THE GURU’S CUP AND MOUTH RUNNETH OVER
He was on fire by riding a treble at Shatin and today at Flemington, Brett Prebble was over the moon- over the Green Moon- by winning “the race that stops the nation.”
Yes, despite all the pre-race talk about “foreign invaders”, it was an all-Aussie win with the horse being trained by Robert Hickmott, owned by Team Williams and ridden by Hong Kong-based Aussie Brett Prebble that took out the 2012 Melbourne Cup with the flops being Americain, Dunaden and Red Cadeaux and an absolutely shocking ride on Mount Athos by Mr Smiley- Ryan Moore, the Buster Keaton of racing. Sorry, but not many foreign jockeys can ride the Flemington track and this was proven when someone as great as Ryan Moore did a Gerard Mosse and took Mount Athos three wide in search of a Big Mac. That ride cost me seeing the GORGEOUS Francesca Cumani at the presentation ceremony.
Ryan Moore?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adeVEsbmkgA
It was an emotional win for Prebble, his tenth appearance in the Cup and where he repaid the incredible loyalty of owner and “bossy” Lloyd Williams who flew the jockey out, especially to ride his horse. Loyalty like this is hard to find in racing anywhere in the world. It choked up Brett Prebble to thank Lloyd Williams and it chokes me up to just write about it.
What more is there to say? Many pundits got it wrong about Green Moon after its recent defeat in the Cox Plate, Craig Williams dumped the ride in favor of Dunaden, the majority of the tipsters had to eat dollops of crow and humble pie for bagging the horse and Brett Prebble, who had won the second race of the day, has stamped himself as a truly world class jockey and a name now known around the world.
Tomorrow night the jockey goes from the high of his Flemington win to riding a full book of rides at Happy Valley.Oh to be a mind reader and find out what might be going through his mind as he tackles a Class 5 2200 metres race on his first ride back!
Then again, a win is a win and a professional is a professional and Brett Prebble has matured, mellowed and grown to be a thorough professional.
Before moving on to Happy Valley, a personal round of applause to Dom Tourneur for his win on the Hong Kong-owned Eclair Surprise.
Not surprisingly it was heavily supported in Hongkers and word being that there was a fair sized Hong Kong 2×1 win double placed in Oz with the money on Green Moon rolling onto Eclair Surprise. For Tourneur, it might not have erased the bitterness and disappointment of being unnecessarily jocked off Alcopop in the Mackinnon Stakes, but it was a good enough bitch-slap to the knobs behind that horse. Domenic Tourneur is a tremendously underrated jockey.
Also all credit to the runner up in the Melbourne Cup- the Gai Waterhouse trained Fiorente which must have given its young jock James McDonald a real confidence booster after some less than sparkling rides and also a thrill up his leg.
As for Happy Valley, well, if at the track, the best tip is to check out Tess Collins at Adrenaline. This girl has an amazing set of pipes and can sing her ass off. And Tess has an amazing ass.
Racingwise, well, the man-crush with Dougie Whyte continues and Hong Kong’s twelve time champion jockey smoking his pipe and, no doubt, waiting for John Size to unleash his new ones. What the Turban Urban Suburban Demon now needs is one mighty big home run outta the park to get him onto the world stage just as Joao Moreira needs one to take him out of only being Singapore’s best. And Nathan Tinkler is not gonna help him get to that place. If anything, The Big Tinkleberry will take him down the mine shaft with him and everyone else.
Douglas Whyte needs one opportunity to win one Group One race outside of Hong Kong, or, as a quick fix, a great International Race Day. But does he have the horsepower now that Brett Prebble has all but cemented his position with John Moore’s fleet of equine Lamborghinis and Zac Is Back Purton has Little Bridge and now secured the ride on Ambitious Dragon?
Every jockey anywhere is only as good as their last winner before they become yesterday’s news and tomorrow’s baggage.
Without Black Caviar where is Luke Nolan? How far will Tom Quealy go without Frankel? Time will tell and time can be a cruel mutha.
Tomorrow night, Whyte has a good looking book to start off with and which rather strangely drops off in depth as the night progresses. His main chances appear to be Glorie Horsie in race 3, last start winner Seasons Star for Tony Cruz in race 4 which is faced with a shocking draw, and other Cruz runners in Real Dragon in race 5 which MUST go close to winning and Cape Canaveral in Race 6 which makes Whyte a reasonable banker in all three legs of the Triple Trio. But I worry about that barrier 12 in race 4.
Also taking place at Happy Valley is the baffling 1010 Million Challenge which is only relevant to any owner that might have a horse in the running to be named King Of The Valley. If not, this marketing squib has all the excitement of licking mustard off a hotdog.
Sponsorship money is sponsorship money but whoever at 1010 came up with this turgid idea needs a refresher course in common sense. Yes, I fucking hate this stupid promotion/event/challenge as it is just so very dumb and it has to take a real knob who is totally off the mark not to see that it is.
As for tips, I am no tipster but I like the Zac Attack in races 1,5,6 and 8 and with Brett Prebble looking good in races 5,6,7 and 8. Still, this is not to say that here is some three-ring expat circus. For example, Jacky Tong can surprise many in race 4 on Spicy Shrimp, which, yes, is a strange name for a horse and a race where I must again emphasize my doubts about Seasons Star which is having its first start at Happy Valley, is drawn barrier 12 in this 1000 metres race and will be well under the odds.
Tong is also worth keeping safe in race 6 on Apollo Cavalier along with Howard Cheng’s ride Smart Kids even though it’s only one horse that he’s riding while
Races 7 and 8 look trappy affairs and where I’ll be following the local boys…but mainly following Tess Collins’ sweet ass at Adrenaline. Sing it, baby.
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THE GURU’S VIDEO OF THE DAY
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