It can't be denied that in the last 10 years we had the emergence of stars Sunline, Northerly, Lonhro, Makybe Diva and to a lesser extent Elvstroem. But maybe I miss the years of 1995 and 1996 where we had younsters like Octagonal, Saintly, Nothin Leica Dane, Filante, Our Maizcay, Flying Spur and an older horse like Doriemus dominating the staying events. Then a year later Might And Power emerges.
The depth in the Australasian scene seems to have diminished. The emergence of Hong Kong as a racing power and buying many unraced and lightly raced horses from Australia and New Zealand seems to have taken an effect.
The 4 highest profile horses in HK over the last couple of years were all bred in Aus or NZ-Silent Witness, Vengeance Of Rain, Armada and most recently Absolute Champion. Then you throw in group 1 winners and placegetters like The Duke, Floral Pegasus, All's Well, Danacourt, Hello Pretty and many more that were all bred in Aus or NZ and you start to wonder what the Australasian racing scene could have been like. They have won and placed in the HK International Sprints, Miles and Cups against the best from around the world.
However this may all be about to change as it looks possible that we are about to reach the heights of the mid 90's. In early 2006 Miss Finland burst onto the scene winning the Golden Slipper easily and then managed to come back as a 3yo filly and win the Thousand Guineas and VRC Oaks. In the process she managed to just beat a 1/2 brother to Elvstroem that is being touted as the rebirth of the King-another 3yo-Haradasun. Haradasun having only his 3rd start was unlucky to lose his unbeaten tag to Miss Finland but he made it known that he was here to stay.
In the Golden Slipper, whilst Miss Finland hugged the rail, Gold Edition was 3 wide on the pace all the way and went extremely wide around the turn, losing all hope but only finishing 2 lengths from the placings.
In the meantime over in Perth a big horse that carried the silks of Northerly and trained by the same master, Fred Kersley was taking all before him. His name, Marasco, a 4yo. Meanwhile, El Segundo was still holding his claim as the best horse in Australia with consistent performances in Group events.
Then on Derby day, 3yo Efficient delivered on all the promises made in the weeks proceeding.
With Efficient, Marasco, Haradasun, Miss Finland and Gold Edition throwing down the gauntlet to El Segundo there is also a number of others ready to take aim. Other 3yo's such as Court Command, Wonderful World, Mentality and a number of others, suddenly make our racing stocks look great.
We are a week or so into the autumn carnival and some of these have had their 1st run back from a spell. It is now time to take stock and see what will come out of 2006 and continue rising in 2007.
Gold Edition-this iron filly really hasn't gone away and has had 5 runs since the Melbourne spring and despite one little glitch has proven herself capable of taking on the best of the older sprinters.
Marasco has just had his 1st Eastern States run in the C.F.Orr Stakes and put in a gallant effort. 3 wide the whole trip, forced wider around the turn, Childs drops the whip and he even looked lost for a little bit. But once he balanced he made good ground to run a great 2nd to proven Group 1 performer El Segundo.
Miss Finland also had her 1st up run in the Orr and whilst not as impressive, her run still had merit. She was close to the pace but didn't have the acceleration of the big boys in the straight. ( I don't subscribe to the theory that the inside was off-there were many good runs along the fence throughout the day). The fact is had she been racing against 3yo fillies she probably would have won well (unless up against Gold Edition). She was up against a higher grade of horse and they could match and better her acceleration when it counted. I would assume she would take benefit from the run.
Haradasun has had 2 runs since resuming and has not been tested. He has stuck against his own age group and has won easily without being extended. Hard to gauge how much he had left in the tank but did seem to be cruising. One negative, is that I noticed at his last start that he didn't really get away from them when slapped with the whip a couple of times in the last 200m. He did hold the margin though and looked like a horse that would appreciate a longer distance.
The one we have yet to see in 2007 is Efficient.
Who will turn out to be the star? Possibly all of them.
If I had to stick my neck out I would go for Efficient even without seeing him this year. From what I saw in the spring of 2006, Efficient could be the superstar we have all been waiting for.
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