A WEEKLY REVIEW

The Good

With Alysha Collett leading the way, B listers, due to circumstances not ability, contributed to an excellent Wyong Saturday stand-alone last week.

Perhaps the program was more satisfactory than strong but considering the leadup weather, the course proper was worthy of being rated the best in New South Wales.

Maybe the attendance didn’t rate with the golden era of the provincials but the facilities far exceeded what once served patrons.

Even the VIP Grand Procession celebrating 150 years of Wyong racing, resonated, particularly the presence of Australian Light Horse. Last year I read the remarkable “The Last Charge Of The Australian Light Horse” by Peter FitzSimons.

Seeing the replicas on Saturday triggered the vision of Beersheba and the great Whaler, Bill The Bastard. Banjo Paterson, as adapt with Walers as thoroughbreds, was over there and prepared them for the famous gallop.

Wyong was more a battle ground for the punt but had horse skills aplenty with Collett, who resembles a schoolmarm on ground level but dynamo on horseback.

When an apprentice with Chris Waller I figured she would be the greatest Collett of them all. Jason hadn’t hit his straps. Now 30 she must have joined Waller freshly out of kindergarten.

To receive higher acclaim with her double on Bullet’s High and Waterford than Adam Hyeronimus and Ash Morgan is no mean feat because they, too, had two winners and were very slick indeed.

Bullet’s High was lifted when it seemed he was going to add yet another placing to his recent four while the jockey was the last cab on the rank for Waterford in the feature, The Lakes.

Getting Waterford, scheduled for a spell, a backmarker around Wyong where being up front was favoured, required strength and timing as did the finish to down Ingham winner Robusto, under pressure applied by Hypo, Sydney’s strong man in the absence of Nash Rawiller.

With Rachel King absent in Japan, Collett is a worthwhile substitute as are Hypo and Morgan when the A listers are absent or out of form.

Hypo scored on Bonita Queen and Headly Grange a far cry from Storm Boy on whom he notched the Magic Millions Two-year-old Classic at the Gold Coast on the corresponding day last year. The Wyong double needed more assistance as did Morgan’s two winners, Magnatear and Sandpiper, than his armchair collect on Private Harry a week earlier in the $3 million Sunlight on the Sunshine Coast.

Top horses will carry a bag chaff but Morgan, from Wales, is emphasising the strength of Australia’s current riding ranks. After battling in the wilderness, at home and Australia, he is now getting due compensation for his ability.

“Here we’re going around in country races with $27,000 every day of the week,” he told Winning Post. “That’s a listed race in the U.K.”

The Bad

Compared to the special race trains of yore, public transport to Wyong last Saturday was bad.

Once the service generated from Central to all the racecourses in and around Sydney, extending to Newcastle with few stops, not only on Saturday but midweeks.

It carried hundreds, mainly the needy and the greedy. The first advice given was “never play cards on race trains” although the opportunities abounded.

Often entertainment was supplied by Arthur Bergman, a racegoer, and the Allegra Spender of his time. Bergman, rotund with a cane stick to call his meetings to order, was an independent politician who would burst into speeches in the carriages en route.

 Alas he was often chiacked by Natie Fox, brother of “N-“ Fox, whose nickname can’t be mentioned. The “N” is Mohammed Ali’s least favoured word although “N” Fox was closer in complexion to Captain Cook than Ali. “N” was a hit man, bullet and blade, or steel-toed boot, not bunch of fives.

So the family was treated with caution but not by Bergman. When Natie questioning his policies, Bergman would reply that Natie should return to the service, a driver, for Kate Leigh, who was a madam of the day.

Thus rarely a dull moment on a race train. It sure beat switching stations at Martin Place and Epping which didn’t have the whiff of soot that once flavoured the prior experience.

The Ugly

Even with assistance of Bernadette Cooper’s shapely leg the Gold Coast surface last Saturday was ugly.

Unshod Cooper gave an indication of just how sludgy, the sink in the surface, was before the remaining seven events were postponed until Friday night.

Obviously the extreme weather conditions played a role but on Saturday morning wise guys were predicting the track wouldn’t go the distance.

The question must be asked: is the Gold Coast a suitable racing venue for such an important meeting?

Anyway Cooper has created a precedent. In future Sky Channel’s Greg Radley, the New South Wales playmaker, will be expected, in a similar situation, to test the going barefooted.