THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN - TRADITION IS A HUGE PLUS FOR THE RACING INDUSTRY

By Graham Potter | Sunday, October 30, 2016

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily.

Tradition is defined as the handing down of beliefs and customs from generation to generation.

If something has a strong traditional base its future is likely to be more secure than a pastime where the building blocks are in the fledging stage, still trying to create its own design.

Fortunately, tradition is one of horse racing’s biggest allies.

The Victoria Derby, which was contested at Flemington yesterday was first run in 1885.

It has taken one hundred and thirty stepping stones since then, including the famous edition of the race in 1929 when Phar Lap took the honours, to build its status to the headline act on what many believe to be Australia’s greatest day of racing.

All races at Flemington today are Group races.

The Melbourne Cup history goes back even further to 1861 when Archer became the first winner of the Cup and then became the Cup’s first back to back winner one year later.

Legend has it that Archer walked five hundred miles to get to Flemington but apparently the truth is he travelled from Sydney to Melbourne by steamboat. Either way Archer was a founder member of an exclusive club. Only four horses in the one hundred and fifty five year history of the Cup have backed up to claim successive victories.

The winners and the stories that surround them is the glue that holds tradition together and true substance in that regard can only be assured by a rich history created over a long period of time that expands its appeal with each passing year.

From Archer in 1861 to Prince Of Penzance, a $101.00 winner in 2015 ridden by Michelle Payne who was famously the first female jockey to bring home a Melbourne Cup winner ... so the tradition continues and in doing so it rallies racing’s cause.

Not that tradition solves all problems.

As always, it will be necessary to blend change and tradition into an harmonious force moving forward if racing is to maximise its potential, but to be able to do that from the solid base that tradition affords remains a huge plus for an industry.