There have been many boardroom battles in the space of Australian Sport throughout history – the ARL/Super League War and the World Series Cricket saga are just two that come to mind immediately. The most recent is of course Racing NSW and Peter V’landys Vs. VIC Racing in general. Since V’Landys took over the racing space in NSW, all the way back in 2004, he has been fully focused on making sure that NSW was where the premiere Horse Racing occurred both in the country and the world.
At first, the moves on the campaign trail were subtle, yet prosperous, without being in your face. Upgrading facilities, getting the bookies in line so they were no longer bossing the Racing commission around and slight restructuring of the Spring and Autumn Carnivals occurred.
In recent years, it has gotten aggressive. The Championships in 2015, The Everest in 2017 and insane prizemoney increases whenever Victoria thinks they have the upper hand. Oh, you want to increase the Melbourne Cup’s prizemoney to $8 Million? Well, The Golden Eagle is now worth $10 Million and here are 5 more $1 Million+ popup races as well!
Despite what racing traditionalists want to believe, or more like what they refuse to believe, NSW has been winning this war quite comfortably for years now. The Melbourne Cup is still the most prolific race in the country, that is for certain, as it is the only race that will get 100,000+ people to a racetrack and the majority of families in the country doing sweepstakes in the paper. But The Everest is the only race in Australia that is talked about year-round. Literally, any time one of our country’s sprinters puts in an impressive run “Get them in the Everest” rings out. Almost 50,000 punters flocked to Randwick for the 2022 edition and there are upwards of 60,000+ expected for the next, and then after that, it is only a matter of time before we see six figures, as long as the facilities continue to be upgraded, and V’Landys will make sure that happens. So, the rapid rise of The Everest as Australia’s biggest and best race was the first big blow to VIC Racing.
But, if the shifting of the Cox Plate is to go forward, that will be the final nail in the Racing Victoria coffin and Peter V’Landys and Racing NSW will be crowned as the almighty conquerors who won the great Racing War.
This is because if the time-honoured Cox Plate is indeed shifted to the back end of Spring, it could have a seismic ripple effect through both NSW and VIC Racing Carnivals in both the Spring and Autumn.
The potential ramifications for Spring are immense. As fellow TMS Writer Billy Glanvill adequately put it in his piece on the Cox Plate move: “Regular kick-off points for Sydney siders like Anamoe and Mo’unga include the Winx stakes in mid-August but this race may be bypassed for a lot of contenders in order to avoid being up for too long and avoid an unnecessarily extended preparation. The Might and Power Stakes is often the final lead-up race before the Cox Plate held two weeks before the great race, however, this will no longer be the occasion with the new concept of Champions Day and the Champions Stakes on the final day of the Flemington carnival now likely to become the final tune-up for Cox Plate contenders should the move take place.”
So that is potential option one, no good horses until late on in the Carnival. But then that would mean the exact same thing for the Melbourne Autumn, as races such as the CF Orr/Futurity/Lightning Stakes, as well as the Oakleigh Plate will all become irrelevant. The reason? Those middle-distance horses that often run first-up in said races won’t be ready in time and will have to resume much later in the Carnival, mid-March, early April at best, went the majority of the Carnival is done and dusted. But what about the Lightning Stakes and Oakleigh Plate? You might ask. They’re sprint races, aren’t they? Yes, but the Cox Plate move means the Manikato most likely gets moved as well, meaning all of those Sprinter horses that race there, also miss the early Autumn Carnival races and go straight to the TJ Smith (Another big win for NSW).
But of course, this is working on the assumption that these horses even stick around for these late November races at all. It is a lose-lose situation, either the back end of the Victorian Spring becomes irrelevant, or the front end of their Autumn Carnival.
So all I am hearing so far is big wins for NSW Racing. As their Spring Carnival will come out probably a whole lot less damaged than VIC and their Autumn Carnival gets boosted a whole lot as The Championships just become even more stacked. Plus, are we all forgetting that petty peter V’Landys will 100% introduce a new popup race worth a few million at Randwick, over 2000M, under WFA conditions on the exact same day that the Cox Plate used to be? Because, of course, he will. He’ll probably also call it the V’Landys Plate just to rub some extra salt in the wound. And while that won’t have G1 status, yet, it would still distract a handful of ownership groups who want their horse there instead of Moonee Valley in late November. It also probably means a few more of the 4YOs will heavily consider just going to the Golden Eagle instead of waiting around for the Cox (This would have been the decision the Godolphin camp would have had to make with Anamoe last year).
However, the Cox Plate field will still end up stacked, minus those few horses that are distracted by the golden goose that is NSW’s Prizemoney, and the race will still be a raging success, it is after all considered one of the world’s best races. But Racing Victoria will just have to suffer the consequences of this move. Television ratings and gambling turnover will both increase significantly in NSW, thus more money available to continue upgrading facilities, increasing prize money and introducing even more races that will continue to poach horses from Victoria’s big races. Consequently, V’Landys’ ultimate plan will be complete. Every eye will be on NSW and he will have won the war. Don’t want this to happen? Don’t move the Cox Plate.
There is a reason they say don’t fix what is not already broken.