Talking points from weekend racing
Winx and the Group I grove of the Baker-Forsman partnership provided the highs but there were no shortage of tragedies in the racing world over the weekend. Te Rapa was quickly overshadowed by Bonneval’s victory in the Australian Oaks. Following on from Jon Snow’s Australian Derby victory, Baker and Forsman join Clarry Conners and Tommy Smith in the elite club of trainers who have won the Australian Derby-Oaks double in the same year. Conners achieved the double with Research in 1989 and Smith with Kingston Town and Lowan Star in 1980. struggling to fight back the tears following the five and a quarter length victory. Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner is heading for a break but will be back in the spring aiming for her third Cox Plate. If she returns in the same form as a then six-yearold next season, there is no telling how many more million she could win and where in the world she will do it. important to keep life in context when things do not go your way at a race track. Apprentice Melanie Bolwell, also involved in the fall, is in hospital with bleeding on the brain. It might be frustrating to lose a bet or a winning stake but does it really matter? No matter how disappointing a result might be, punters, owners and trainers still go home to their families. On Saturday night, Jones did not and neither did Rebecca Black, the mother of three children, who was killed in a race day fall at Gore last December.
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