Flemington’s track was the star of the show
Take a bow, Liam O’Keeffe and the Flemington track team.
Sure, they’ve got the Rolls-Royce of track maintenance equipment and benefited from the foresight of a previous VRC administration that invested heavily in renovating the track.
But that shouldn’t detract from an outstanding Cup Week effort.
An additional Cox Plate meeting, wildly varying weather forecasts and five massive days of racing. Yet Flemington stood up superbly.
Horses got their chance, there were no significant biases and punters had confidence to bet.
Sure, they needed to get off the fence on the last day – someone should’ve told Dylan Browne-McMonagle on Defiantly(!) – but you’d expect that after so much racing.
Cox Plate Day turnover was up approximately 15% following the move from The Valley to Flemington. That’s no accident. Punters bet more on better tracks.
It’s a lesson for the industry. We spend millions on prizemoney, marketing and attracting the best horses, but never underestimate the importance of the grass they’re actually racing on.
Get the track right and plenty else falls into place.
Cup Week delivers in spades
More than 300,000 people through the gates, an electric atmosphere and Robbie Williams proving an inspired choice of entertainment. Cup Week was a triumph.
But the biggest green shoot was the thousands of young fans who flocked to Champions Day for the racing and Fisher.
Young guys and girls lined the fence, cheering their stars onto the track and roaring them home. A sea of TAB green hats, a football-like atmosphere, no doubt fuelled by a few drinks, but full of genuine passion. Shit, it looked fun!
Decent crowd for Fisher 🔥 https://t.co/AHl8dqgEiu
— TAB (@tabcomau) November 7, 2026
And sure, some came primarily for Fisher. So what?
For some, the highlight of AFL Grand Final day is the pre-game entertainment. For others, it’s the Super Bowl halftime show. But they’re still consuming the sporting product, building an affinity along the way.
That’s racing’s opportunity. Get the next generation through the gates, give them a great experience and build something that lasts.
The crowd LOVED Robbie Williams! Bring on the Cup 🏆 https://t.co/V686X75DDN
— TAB (@tabcomau) November 3, 2026
Don’t underestimate the importance of safe Melbourne Cups
Entertainment is a wonderful way to attract young people to racing, but the biggest factor in keeping them coming back is social acceptance.
And don’t underestimate the role safer Melbourne Cups have played in racing’s resurgence.
There hasn’t been a fatality in the race since Racing Victoria bravely introduced its stringent veterinary protocols in 2021.
RV has stayed the course despite fierce criticism from sections of the industry. Those who developed the protocols, and the vets tasked with implementing them, deserve enormous credit for standing firm in the face of considerable backlash.
The impact has been profound, not just for horse welfare, but for public confidence in the sport.
Make no mistake, racing was perilously close to losing its social licence following the spate of Melbourne Cup fatalities. And once that’s gone, no amount of quality racing, prizemoney or entertainment will save the sport.
Those responsible for making the Melbourne Cup safer have played a far bigger role in racing’s resurgence than perhaps they’ll ever be given credit for.
Benny Allen’s Melbourne Cup ride was a masterstroke
Stewards questioned Ben Allen over his tactics aboard Royal Supremacy in the Melbourne Cup. I’d argue they should’ve been questioning a few jockeys behind him.
I’ve watched the replay and studied the sectionals. Allen gets a 9.5 out of 10 from me.
Yes, Royal Supremacy opened up a lead exceeding 20 lengths. But here’s the kicker: he wasn’t going that fast!
Allen covered the first 2400m just above standard for a 3200m race. Most of the field was travelling around 20 lengths below standard. Farcical!
Several jockeys complained about the pedestrian tempo. Why didn’t they do something about it?
You can’t sit 25 lengths off the leader, travelling at a moderate tempo, and expect dour stayers to suddenly sprint like Oakleigh Platers.
The fact is the last 13 horses to each the 1000m mark in this year’s Cup all would’ve been last in the previous three editions. In fact, Royal Supremacy wouldn’t have led any.
This image plots the last four Melbourne Cups 1000m from home:
Point Of Law was exceptional. His final 200m was one of the fastest of the entire Cup Day meeting. He’s a superstar who probably wins regardless.
But Allen took a $51 chance, rode to his horse’s strengths and finished fifth.
Rather than questioning his tactics, perhaps stewards should’ve asked why everyone else was content to watch.
A barrier worth $30 mil?
I’m being a little facetious. St Gotthard is still worth a fortune.
But barrier draws were decisive in the Coolmore Stud Stakes.
Two blueblood colts, The Next Episode ($2.8 million) and St Gotthard ($2.7 million), fighting out a stirring finish with arguably Australia’s two best jockeys, Mark Zahra and James McDonald, aboard.
The Next Episode drew thirteen, allowing Zahra to find the superior ground out wide. St Gotthard drew six, leaving McDonald racing on inferior ground closer to the inside.
There was also late interference that had McDonald reviewing the stewards’ footage.
The Coolmore is a ‘stallion maker’, and some suggest victory could have added $30 million to The Next Episode’s value.
Racing is a game of inches. Or, in this case, the luck of the draw!
Steering into potholes
While on barriers and straight-track racing.
The VRC, like many clubs, regularly aerates the outside four metres of its track. Heavy vehicle traffic can compact this section, potentially creating a fast lane if left untreated.
With the rail out and jockeys searching for the outside fence, Joliestar and Tempted both ventured into that territory in the Champions Sprint, as did Photograph earlier. I doubt it helped their causes.
The middle, middle-to-outside section of the track clearly seemed superior and, again, Zahra was the man to find the right lanes, this time on Point Barrow.
Check out where each of the runners were at the 200m mark
In the last, the field stayed more towards the middle and Lawborough swept wide to win. But the head-on shows he was comfortably inside the aerated section.
Sometimes the widest lane isn’t the fastest!
Fix the Pattern, not the Victoria Derby
The Victoria Derby is one of racing’s great brands, yet it’s on the Asian Pattern Committee’s warning list after failing Group 1 ratings benchmarks for four consecutive years.
The VRC is considering shortening it to 2000m and potentially doubling prizemoney to $6 million.
I reckon that’s madness.
The Derby isn’t the problem. The Pattern is.
Developed in the 1960s, the grading system measures horse quality while ignoring turnover, crowds, broadcast rights and sponsorship, all critical to racing’s sustainability.
The Derby turned over approximately $26 million last year, making it Australia’s fifth-biggest betting race. It gives Derby Day its identity and draws enormous crowds.
Throwing millions more at prizemoney won’t fix the issue. Nor should we butcher a great 2500m staying test to appease an outdated ratings system.
I’ve proposed incorporating commercial measures into the Pattern or creating a tier above Group 1 recognising racing’s iconic events.
Fix the measure, not the race.
Read my full opinion piece: The tail is wagging the dog
The Cox Plate needs The Valley more than we realised
For all the strong turnover generated by this year’s Cox Plate at Flemington, it lacked that certain je ne sais quoi that makes the race special at The Valley.
There was an undeniable sameness to the Turnbull Stakes, Cox Plate and Champions Stakes. Largely the same horses, over the same 2000m, at the same track.
The Valley provides a unique test. And despite the critics, I’m confident it still will after redevelopment.
With the Cox Plate’s return far from guaranteed, staging three major middle-distance contests over the same course and distance in five weeks highlighted what we’d lose.
Should the Cox Plate never return home, we’d have both an opportunity and, in my view, an obligation to rethink the spring program for our elite middle-distance horses.
Perhaps it could even spark some genuine national collaboration to build a better calendar.
Just because time-honoured races have occupied certain dates for decades doesn’t mean those dates remain the best fit.
Tradition matters. But it shouldn’t stand in the way of progress.
A plunge in the ‘get out’ Stakes
Having her first start for Anthony and Sam Freedman, Torsheen was absolutely truckloaded in the last. She was backed from $11 into $4, all in the 25 minutes before the jump. A serious go, even by Cup Week standards.
Unfortunately for punters, Zahra couldn’t repeat his earlier heroics aboard Point Barrow, with Torsheen finishing fifth.
Casual punters doing the form might’ve wondered why they were jumping out of trees to back a mare who reportedly finished tailed off in her final jump-out (see Racing.com form guide below).
But a closer look at the vision tells a different story.
The horse out the back had a prominent white blaze, which Torsheen doesn’t sport. She was actually the mare in white silks up on speed, cruising to the line under a hold.
The racecaller also identified the last horse as Torsheen.
That horse was actually Just A Journey, a stayer on the comeback trail after finishing 11th in last year’s Oaks.
Race 36 provided the ride of the Carnival
There were plenty of good rides across the four days, but I reckon Benny Melham’s on Birdman was the pick of the lot.
He drew gate one, but ended up down the middle of the track, following one of his main dangers in Cosmic Crusader into the race, all the while finding clearly the best ground.
The barrier could have been tricky but form the outset Melham was hellbent on getting off the inside.
Birdman takes flight in the TAB Champions Stakes, and that’s another G1 to @cwallerracing! 🤩
@BMelham @FlemingtonVRC https://t.co/QdmQBzxULj
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 7, 2026
