Cash strapped but enthusiasm aplenty is the outlook for the Victoria Racing Club in 2025 while the Australian Turf Club wallows in mediocrity as the racing spotlight beams at Eagle Farm today on Cigar Flick, a contender last start for the best thing beaten this year.
Carrying the cerise made famous by the Inghams, Big Jack and Mr. Bob, takes on the Magic Millions Nudgee Stakes after making a category populated by platoons.
In their time the Inghams had hundreds, Octagonal comes to mind the 1995 Victoria Derby at Flemington, defeated with excuses and didn’t cop them sweet either.
Of course going down because of undue circumstances, don’t consider the “l” word, doesn’t necessarily mean the subject will make up for defeat next time out.
But Cigar Flick caught the eye when second around a half-length behind Danny’s St Darcy over the Eagle Farm 1300 metres on December 7 when $1.80 favourite.
Stewards reported Cigar Flick was “disappointed for a run passing the 300 metres” but Best Bets was more succinct: “Check cost it race”.
Chad Schofield replaces apprentice Bayley Wheeler and will launch Cigar Flick from the one gate. Some horses attract trouble like bees to honey but while she gets back in the field, her four successes are greater than her placings so the mare is not a prone runner-up.
Obviously she is best with a strong tempo, and has a return bout with Danny’s St Darcy, who meets her a half kilo better for beating her, a point unlikely to swing the market away from Cigar Flick, $5.50 on Friday.
Cigar Flick is trained by Chris Waller who also accepted with outsider Anahita in the Nudgee. Wheeler rides Anahita.
With the Magic Millions influence Eagle Farm is enhanced with the presence, for one, of Robusto, successful in the Ingham at Randwick last start, has precedence over Royal Randwick in Sydney and Melbourne’s Moonee Valley.
Before being purchased by Darley Racing, Robusto was raced by later Ingham generations and takes on the Magic Millions Buffering under considerably more ballast,59kg, than he had at Randwick, lacking its former lustre.
Yes, Randwick had a successful Boxing Day, historically well attended, with an estimated 21,000 patrons, the second biggest turnup of the year behind The Everest.
Again how many were there to have a good drink and not a punt? Sure, the feature, the Summer Cup, was worthwhile but the prelims very common indeed.
“Why not promote a top day’s racing on Boxing Day?” bookmaker Rob Waterhouse opined. Waterhouse wrote more tickets on Thursday than The Everest’s 49,000 plus, although many punters had little experience betting live at the meeting.
Unlike Melbourne, in the spring anyway, Sydney has become more of a booze fest than experiencing what makes the turf great: top horses and those that make them.
As the Munich beer festival is one of my chosen destinations, I am hardly a wowser but Melbourne last spring, with a healthy mix of enthusiast and toss pots, was the highlight of 2024 being a flashback to the greats carnivals.
Alas vitality is missing in Sydney, bogged down in the sale of Rosehill Gardens, stuck at Randwick for so long over the Christmas period when variety could be beneficial.
No doubt the VRC balance sheet isn’t flash but Kylie Rogers, the CEO, is enthusiastic about the future.
“With a new structure now in place, including the new roles identified to support the strategy, we will commence the process to recruit and fill these positions. We anticipate this process should be completed in the new year, providing us with a great runway into the Autumn and Spring Racing Carnivals,” she messaged.
“I want to reinforce that you, our 34,000 members, and the horse, are at the heart of everything we do, and this will not change.
“We have been delivering world-class racing and major events for more than 160 years, and we will continue to invest in our core business areas to ensure we uphold our reputation as world-leader in racing and major events.”
