Australian Racing
1999 Spring Racing Carnival

by Bronwen Healy

The highlights of the Australian Spring Racing Carnival were the Melbourne Cup, the Cox Plate, the Caulfield Cup and the Caulfield Guineas.

Rogan Josh winning the Melbourne Cup from Central Park

Early in 1999 the irrepressible trainer Bart Cummings took over the training of a 7 year gelding from Perth, Rogan Josh, and the pair combined to win the final Melbourne Cup of the 1900s. The win gave Cummings a remarkable 11th victory in Australia's most famous race. Cummings, in less than 12 months, transformed Rogan Josh over the spring. The horse, after winning a lead-up race to qualify, ran a game fourth in the Caulfield Cup, then won the WFA MacKinnon Stakes (2000m) on Derby Day. He was partnered by John Marshall in the Melbourne Cup, and finished over the top of Frankie Dettori's mount Central Park to win by almost a length.

Frankie Dettori, jet-setting international jockey, added enormously to the atmosphere of Melbourne Cup day. After several unsuccessful attempts, he finally recorded his first Australian winner on La Zoffany. He gave the media and public a look at his famous star jump when he returned to scale, generously waiting until we (photographers) were all ready, then leaping off the horse to the applause of the crowd. For Frankie, no doubt the win provided some small consolation for the fact that he is still yet to win the Melbourne Cup after coming oh so close.

Following the sensational scratching of race favourite Kayf Tara one week before the race, with a suspensory ligament injury, Frankie still managed to almost pull off a remarkable victory, riding Godolphin's second string horse, Central Park to a close second. Central Park, under a clever ride from Dettori, almost stole the race, and was only collared by Rogan Josh in the final stages of the race, when conceding the winner some 6kg in weight. It left us all wondering what might have been, with Kayf Tara rated some 5 lengths superior to his stablemate.

The victorious Sunline

10 days earlier, the New Zealand wonder mare, Sunline, had blitzed her rivals, including the first international runner in the Cox Plate, the Dermot Weld trained Make No Mistake, in the Emirates World Series BMW WS Cox Plate. The mare led all the way, striding away on the turn to win in a time only bettered by the great Might and Power the year before. Although Sunline started favourite on race-day, she had been something of the forgotten horse in the lead up to the race, but her win was enormously popular with the large crowd at the Valley that day. Sunline later ran in the Hong Kong International Cup, but appeared to have trained off, with a substandard unplaced run.

The Group 1 Caulfield Cup was won by Sky Heights, and his sire, Australian Champion Sire Zabeel (Sir Tristram - Lady Giselle -Nureyev) actually sired the trifecta, with Laebeel and Inaflurry filling the minor placings. Sky Heights and Laebeel staged a titanic duel down the straight, with Sky Heights, on the inside, winning by the narrowest of margins.

The best two three year olds of the season were arguably Redoute's Choice and Testa Rossa. Both colts are by shuttle stallions: Redoute's Choice by champion sire Danehill, Testa Rossa by a ¾ brother to Saddler's Wells and Fairy King in Perugino. They continued their great rivalry in the spring, which had begun as two year olds when Redoute's Choice, on only his second start, defeated Testa Rossa in the Blue Diamond Stakes.

Testa Rossa and Redoute's Choice in the Caulfield Guineas

As three year olds, the return clash was eagerly awaited, although the first 'match' race was something of a non-event when both colts were beaten in the Ascot Vale Stakes. Testa Rossa then ran a magnificent race to win the VicHealth Cup (a handicap over 1400m at Caulfield), with Redoute's Choice third. In the Caulfield Guineas, after a stirring battle down the straight, Redoute's Choice wore down Testa Rossa to win by a neck.

Their final start for the season was in the Cox Plate, and while both were beaten by the great Sunline, they performed well, with Testa Rossa finishing ahead of his rival, when the pair ran 4th and 5th. Both horses went for a well deserved spell after the Cox Plate, their connections electing to miss the Victoria Derby which was won by another son of Danehill, Blackfriars.

Bronwen with Octagonal and his trainer John Hawkes Bronwen Healy is one of Australia's leading horse racing photographers. She lives in Canberra, the National Capital, and has been photographing the major Australian Carnivals since 1993, concentrating on the major races in Melbourne and Sydney. She photographs on a part-time professional basis, and her photography sees her travelling for significant portions of the year. She covers almost all feature Australian races in Sydney and Melbourne, including the Melbourne and Caulfield Cups, the Cox Plate, Golden Slipper, AJC and VRC Derbies, and many more. Her library includes some of the best horses to have raced in Australia during the past 6 years, such as Might and Power, Octagonal, Saintly, Mahogany, Sunline, Doriemus and Vintage Crop. Bronwen is a keen rider and horse owner, and has been riding since she was 6. She has followed horse racing all her life. You can visit Bronwen's web site here or contact her at bronnie@ausracing.net.au or click here