The Answer Is “No”

51,300 race fans (no, that's not a typo) were trackside to view Weekend Hussler in the G1 Caulfield Cup—and, boy, were they disappointed! Near the lead much of the way, the Hussler couldn’t finish his first attempt at 12f, and ended up well back in twelfth place. Reports indicate he came out of the race slightly lame, and possibly suffering from the thumps; regardless, plans for the Cox Plate/Melbourne Cup are on hold, as his trainer Ross McDonald has indicated he will likely be turned out.

I played a $1 tri box with Weekend Hussler, Master O’Reilly and Mad Rush, which seemed a logical play. I also put $2 WP bets on Boundless and Riva San, as well as a $2 WPS on Viewed (who is a Foolish Pleasure descendent through his sire).

This, of course, was to no avail as Godolphin finally won (after 10 years) their first Australian G1 with 40-1 longshot All The Good, with Kerrin McEvoy up. New Zealand-bred Nom Du Jeu (25-1) got second, and 90-1 shot Barbaricus fleshed out a massive trifecta. Mad Rush did finish nicely for a close-up fourth, while post-time favorite Littorio was fifth. Master O’Reilly finished seventh, Viewed tenth, Boundless eleventh, and Riva San was next to last in sixteenth. Watch for yourself:



While she had no runners in the Caulfield Cup, trainer Gai Waterhouse celebrated an amazing day, as not only did Royal Discretion take the G3 Jayco Cup at Caulfield, but also, at her home track (Randwick), the lady trainer won 4 of 4 races, with Horizons (race 1), Rock Kingdom (race 2), Northern Meteor (who set a new track record in racee 4), and Lorne Dancer (race 6). Interestingly, at Randwick, 7 of 8 races were won by female trainers, with Gwenda Markwell's Miss Pageantry winning race 3, Kylie Gavenlock won race 5 with Mary's Grace, and in race 8 Keen Commander won impressively for Denise McGrath. Indeed, it is the Year of the Chick all over the world...