Scotch And Dry Had Folklore, Rough Habit Had Heart — Pride Of Jenni Has Bates And A Wet Track.

Scotch and Dry went down well without a chaser and Pride Of Jenni, the eight-year-old mare who should be well beyond the age of brilliance, is in the same category.

Back in 1972 Scotch and Dry was a tearaway heart breaker, now etched into folklore, but he was not as good as Pride Of Jenni, out to lead a merry dance in Saturday’s $1 million Group One Doomben Cup.

Scotch and Dry created joy and mayhem in front, instigated demonstrators due to form reversals, yet left his mark on events like the Hotham and CB Fisher Plate, old titles but revered at the time.

By comparison Pride Of Jenni has notched four Group Ones, never as favourite, but last time out scored her 13^th triumph in the Gold Coast’s Group Two Hollindale over 1800 metres after leading by 10 lengths at one stage.

Always memorable, Pride Of Jenni is heart-stopper over the last 30 metres. Full marks should go to her navigator Declan Bates.

Yes, easy sections come from the expertise of Bates, surely not the bleats of rivals having “no luck”. Once jockeys in weight-for-age events, like the Doomben Cup, could not afford to give starts. Scotch and Dry made his name in handicaps.

No doubt riding against Pride Of Jenni is a conundrum: take her on, challenge her early, and make the race for a late finisher?

Despite having only seven acceptors, Doomben Cup this year is intriguing. Four were under $6 yesterday and trainer Chris Waller has three: Asterix, Kovalica and top hope Birdman.

In Scotch and Dry’s era a stablemate would have challenged Pride Of Jenni early, made sure she has no rest. However Kovalica and Asterix have never shown enough pace.

Adding to the complexity is a rain affected surface: rated a slow seven on Friday.

Like every Group One the Doomben Cup has had strong and weak chapters. In my time the greatest were Divide And Rule (1970), Rough Habit (1990-91-92) and Might And Power (1998).

The best was never seen of Divide and Rule subsequently. Earlier he had scored in the AJC Derby, for trainer Neville Begg under Darby Carthy, and showing his versatility the Stradbroke, ridden by Bill Camer and then prepared by Dick Roden. Divide And Rule was sold to the United States. Roden told me he advised the new owners to “ride him quiet” and nothing could match his finishing sprint, effective over a mile and a half and six furlongs. Divide And Rule was a match for the best over there but scrubbed along early which dulled his brilliance.

Obviously Might And Power, successful in a Caulfield, Melbourne Cups and a Cox Plate was the best, but Rough Habit the most charismatic.

No winner, or starter for that matter, looked so appalling. “People would see him in a muck lather before a race and they’d say he couldn’t win,” John Wheeler, the master horseman who made Rough Habit, told Winning Post’s Matt Stewart. “I’d tell them the only reason he’s in a big sweat is because he can’t wait and get out there and compete.”

Like Wheeler, Chris Waller is a New Zealander and chases his 200^th Group One success, achieved by only Tommy Smith and Bart Cummings, in the Doomben Cup.

Waller has accomplished so much so quickly, considered impossible when Scotch And Dry was significant.

Birdman was $3.70 equal favourite with Half Yours on Friday. Birdman performed best in the Hollindale but damaged my high opinion of him when lacklustre in the Australian Cup, in which Pride Of Jenni was downed an eye lash, on a slow seven.

Following the Hollindale, I felt, Half Yours, with the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups to his credit, was just “more of a handicapper than WFA horse”. Jamie Melham did not handle him bad but on further replays there was no sense of urgency.

Obviously the distance, 2000 metres, will suit him better and the conditions a plus: soft – 6 -4-1, heavy – 1-1.

Alas will Waller’s knack of upsetting the stable favourite with an outsider again prevail? Kovalica was common in the Hollindale, but Asterix, a New Zealand seven-year-old, has struck a purple patch and while his last live kill, the Gosford Cup, falls short of Group One, he did it with authority under 61kg and appreciates the wet.

So, too, does another Kiwi She’s A Hustler whose third in the Hollindale was sound, but she is better placed by the journey and possible conditions.

And can Vauban, with the knowhow of senior partner Gai Waterhouse aided by Adrian Bott, be overlooked?

Like Pride Of Jenni, Vauban is an eight-year-old. Old horses are like old men – too many complaints (aches and pains) the doctrine by Tommy Smith, father of Waterhouse, followed by me has been costly of late.  Modern training methods keep horses going better for longer.

The ride will win. Bates has the score on the board, James McDonald, the world’s best jockey, on Birdman must keep him in touch. Melham will unleash the Cups authority on Half Yours, always better than a Scotch And Dry. That’s how I am betting, anyway.

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