WHOBEGOTYOU, bolting away with the Caulfield Guineas on Saturday, looked a better Cox Plate contender than Broadmeadow three-year-old Samantha Miss. In fact, few have been more impressive in a sprint with an honour roll that includes Lonhro, Red Anchor, Manikato, Surround, Tulloch and Ajax. However, Randwick trainer John O'Shea reckons the reluctant Mark Kavanagh is pulling the right rein if Whobegotyou misses the weight-for-age championship of Australasia at Moonee Valley on Saturday week. "Samantha Miss is more seasoned than Whobegotyou," O'Shea said. "The filly has had the benefit of a strong two-year-old campaign while Whobegotyou only started his career in May and this is really his first preparation." The Caulfield Guineas is a better stepping stone than the Flight Stakes where Samantha Miss left her mark. Maybe the Caulfield Guineas has produced only four Cox Plate winners in modern times - Red Anchor, Surround, Rajah Sahib and Star Affair - but the demanding test hasn't been a flash race for three-year-olds. Octagonal was placed in the Caulfield Guineas before his 1995 Cox Plate success. Octagonal, though, had a foundation of two-year-old racing.
REAL CRACKER: Tasmanian Craig Newitt rates with the most vigorous whip riders, Des Lake and Lester Piggott. Many have practised the slather-and-whack but few have been as effective as those mentioned. Don't think Mick Dittman has been overlooked but there was much more to his artillery than the shillelagh. In this era where the use of the whip is under review by officialdom, the between 20 and 30 applications over the latter stages by Newitt on Alamosa in the Toorak Handicap at Caulfield on Saturday must have raised eyebrows. Lake, from Victoria, was a real powerhouse, particularly in Sydney, while Piggott in his youth struck like lightning. On Saturday, Newitt carried the leader's armband for the Roy Higgins medal for the leading jockey over the three days of the Caulfield spring carnival. Higgins was as good with the whip as with his tongue, both which came in handy when he won the 1969 Caulfield Cup, getting a protest decision for Big Philou over Lake on Nausori.
OPEN BOOKS: "Bet win and place here and avoid the queue," a Caulfield fielder advertised near his stand on Saturday. The new open betting market, with the restrictions lifted on bookmaker advertising, has burst upon us and, hopefully, racing will be the winner. "As I understand it, bookmakers will not be able to offer free bets and things like that," Bob Hines, the Racing Victoria CEO, commented. Rather that than allowing them to bet on tote "products".
WET BLANKET: The vitriol of critics regarding the Victorian policy of irrigating tracks was, no doubt, on the rise after Lucky Secret sought a fast lane out wide in the Schillaci at Caulfield on Saturday. After brilliant lead-up weather, the official track reading remained a dead (4). Lucky Secret was kept off the rails because trainer Tony Vasil thought ground nearer to the fence was slower, a view that was later proved incorrect. Lucky Secret went down by a long head to Wilander. No doubt the seasoned stayers going around would have appreciated the give under hoof. Irrigating is good when it works but there is still a delicate balance.
MANY ARE HAPPY: Syndicators continued to play a major role at Caulfield on Saturday despite the presence of the big players such as Darley. Following the impact of Denise Martin's Star Thoroughbreds at Randwick the previous Saturday, Belong To Many scored in the Le Tan Stakes for a Shelley Hancox mob in which there are 800 members. Earlier, Damselfly took the Thoroughbred Stud Stakes for United Syndications.
OLLIE GOOD: It didn't come as a surprise that Kerrin McEvoy, coming off the leisurely pace of Britain, took time to acclimatise in Sydney. Still, no navigational genius was required by McEvoy to get Wilander home in the Schillaci Stakes at Caulfield on what basically is his home turf, so I don't see that as an issue with his Sydney form. Don't forget major criticism of him came, rightly or wrongly, from Ray Murrihy, the chief stipe. Interstate, they are chanting that McEvoy in Sydney has a winning strike rate equal to that of Corey Brown, the form jockey, at 5.5. But Brown had 143 rides up until last Friday while McEvoy had only 55, mostly for Darley. Top jockeys should be judged on their butcher's bill, mounts that should have won but didn't. Like all great athletes they can put in bad ones but can also fail due to circumstances other than slack judgment. Damien Oliver, though, less often than most. Ollie has had 14 rides for Caulfield trainer Mick Price this season for six wins and four seconds.
HORSE TO FOLLOW: South Australian sprinter Eclair Fantastic showed class and character to overcome an early mishap but still got away with the first at Caulfield.
DISAPPOINTING: Dreamscape , second favourite in the Caulfield Guineas on Saturday, began smoothly but could finish only seventh, beaten more than nine lengths.