THE RAZZMATAZZ OF THE EVEREST. THE TRADITION OF THE CAULFIELD CUP. WHAT A GREAT DAY'S RACING

By Damian Browne | Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Brownie’s Blog is the weekly blog of multiple Group 1 winning jockey Damian Browne. This week Brownie looks forward to racing’s big day on Saturday where Randwick will come alive with all of the razzmatazz of The Everest and Caulfield will keep tradition alive with the running of the Caulfield Cup. Whether you side with Racing New South Wales or Racing Victoria in their on-going war of words about race status and race scheduling, that all gets pushed to one side on Saturday afternoon where the race action will take over and command centre stage, as it always should do. This is Brownie’s Blog – exclusive to HRO

After months of blanket promotion coverage of The Everest and The Kosciuszko by the Racing New South Wales team the big day finally arrives at Randwick this Saturday.

The $14 million The Everest has assembled twelve high quality runners. You can make a case for every runner really which is exactly what you want in a race worth that much money.

Racing New South Wales do brand the race so well with their promotion. I think it is nearly a sell-out there already which speaks volumes for the way The Everest race-day has caught the public’s imagination.

The race-club has to be very pleased with the manner in which The Everest concept has been accepted and how it has grown to a significant level in just three years.

The quality of the field in itself shows that the concept is working.

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The different ways in which The Everest slot holders have played their hands in terms of choosing their horse over the weeks and months leading into the race been fascinating in its own right.

Some slot holders got in early. To pick a horse something like six or eight weeks out means you have a better chance of getting the horse you want while others are still considering their options … or leaving their options open … but it doesn’t necessarily mean that horse will remain your best option come race week because its form could have changed by the time the race comes around.

Some slot holders got in late. That meant they could choose a form horse close to the time but they wouldn’t have had a full choice of options with some horses being taken out of play when selected early by some slot holders.

There is just no right route. They have to make the call as you see it.

It is just such a different concept to the procedure we are used to from week to week that it does create that type of special interest.

As I said before, you can make a case for every one of the runners but, for what it is worth, if I had to be locked into a ride, I would probably want to go Santa Ana Lane because, with Nature Strip coming in, it looks like there is going to be genuine speed there … along with Redzel and even Sunlight.

If Nature Strip wasn’t there the latter two might have got it pretty easy on the speed, but I think now the speed of the race will change complexion and be run at a good tempo, so I will be looking for a horse that is getting home.

Santa Ana Lane is already proven at Randwick … so I’ll be going with him.

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The Kosciuszko, for its part, is worth a cool $1.3 million … and it provides New South Wales country trainers with a real treat to be vying for honours on the big stage for big money.

Again field selection is a process, again with slot holders (this time prize winners) being able to choose their respective runners for the race but, with the Waterhouses’ and the Wallers’ of the world not being eligible stables to race in The Kosciuszko, it does give country trainers a golden ticket, if you like, to work towards what is really an extraordinary experience for them.

I guess you only have to look at the reactions of those lucky enough to have a runner in the race on race-day to see how excited they are just to be involved on such a great day. You can imagine that every country horse owner, trainer and jockey wants to be there.

Those images from the day and the happy sentiment they display provides a nice plus for the racing product, so The Kosciuszko is an another example of a relatively new concept that is proving to be a winner.

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While New South Wales’s weight of promotional fanfare can arguable be said to have carried the day in the race for the main spotlight, no racing tragic will miss the fact that there is also the no small matter of the $5 million Caulfield Cup to be decided on Saturday.

The Caulfield Cup is one of the Grand Slam races which are labelled as the four best races in Australia. It is one of those with good reason.

It fair to say that it has probably got lost a little bit in the media build-up to Saturday. I think that is a bit of a shame and I don’t know what they can do about it … but, as far as what happens on the track is concerned, it is still going to be a great race.

The bottom line is The Everest and the Caulfield Cup will both provide exceptionally good fare for racing fans.

That’s all the punters care about and they’ll tell you, whichever state they reside in, that Saturday is going to be a big day for racing in Australia.

Enjoy it!

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