have no doubt it is ready for a resurgence and most importantly (and the gallops should be nodding and acknowledging this), it will be led rightly by what really matters, its stars not gimmicks.
Sure Leap To Fame and Catch A Wave went under, but The Lost Storm won a Queensland Derby at $1.09 which looked overs in a stroll and the excitement machine Captain Ravishing is lurking for a return where all sulkies will eventually lead to Menangle for the sports version of The Everest, The Eureka on September 2.
Call that a gimmick if you like, a pop-up on the calendar, but as The Everest has sparked a younger demographic audience and revitalised a Sydney racing spring, so the inaugural Eureka will hit the ground pacing with a legitimate star-studded field, and the storytelling into it will only enhance opening night.
While Racing Victoria is understood to be ready to unveil its latest version of whatever you call it “Rapid Racing”, “T-20”, and hope to engage in that younger time savvy audience and television packing, we should always be reminded that the stars and real content is king (or queen).
And while those weekend shocks on Catch A Flame and Leap To Fame will be passing blimps on their careers, it does make you respect more the invincibility of Black Caviar in a whole 25 start career and Winx 33 times in a row.
And I can ask here now, who are racing’s spring headline acts in advance? Sure some will emerge and you will be fatuously berated with barrier trials over the next few weeks (Big Parade today) as the undercard players ready for return, but who will really get the turnstiles scanning?
Fill in your own here. I’ll take Giga Kink and Amelia’s Jewel, I Wish I Win next possibly, though we need a new story rather than the bad legged youngster one now ok.
The Cox Plate is our best race but the fans can hardly warm to interlopers like Romantic Warrior, possibly Paddington, Light Infantry or Dubai Honour just yet.
For feel good factor, you might throw up Knights Choice or King Colorado, but really what I am saying is that we are light on right for real if not potential stars to hang a or any marketing campaign on (and spare us the happy shiny faces.)
Fans of any sport will clamour for the best. No doubt your saw Messi’s 94th minute goal for Miami over the weekend perhaps not even knowing he was playing there (or anywhere). But it was worth watching. No doubt?
Now you either are or aren’t a Collingwood fan, but when they are playing and are down at three-quarter time – it’s worth tuning in and having something on Jamie Elliot to land one from an ordinary angle in the closing minutes to seal an unlikely victory.
Royal Liverpool bunkers were my weekend favorites, make the best look like me on a public course, closely followed by Manchester rain making cricket results innocuous but we’ll take it (if only to upset an easily upsettable Piers Morgan), but no, I digress from point, surely we are all waiting for Sam Kerr’s calf to mend so the Matilda’s can march on through the World Cup. You want to see the best. Right?
While The $2.1m Eureka shamelessly follows the paths of big prizemoney slot holder races to a headline act, there are plenty of other sub plots (like the past weekend), that allows The Trots to harness (pun intended), appeal to an audience (like me), seemingly lost a long time ago.
And even John Singleton knows a winner when he sees one, he has a Eureka lot and is running “The Singo” two weeks out at Menangle with a runner from it, not necessarily the winner, to take his place in the big race.
The Eureka doesn’t infringe on any jurisdiction’s territory, indeed includes and involves and unifies all for the good of the sport (well except for some pesky breeder’s tax element) but all states are involved in slots and inclusion.
But it gives the sport to build traction nationally with a focus on the best and these stars are understood to be racing on through and past this “grand final.”
Look at Leap To Fame. Has run 6 times since March, including a record smashing performance at Redcliffe (like taking a racehorse to the provincials), and as a Standardbred, has run the last three Saturdays in Brisbane. They can do that.
Captain Ravishing, once a $1.90 favorite for The Eureka has gone home to original trainer Ahmed Taiba after finishing behind Catch A Wave in the Miracle Mile. Now both are expected to show between races at Geelong next Friday week, building the intrigue. He’s now the wildcard of the race but that’s the appeal and the narrative.
Harness racing has something to live on, racing expert Adam Hamilton labelling the four-year-old crop the sports best since Christchurch Inter-dominion winner My Lightning Blue’s year in 1986/87 – That includes Gold Share, Riverlea Jack, Sir Vance, Henry Luca, the winner of 53 races, yep 53!
But that’s the past, this is the present. The trots is capitalising on its current talent and some talent it does have. They are worth watching and worth following.
Sport and racing should always be acknowledging its best. It is a very simple starting point.
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