Speaker 1Yeah, welcome to Ben Dorries and Mitch Cohen, and I'll firstly say good morning to you, Ben.
Speaker 2How are you? Yeah, going good, Dave. I'm on holidays, old son. Yeah, where are you?
Speaker 1I keep seeing these shots, these, like something out of a travel magazine.
Speaker 2Well, I was at Tangalooma, which is on Moreton Island. Gee whiz, I tell you what, the joints have come along a fair bit since I was there 40 years ago, but we're back now, old son, so just sitting in my lounge room at home.
Speaker 1Beautiful. You wanted to mention an article you wrote yesterday on Racenet.
Speaker 2Yeah, not so much the article. Look, I'll come off a long one to start with. Peter Volandis, great man, great for racing. I mean, surely everyone can recognise that. I'm getting a bit sick of this tall poppy syndrome in Australia. Look, I penned a piece for Racenet yesterday just outlining some of his achievements, not the nitty gritty stuff, but just the sort of man he was or man he is. Some of the stuff that I saw behind the scenes. And there's no doubt that racing in New South Wales is in so much a better place than it was before he took the reins. And my timeline on social media this morning is just literally clogged up with people calling me a sycophant and absolutely giving it to me and whatever. And I must admit, I'm getting a bit sick of this sort of stuff in Australian society, Dave. I don't know what you think, but look, I mean, everyone's entitled to have their opinion. But just because you praise someone and say they've done a good job. Look, I recounted a few stories. My favourite one actually was when I was based in Melbourne for Racenet. And Victorian racing at the time was sacrosanct. Like it had been for the previous hundred years. You couldn't do anything. You couldn't touch it. You know, it was the old guard down there. And Peter just barged down the door of the Melbourne Racing Club, came in carrying the Everest trophy. They had a bit of a deal with the MRC at the time and proudly showed off the Everest trophy in enemy territory. This was in the very early years of the Everest. And not content with that, did an interview on the way out saying they should move. The Melbourne Cup back two weeks, which got worldwide publicity. Look, I love the way he went about it. I love the way he revolutionised racing, not only in New South Wales, but inherently in Australia as well. Like we had a race called the All-Star Mile in Victoria there for a while, didn't we, that would never have come about if it wasn't for the Everest. So, look, I think everyone's entitled to their opinion. But there is absolutely no doubt that Peter Valendi leaves an extraordinary legacy in Australian racing. And just because you give someone their right to use and their kudos, doesn't mean you're a sicker fan. It doesn't mean you're an idiot. It doesn't mean you have to shut up. Just a bit sick of this tall poppy syndrome, Dave.
Speaker 1Mitch Cohen, good morning to you. Firstly, some comments on that, mate. I know that you've obviously worked here with racing in New South Wales. And then I'll get you to talk about the upgrade of the Apollo.
Speaker 3Oh, yeah, I'll talk about that as well, Dave. Look, I think there's no doubt Peter's left racing in New South Wales in a better place. I think Ben's. I think Ben's said it all. I've got bigger gripes this morning, Dave. What? The Asian Patent Committee. Oh, yes. Now, they took over in December last year because apparently Australian racing wasn't doing a good enough job assessing our black-type races. I've got news for the Asian Patent Committee. They're not doing a good job either. Now, they've made two decisions in the past, what, six weeks that are just baffling. The first of which was the Metropolitan gets a downgrade. Now, it's a grand final. One of the staying horses in Australia. We spoke about that previously. Now, in their infinite wisdom, they've decided to give Group 1 status to the Apollo Stacks. Now, we've got five wait-for-age 1,400-metre Group 1s in Australia. Now, we've got six. We've got four that are kick-off points days, two in the winter, two in the. Sorry, two in the autumn, two in the spring. Futurity, Apollo, Winx and Memsium. Both of the latter two are a week apart. Both of the former. What are we doing here? Does it need Group 1 status? The Apollo Stacks now shock me. Let's look at the downgrades, Dave. The four downgrades, all staying races. Adelaide Cup, ATC Chairmans, Darty, Brisbane Cup. Look, where's this going to go? Are we just going to continue to upgrade our sprinting races and downgrade the staying races? It makes no sense, Dave.
Speaker 1No sense. It doesn't make sense. The other thing, too, is with these announcements, has it been fully explained? Are they saying to everyone the reasons for these? I'm not talking just in a press release, but are they fully explaining why these decisions are being made?
Speaker 3Well, the data says the Apollo is a good race. Of course it's a good race, Dave. Go through the honour roll. Autumn Glow, Fangirl, Animo, Winx. The champion horses do kick off in these races, but Chris Waller isn't starting a campaign going, I want to win an Apollo Stacks, is he? He's looking at the carnival going, I want to win a Queen Elizabeth, I want to win a Doncaster. These horses are kicking off, they're kick-off points. They shouldn't be group ones.
Speaker 1What do you think, Ben?
Speaker 2You know what? I think the longer I've worked with Mitch on this show, I think the more sense he's making. I'm in furious agreement with just about everything he says,
Speaker 1including this. Why is this going to continue to happen, do we feel, Mitch?
Speaker 3Well. And why
Speaker 1aren't we, as a collective whole, like as in a country, saying to the Asian Patent Committee, hey, that's great that you've made this a group one, but we disagree with you wholly on the fact that, you know, we feel like you're targeting staying races.
Speaker 3Well, they rely too much on data, Dave. They're relying too much on data, and the data says that these are good races. Of course, they're good races. We don't breed stays, we breed sprinters. Our best horses are in that group of horses, but that doesn't mean every race that rates as a group one should be a group one. It's just. There's got to be more nuance to it. Like, no one's asking for more. Everyone's asking for less group ones, and yet we've upgraded another 1,400-metre group one. So we've got six of them.
Speaker 1Yeah. It is bizarre. Now, what about this Wheatwood-Toowoomba Cup meeting? There's. It's a good meeting, isn't it? Ten races. I think that's the first time there's ever been ten races at Toowoomba as well.
Speaker 2Yeah. Look, it is their highlight program of the year. Obviously, the Wheatwood is a time. Honoured race. Now, look, this is a fascinating race in its own right this year for one reason, I reckon. Well, more than one reason, but one main reason. The inclusion of Brave Monarch. Now, you will. All going well. You'll see Brave Monarch. This is the horse trained by Chris and Corey Muntz, who has won five from eight in a few stakes races, including the Queensland Guineas, during the Queensland Winter Carnival. He's on the road to the Silver Eagle and hopefully the Golden Eagle. That's the sort of esteem that Muntz has. has hauled him in. And Chris Muntz, obviously no fool. The Hall of Famer, he knows what he's doing. But kick-off in the Wheatwood, $4.20, second favourite, 60 kilos, barrier 15. Now, Aaron Mills, who does some work for Racenet, has gone through the stats for us and worked out that not since 1995 has a horse carried 60 kilos to win the Wheatwood. So that is a hell of a long time. And not only 60 kilos, Brave Monarch is copped, but barrier 15 as well. So, look, I've got absolutely no doubt that Brave Monarch is the best horse in this race. But this will be a race, I reckon, you'll just have to watch the fluctuations. They'll either gravitate towards this horse because it's simply the best horse in the race and they think it'll overcome all those obstacles or it will blow like the southwesterly wind. So keep an eye on Brave Monarch. Also, look, another one in the race, let's face the music. Now, this is a team affair for the Gearing Camp, trained by Corey. Corey Gearing and his mum, Kylie, this is actually the favourite for the race, the $3.80 favourite on TAB Fixed Odds. And if you don't mind, there's two trainers by the same name of the same family, but also Dad Gary, who's a great man. He recently retired for two years and he basically came out of retirement effectively to ride a few horses for his family and this is one of them. So, look, they've never won a Wheatwood, the Gearing's. They're from Toowoomba, obviously, from the Darling Downs. So this would be huge. And let's not forget, Tony Gawne spent, I reckon, 20 years trying to win a Wheatwood. I mean, he's from Toowoomba, isn't he? So this is actually a very good sprint. It's hard to even get a horse in the race. So it's, you know, I know there's a lot bigger fish to fry, a lot bigger races around Australia on the weekend, but the Wheatwood in Toowoomba has a very special place in the heart of Queenslanders and particularly those from the Darling Downs area.
Speaker 1Well said. Lastly, from you, Mitch Cohen, which we spoke about, obviously, the upgrade there to the Apollo, et cetera, just some, you've got some Golden Rose news, mainly in regards to Guesthouse.
Speaker 3Yeah, we'll talk about a 1,400 metre race that should be a Group 1, and it is a Group 1, Dave. There's a much better race this, the Golden Rose. I think Crackingfield, isn't it, Dave? But it's all about Guesthouse. We've never had a colt, never had a horse in the same year. You win both the Golden Slipper and Golden Rose. And speaking of Zach Lloyd yesterday, he's certainly confident that Guesthouse can be the one to do it. He was wrapped by the draw. He thinks if he can get that first, half of the race right, he'll be very confident that he'll be in the finish there. He's obviously been two, oh, he's 230 favourite now, Dave. So the pundits have come for him again. He's going to take a pair of beating, and Zach Lloyd, very confident there. So good race, Dave. Good day of racing all round in Sydney.
Speaker 1Can't wait. An absolute beauty. Pleasure. Ben, good to have you back. Mitch, good to have you on the program. Enjoy, gentlemen. Thanks, Dave.
PodcastTranscript AI