The NSW Tycoons are going to The Dance

Jul 18, 2024

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 at Grafton

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

Estadio Mestalla at Grafton for the South Grafton Cup 14th July 2024

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. 

BOUNCE BACK FACTOR 

As Tycoons were made aware of, there’s a theory in racing that when a horse suffers from cardiac arrhythmia, “you must back it next start” and they win. 

And that was certainly the message after Cool Jakey suffered cardiac arrhythmia the previous start at Randwick, with Joe Pride telling Tycoons in the pre-race late mail, “Don’t worry about what happened last start, the horse is fine and he looks great,” how right Joe was with Cool Jakey leading all the way.

COOL JAKEY THE KING OF WARWICK FARM 050325

Cool Jakey battling to the line with Emmadella

Cool Jakey trainer Joe Pride, Brave Pride, Jockey Adam Hyeronimus and TK

Trainer Joe Pride and son Brave Pride, Jockey Adam Hyeronimus and TRL Rep TK

HIPPO FROM BARRIER TO BOX

Adam Hyeronimus was having his first sit on Cool Jakey and he rode him a treat. We joked before the race “just go to the front and improve your position” and that’s exactly what he did. 

“He jumped well and found a nice rhythm straight away, he had a nice time so I let him slide early into it at the 600metres so we did go a bit early. 

“He felt fantastic throughout the run and was doing it easily, so I did get a bit of a surprise how quickly he stopped. 

“So maybe I did go too early, but in saying that, maybe seven furlongs is his upper limit. On that effort he’ll be winning again” Jockey Adam Hyeronimus said.

JOE DELIGHTED

“That was good guys” trainer Joe Pride said, with a big smile to a large contingent of NSW Tycoons on Cool Jakey returning to scale. 

“Look it was nice to see him win on a track that wasn’t bottomless wet, it opens up a lot more opportunities for him. 

“In saying that if there was a 1400m for him in a fortnight on a Good track I would probably be reluctant to start him. We need to nurse him through it and the next month – six weeks isn’t going to be easy because it’s carnival time. 

Cool Jakey the king of Warwick Farm with NSW Tycoons

Cool Jakey in the winners circle with NSW Tycoons’ owners

WHATS NEXT – PACK YOUR BAGS

The Tycoons have been very patient with Cool Jakey and their patience has been rewarded. He is building a very nice career record which stands at only 13 starts for 5 wins and a minor placing and is now pushing the $200,000 in prize money. 

‘Jakey’ has initially pulled up well, but we all know that he is a delicate soul and has to be treated with kindness and Joe is reluctant to push him too hard too quickly. Which is fair enough. 

“We might even consider travelling him maybe to Melbourne or Brisbane for a wet track, we just need to look after him.

“He’s been a good horse for us, we will look after him and his best opportunities will come in the Winter,” Joe concluded. 

Congratulations to all NSW Tycoons and winning connections.

Go you good thing!