CAIRO, Wednesday: We’ve moved from Casablanca as we were being inundated by locals with offers to run a book on camel races. The excellent Egypt FM broadcasts in English, but unfortunately does not seem all that interested in horse races in far away Melbourne.
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WE were shamed by our selection of two of the first four place getters in this year’s Melbourne Cup. Never in the convoluted history of Column One have we failed to choose those lonely nags who, unsung and unloved, bring up the rear.
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NOW we send assurances that our choice of Mahler, The Fuzz and Zipping was made after the most exhaustive surveys suggested that none of them was likely to appear in the first four horses home yesterday. Imagine our chagrin when Mahler came third and Zipping, fourth!
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SPY in Madang rang to say that a good friend of his named Marge had invested her all on Efficient, the Cup winner. The Ancient Scribbler added that she clearly took that well-known Madang saying “run to win” to heart when she placed her bet on Efficient. We shall consult Marge next year.
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MIND you, we were less than impressed with the winning jockey, who kept squeaking “I’ve won the Melbourne Cup … I’ve won the Melbourne Cup …!”
He then went on to give lush eulogies to the horse’s trainer, connections, stable hands and just about everybody who had so much as looked at the sleek animal.
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BUT never a mention of the determination and grit of the horse, who had won last year’s Derby on the way to success at Flemington. The impression given was that the jockey had personally scurried around the track like some diminutive Superman and won the Cup. Wonder if there’s an Equine Union for these magnificent ignored winners …
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YEARS ago there was a racetrack in the capital near what is now the site of the Sir John Guise Stadium. It was reached by a dirt track known as Racecourse Road; today the latter is called Waigani Drive. We recall describing the Saturday races live for the ABC from the lower branches of a convenient gum tree, there being no broadcast facilities ... Cheers!
– Dee Nesenolis