It was hardly Dandy Andy-like upset stuff, "goodness gracious me", but Cascadian defending his Australian Cup title was a timely reminder – at a time of reflection and respect for those of faith this Easter weekend – to respect in racing that time does matter.
Cascadian is listed as a nine-year-old old in our form cards and as such the oldest winner that "age" since 1901 which instantly makes him sound like an old bugger. Let's not pick nits and report he's eight being born to a northern hemisphere time, he is just a warrior, a bloody good horse, one of our greatest – no – but surely a testament to longevity and those who "care for the horses."
Like his Melbourne minder, Camille Piantoni who said through a few tears on Saturday: "He makes me so happy. I just wait for him at the gate like a little girl waiting for a Christmas gift."
Or his owner, Sheik Mohammed, who rode horses bareback as a child on the Jumeriah Beach, would grow to ruler of his land and call his racing empire (Godolphin) after one of the stallions that all thoroughbreds trace back to. Well, he was a little busy for Flemington on Saturday, for back home as ruler of Dubai he was running his own party, the rich World Cup meeting (about US$30m in stakes) culminating in a 33-minute aerial drone spectacular involving 4000 drones to set a Guiness World Record.
As you do.
James Cummings who trains Cascadian heading a squad that trickles to Nacim Dilmi in Melbourne and then Camille (and an un-conscripted blue army in-between), noted his special team and their "passionate love for their horses and how they love the work they do."
He is the grandchild of a man known as Bart, who won 13 Australian Cups over some period of time, but to who time was more a matter of patience – "the cheapest thing in racing that most people don't use" – were his paraphrased thoughts.
Some say time flies, but always leaving but a shadow behind.
So as Cascadian defied time and race day headliners like Pride Of Jenni, who kept slick time in a brave contest, and Mr Brightside, who just got his times wrong, did you notice time being called on Think It Over and Zaaki last week?
Think It Over is eight, 42 starts and $8.5m in prizemoney. His trainer Kerry Parker just said the horse had finally told him that was enough, but he gave him the time of life, a trainer from Kembla Grange that like all in the game, eternally chase that life changer. He finally found one. But Parker is no one-trick pony, he just landed a good one.
Or his owner Richard Johnston, he of a different time, growing up next door in suburban Granville in Sydney to the local postman who doubled on the side as an SP bookie. We are talking the 50s, Richard was six, no TABs or corporate bookies, but hooked on racing and the punt. Eventually he gets Think It Over some 70 years later.
Think that over.
Then came Annabel Neasham's tender video announcing Zaaki's retirement, he too virtually calling time on himself. The horse beaten at Yarmouth on debut in 2017, winning a Thirsk Maiden in April six years ago, defying logic and time to give Neasham the equine vehicle to underpin her emergence.
So, records show he won $11m, four Group 1s, danced in all the big dances, except the one he missed at The Valley for the weight-for-age championship that some say he would have won.
Neasham's video said it all, from senior owner Carl Holt in his Zaaki superman T-shirt to Raphael Marchelli who looked after him, Liza Laycock who rode him, Brett the farrier, Ruth the vet and as much Annabel saying he was her forever horse, retired to her care.
That's special.
It's why a Cascadian, or a Think It Over or a Zaaki are important. (as much as a Mr Brightside and a Pride Of Jenni) and those who share them with us for the good of the sport and of course some rich carrots.
Think your football codes, what would AFL for fans without their warriors like Brent Harvey, Simon Pendelbury, Joel Sellwood, just modern times, Plugger plugging them, Buddy burying them, Dusty dusting them, Diesel delivering. Add in your own.
Cameron Smith keeping Storm brewing, Cooper Cronk part of that band with Billy Slater, Darren Lockyer, Cherry-Evans, or missing Papenhuyzen then lauding the comeback and genius. Again, ditto. Step back to history if you were of that Alfie, Wally (you can tell I'm a Queensandler) era. (Billy Moore!)
Fans loving their stars because they can endlessly identify them.
Not saying Hong Kong racing dictates all observation, but their racing fans want familiarity and longevity. And their heroes.
Hence racehorses are mostly geldings to race until the end of their competitive time.
Hence, they have older heroes growing older and bolder like California Spangle's flying their red and white Bauhinia petal flag in Dubai.
At home their heroes are like Golden Sixty, Beauty Generation, Able Friend, Sacred Kingdom, Vengeance Of Rain, Silent Witness - they endure season after season.
In a colony where a betting ticket is a ticket to life and enjoyment, these horses with those names on them are not mere numbers and mean so much more.
Romantic Warrior came to share his talents with us in a Cox Plate (beating Mr Brightside) and hopefully they will resume hostilities later this year.
But I ask you to think of these names – and I'm only scratching a recent surface and perhaps missing a few more – Cosmic Force, Stay Inside, Tassort, North Pacific, Tiger Of Malay, indeed Home Affairs, Capitalist, The Autumn Sun before them all, Alabama Express, Tagaloa, Best of Bordeaux, King's Legacy, Yes Yes Yes, Hitotsu in recent years. Some cavalcade but did we really get to enjoy them?
Like comets passing through our racing sky, they are here, shine like a blaze, tantalise and excite and are just as swiftly gone before we know how good they really are.
Or try this season, Storm Boy, beaten in a Golden Slipper, but he is regarded so valuable a racehorse that he may not race again after this juvenile season. So, enjoy the next fortnight.
Sure, there will be another generation as swiftly into the fray, but in a sport where we supposedly want to celebrate our stars, we need stars who are not just shooting or collapsing before our eyes.
The supposed racing caravan of this current galaxy moves to Sydney this week for The Championships. Who are we promoting?
If you glance at ratings and numbers that pin nominal expectations to horses you can find Imperatriz at our local peak, a beautifully managed five-year-old mare.
Waiting for her in Sydney is I Wish I Win in a TJ Smith, some contest to be sure, though Private Eye retains a rating among the best despite not in the best of current form. But all durable performers over time.
Amelia's Jewel is auditioning at home via a Quokka in Perth for a Brisbane carnival campaign and is a legitimate star. This spring may see her finally confirm that.
So then let's move to supposed championship distances. Gold Trip and Without A Fight, both recent Melbourne Cup winners of age, are both out injured, perhaps we will see the latter back in the spring. Fangirl was emerging on the box office trajectory until injury.
Youngsters like Riff Rocket, Southern Tycoon, and Celestial Legend, Kiwi Orchestral, Japan sends back Obamburumai, Another Wil, Estriella look destined for the top, but Kalapour won a time-honoured Group 1 last weekend, sure gave us a great story via Dylan Gibbons and his grandparents, but he's not going to rally us.
Authentic stars like Cascadian, Pride Of Jenni and Mr Brightside will endure and add lustre to whatever contests they play in, until time catches them too.
And when that comes, just switch a thought for a horse you might have had little time for. But should.
He's called Fab's Cowboy. He's won 53 races, that's a modern-day Australian record, a remarkable one, across 20 tracks in Queensland with 21 different jockeys, 17 of those apprentices.
He is in career best form, won four of his last five, may run again this Saturday, but authorities tell Bevan "Billy" Johnson and owners Elizabeth (daughter of breeder Fabian, hence Fab's) and her cousin, the children's book author Paul Currin, who have had him since he was born in sweltering heat on his Julia Creek property and requited a drip to keep him alive, that this must be his last season.
That's time for Fab's. So, as they say we need to be "here for the horses", sometimes it's better to enjoy that the horses are here for us, all of their time.
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