The NSW Tycoons are going to the dance, although I’m not completely sure whether it is the $3 million Big Dance on Melbourne Cup day at Royal Randwick with Estadio Mestalla or the Little Dance on the same day.
But what we are certain of is that owners in the Tycoons need to get their dancing shoes ready because either way Estadio has qualified for one of the big two feature races at Randwick on that first Tuesday in November.
That’s courtesy of running top two in Sunday’s South Grafton Cup behind Group 2 winner Cepheus who survived a protest.
Look there’s no bad result here, while the Big Dance is the major prize, the Little Dance is worth a cool $750,000 – and that still takes you a long way in a council bus.
SOUTH GRAFTON CUP
Hasn’t this bloke been a revelation for the NSW Tycoons?
Estadio Mestalla was bought at the Inglis Online Late November Sales for a mere $65,000 and has now amassed $187,775 in prize money from his 8 starts since and fingers crossed plenty more to come.
The Big Dance quickly came on the horizon after Estadio finished 4th at Newcastle in his return from a spell and your trainer Joe Pride made the effort to make the trip to Grafton on Sunday.
“Emilio” went to the front shortly after the start of the South Grafton Cup and unfortunately there was no loafing from Michael Cahill on Estadio Mestalla.
Cahill tried to get to the better ground when cornering but was quickly bashed back to the inferior ground on the inside by Nash Rawiller on Group 2 winner Cepheus and there was bumping down the straight.
“He travelled good, he picked up well from the 600m, I wanted to be 3 or 4 off the rail but the winner gave me a decent bump and pushed me back towards the rail.
“So if connections are agreeable I’d like to lodge a protest. If I have had a bit more racing room we would have won” Jockey Michael Cahill said.
He didn’t have to ask twice, the protest was lodged but dismissed by stewards, although your trainer still left the track happy.
“He (Estadio Mestalla) is just a good honest horse and I know he’s looking for firmer ground. He is definitely a runner in the Big Dance, but he’s in the Little Dance for sure and that may suit him better and the prize money is still good.
“We will get him home and have a good look at him before making a decision on what’s next” Pride concluded.
If I have had a bit more racing room we would have won Jockey Michael Cahill
GREAT CONCEPT
Sure the Melbourne Cup will always be the feature race on the first Tuesday in November, it’s been that way since 1861 when Archer walked from Sydney to Melbourne to win the Cup staged at Flemington.
But Peter V’Landys and his team decided why should the Victorians have a free kick and be the only big race on the day when a Nation stops to watch a race. To put some much-needed oomph and pazzazz into the Randwick meeting Racing NSW launched The Big Dance in 2022.
With that amount of prize money, there have been capacity fields of 20 runners in the Big and Little Dance editions since inception.
Finish first or second in any of the nominated Country Cups and you are eligible for the Dances. Win and you are virtually guaranteed a spot in the Big Dance with Benchmark ratings coming into play.
The criticism is that with Metropolitan trainers targeting the Country Cups like Joe Pride did with Estadio Mestalla it leaves little room for Country gallopers in their local Cups and even less chance of a country galloper winning the Big or Little Dance.
In total, 68 horses could be nominated for 40 places across the two races, meaning up to 28 gallopers (41%) could miss out altogether. So the only certainty in the end is there’s no certainty, but I reckon the NSW Tycoons can still make some noise on Cup day at Randwick.
Go Estadio Mestalla or should we say Twinkle Toes, a very own Fred Astaire.