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Author: santo Timestamp:- 24/7/2003 11:53:28 AM Subject: The Best Race Ever!
Message: Recent discussion about the depth of WFA stars racing now vs. previous years got me thinking. For mine the 1992 Cox Plate was the best field ever assembled and showed there was a lot more depth around at the time.
1. Super Impose - 8 Gr1 inc Cox Plate, 2 Doncaster and 2 Epsoms. ($5.6 mil) 2. Better Loosen Up - 8 Gr1 inc Japan Cup, Cox Plate and Mackinnon. ($4.7 mil) 3. Let's Elope - 4 Gr1 inc Caulfield Cup, Melbourne Cup and Australian Cup. ($3 mil) 4. Naturalism - 3 Gr1 inc AJC Derby and Rosehill Guineas. ($3.2 mil) 5. Rough Habit - 11 Gr1 inc Caulfield Stakes and 2 Stradbroke's. ($3.8 mil) 6. Sydeston - 4 Gr1 inc Caulfield Cup, Caulfield Stakes and BMW. (3.1 mil) 7. Kinjite - 3 Gr1 inc Epsom, Spring Champion and George Ryder. ($2.2 mil) 8. Slight Chance - 6 Gr1 inv VRC Oaks, QTC Oaks and Flight Stakes. ($1.7 mil) 9. Burst - 3 Gr1 inc Golden Slipper, Sires Produce and Champagne Stakes. ($2.1 mil) 10. Prince Salieri - 2 Gr1 inc Underwood and Castelamine Stakes. ($1.3 mil) 11. Mannerism - 4 Gr1 inc Caulfield Cup, Futurity and SA Oaks. ($1.7 mil) 12. Coronation Day - 2 Gr1 inc George Main and Spring Champion from 12 starts. ($0.5 mil) 13. Muirfield Village - Gr2 Hill Stakes and 2nd Gr1 VRC Derby and SC Stakes from 8 starts. ($0.3 mil) 14. Palace Reign - 1 Gr1 Caulfield Guineas and Gr2 Feehan Stakes and Memsie Stakes. ($0.5 mil)
That's a total of 56 Group 1's and $34,185,521 million during their careers.
Can anyone think of a better field? I know it wasn't the perfect race with Palace Reign falling and Naturalism and Sydeston losing their riders, not to mention the numerous protests including the Better Loosen Up vs Let's Elope protest being upheld, but it certainly was competitive and bought together more champions in one field than ever I reckon.
There have been some very good 3yo fields over the years too but Open Class is a better indicator of depth.
For the record surely the year that Octagonal, Saintly, Nothin Leica Dane and Filante clashed as 3yo's would have to go down as one of the best.
Author: karnage Timestamp:- 24/7/2003 10:18:51 PM Subject: Re: The Best Race Ever!
Message: Best Melbourne Cup: Doriemus carrying a fairly hefty weight and coming at Might and Power down the Flemington straight in the 1997 Melbourne Cup.
Best Cox Plate: Sunline braining them in 2000.
Best Caulfield Guineas: Gauci bringing Lonhro from last on the turn and running away with it on the line.
Best Golden Slipper: Shane Dye's fourth on the trot. I think it was Prowl.
Best Derby (Vic and AJC): Octagonal, Nothin' Leica Dane, Saintly etc. Say no more.
Best BMW: The two horse war (Northerly vs Freemason). Showed us what horse racing was all about before the mickey mouse Golden Slipper.
Best finishing go: Rubitano's newmarket (2002). Rubitano won on the flat side by a nose to Mistegic and North Boy in the middle of the track. The horse I backed ran 8th on the grand stand side beaten only three quarters of a length.
Author: AJC Timestamp:- 24/7/2003 10:31:30 PM Subject: Re: The Best Race Ever!
Message: Would love to see a comparison done between the field of 1992, and the field of 2002. This comparison could be based on group 1 victories, prizemoney won etc.
Also if anyone had enough time would be super keen to see just how much money the field in 1992 would have earned if compared to the same prizemoney amounts available to the 2002 field, lets say over the past 4 years.
IE, if Natuarlism won 6 races in 1992, and his prizemoney totalfor those races equalled 700,000....what then would those same 6 races have earned him had he won those eqivalent races in 2002?
It is in this way the we will truly see just how wonderful the field that jumped in the cox plate of 1992 really was.
Author: prankster Timestamp:- 25/7/2003 8:33:29 AM Subject: Re: The Best Race Ever!
Message: you don't necessarily need a great race to get a great contest.
i.e. Flotilla holding Beau Zam to a neck for the last 3 furlongs at warwick farm. Might have been the apollo I can't be sure. I am sure Beau Zam was odds on and Denham's punters went bang on Flotilla and pushed it in from 3's to 7-4.
Zedative's William Reid where Vo rogue was first up and fat as a pig. Coming to the turn Vo was leading but feeling the pinch and Special moved up on him. She pinched about a neck to half length on him and then he dug in and came back on her (the course erupted !) and got a neck on her with a 100 to go. Zedative dropped his pipe he was smoking and picked him up with 20 to go. Zedative was going flat out to beat vo and Special went on to win the newmarket.
Vo, the heart of a Lion and how many times did the Hayes send out a pacemaker to try and break him for their first string horse to swoop. Never worked but didn't stop them trying. Kings High can kiss my ass.
p.s. Ethereal's Oaks win- sheer impossibility.
Cole Diesel's tramway- the tape has to be slowed down to actually catch him.
Author: catweazle Timestamp:- 25/7/2003 9:07:56 AM Subject: Re: The Best Race Ever!
Message: Santo,
Similar threads have been ran in the past and I have always listed the '92 Cox Plate as the best race I have seen.
It really did have everything, with a massive pre-race build up, great horses like BLU and Let's Elope going head for head down the straight, and then G.Hall pulling out the toughest horse in the field for one last crack.
It just doesn't get any more emotional than Super Impose lifting over the last 50 to grab Let's Elope right on the line.
The early race dramas were unfortunate but only served to build the sense of drama. Whether or not BLU should've won also only adds to the mystique of the race (although it's a tragedy that we'll never know, I can still see S.Marshall on the horse after the race with tears running down his cheeks).
I have been to many feature race meetings, including a number of Melb Cups and Golden Slippers, but the sense of exhiliration in the public grandstand that day was absolutely unmatched, it genuinely felt like the stand was rocking.
The great Cox Plates are hard to beat. Other great ones in the past decade include the Octagonal/Mahogany finish, the Northerly/Sunline/Viscount finish and the Saintly/Filante/All Our Mob finish. Go back a little further for Bonecrucher/Our Waverley Star and Kingston Towns third win.
Have to also recognise the dominant performances of Dulcify, BLU, M&P and Sunline, emphasising their dominance and the "grand final" nature of the race (which handicaps can not offer).
As a sideline, I remember that TISM had a song called "the 1992 W S Cox Plate", but I have never heard it. Can anyone on this forum enlighten me, I have always been curious.
Author: ipi tombe Timestamp:- 25/7/2003 9:17:06 AM Subject: Re: The Best Race Ever!
Message: the best win i saw was when the mighty english raider taufans melody crashed into half the field down the straight and held of the champiom mare lisa,s game who was carrying 12kgs.
Author: Camry Timestamp:- 25/7/2003 11:09:06 AM Subject: Re: The Best Race Ever!
Message: Hey Speeds, Aussie racing is a joke over the last 5 years if Northerly had not come along ? Which means it may be a joke over the next 5 years if he doesn't get better ?
Man, you are one great cynic. Everything else in your eyes is deposited in the garbage bin.
The contempt you have for Northerly's competitors makes your compliments to Northerly worth nothing. Your contempt/compliment ratio is running at 20:1
Aaah Speeds, cynical one day, foul mouthed the next..... Sorry for borrowing from a telly ad.
Author: formercreeker Timestamp:- 25/7/2003 11:21:53 AM Subject: Re: The Best Race Ever!
Message: 1998 Doomben Ten Thousand
The Chief in front three wide all the way. Waller and Colless trying to kill each down the straight. Staging and the Chief both giving everything they had regardless of the mad struggle their jocks were putting them through.
All in front of huge crowd most of whom were oblivious to which horse was which, because the course P.A. failed.
Wonderful theatre topped off by Colless protesting the result. Had he got it there may have been a lynching.
Author: Pinkline Jones Timestamp:- 25/7/2003 1:07:24 PM Subject: Re: The Best Race Ever!
Message: Some of the best - no particular order:
Sunline's Cox Plate 2000 demolition Sunline's Hong Kong Mile Kingston Town's third Cox Kingston Town's 1981 George Main Kingston Town's 1980 Tancred Stakes Better Loosen Up's Japan Cup Maori's Idol breaking the 2 min at MV Manikato's 1979 George Ryder annihilation Raffindale's 1977 Epsom BLU's Australian Cup Massacre
Author: NortherlyFan Timestamp:- 25/7/2003 1:25:15 PM Subject: Re: The Best Race Ever!
Message: Loved Vo, but if we're gonna give him cred we gotta give Rubiton a bit too (i've mentioned this in another thread), I rate Rubi right up with the very best gallopers I've ever seen, he toyed with Vo a couple of times.
Best race I've seen in terms of quality sure the 92 cox, was there stunned when Naturalism fell with my hard earned in tow.
But biggest buzz I ever got from a race was Northerly twice - first in the CaulCup last year when he hit the front I yelled he's home and pumped fists in the air - and second was when he ran past Sunline in the Cox last year, pure eye candy that made my spine tingle, just thinking of every Sunline fan when that happened, boy I was happy let me tell you.
Author: infidel Timestamp:- 25/7/2003 2:10:07 PM Subject: Re: The Best Race Ever!
Message: Saintly's Cox Plate was of a much higher standard than Super Impose's. Full of top horses at their peak, not old crocks past it, and everyone got a decent run.
Author: santo Timestamp:- 25/7/2003 2:58:41 PM Subject: Re: The Best Race Ever!
Message: Your spot on the money Catweazle. I was begining to feel old with most of these posts relating to races in the last three years. Super Impose, Let's Elope and Better Loosen Up in the one race - doesn't get any better.
The Cox Plate is definitely the pinnacle. I haven't missed one for a long time and there is no better atmosphere in the world - different to the Flemington carnival - its for the racing purist like the race itself.
Author: Pinkline Jones Timestamp:- 25/7/2003 4:15:43 PM Subject: Re: The Best Race Ever!
Message: That's not right Infidel,
Let's take a look:
Better Loosen Up - ran a blinder - should have won the race. Plagued with injury but was not a spent force.
Rough Habit - returned two years later wasn't it to be narrowly beaten in the Cox by Solvit.
Let's Elope - ran a blinder in the Plate - went on to lose on protest to America's best turf filly Flawlessly.
Naturalism - went on to be beaten a neck by Tokai Teio in the Japan Cup.
Kinjite - second. Had just won the Epsom.
Slight Chance - brilliant filly.
Muirfield Village - had been in outstanding form in Sydney that Spring.
Coronation Day - ditto
....so no Infidel you haven't researched this one too well. All Our Mob and Juggler whilst being excellent gallopers couldn't be compared favourably with the likes of Naturalism, Better Loosen Up, and Let's Elope.
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