End of Melbourne Cup?

i was always fascinated when taufens melody in the mid 90' won the caulfield cup at 66-1.

i could name at the time at least 2 dozen horses in the uk at the time of the top of my head who could beat it.

i ddint know much about aussie racing but gradually learnt about it.

then choisir wins at royal ascot and he was rated 4th to 11th best aussie sprinter ,depending on what ratings/opinions you took in .

if we take a average of 7th best,that means there 7th best sprinter beat our best,whilst we had a horse who as safely out of the top 10 best 12f horse training in Britain win one of there group 1's.

not a lot as changed,and it amazes me that the value of the melbourne cup as gone up.maybe this was a idea to get the aussie bloodstock industry to start breeding more for stamina,but all that as happened is group 3/listed euro type were bought for it and traiend by aussie trainers,and a lot uk/ire/fr trainers have targeted it,so much so that the likes of mount athos for example have there entire season built around it.

ive just looked at black caviars races,and 395k is the highest ive seen her race for,yet the cox plate (10f) and caulfield cup (12f) are worth over 1 million each to the winner,there most valuable races seem to be long distance races even though they dont breed for it like they do for sprinters!

They're middle distance horses are the worst in the world of the big racing nations. Fiorente wouldn't win a G2 in Europe yet he's winning Australia's biggest race. They have the richest two year old race in the world and it's a sprint I think. They're breeding sprinters and have nothing much over a mile. Atlantic Jewel looked a decent mare. It's a Dundeel has a good race in him. Pierro was a decent horse. But they wouldn't get close to the likes of St Nick, Farrh, Cirrus Des Aigles. They rely on Coolmore's second string stallions. We'll see what So You Think can do. His foals look pretty good from what I've seen. Good size and strong. They don't really have the big owners like in Europe. They have syndicates and the average person who doesn't want to wait for a stayer. They just wan't the quick cash they'll get in a sprint.

I believe the answer is to have more races that are 2000m+. Simply put, most races in australia are a mile or less therefore it is an obvious strategy to breed for speed. If you have a stayer there are not many races it can race in. Sure the big races like Cox, Caulfield cup etc are for stayers but if you don't have an out and out champion you won't be winning them and therefore you won't really have many options week in week out.

If I had the cash to breed a horse in Australia I would like one that could win 1200m. I get your point though.... I think Victorian Racing actually WANTS the cup the way it is. It wants internationals to target it and is not fussed by the poor showing of australian horses as long as the Cumani's of this world have one eye on our cup.

It's true that a lot of breeding down here has the emphasis on sprinting.

We don't really have all that many staying races, most are over 1000m-1600m, with our biggest middle distance-staying races known being the Melbourne Cup, Cox Plate, Caulfield Cup, Australian Derby and the Mackinnon Stakes.

It makes sense for breeders to breed horses suited to these common distances, as there are heaps more races they can enter every week, as opposed to staying races.

Plus, it's easy to buy overseas bred stayers and import them here.

This is a topic that is always spoken about in Australian Racing forums, but until you can get trainers and breeders to want to aim for the less spaced out staying races, they won't really focus on breeding that type here when you can go over to Europe and buy a proven stayer.

Affectionately named "Marvellous Melbourne" throughout the gold hurry of the 1850s, the title is still applied today for Australia's next largest town Melbourne, a town as possible visited with hotelbye . Located on the banks of the Yarra River, close to the entrance to Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne is a modern area steeped in history. With great wealth created from the nearby goldfields, majestic houses were made through the entire city. Several structures still stay today, and Melbourne is regarded as having more samples of Victorian architecture than every other town in Australia. One place you can't skip in your visit to Melbourne is the Southbank and Arts Centre Melbourne. On the banks of the Yarra River this area is really a culturally wealthy appeal for visitors. Southbank promenade is filled up with indoor/outdoor cafés, restaurants, and live entertainment. Quickly identifiable by their spire, the Arts Centre includes a selection of theaters and spaces including the State Theatre, Playhouse, Fairfax Theatre, and Hamer Hall, the premier efficiency space for the admired Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

it makes it for interesting betting which is what the people want, this is why betting was up 20%