Lankan Rupee left Brazen Beau in his wake. Pic: George Salpigtidis
Despite obvious joy and relief, trainer Mick Price was typically grounded in assessing Lankan Rupee after the resurrected world champion sprinter won Saturday’s Black Caviar Lightning at Flemington.
“He’s just Lankan Rupee, not Black Caviar,’’ Price said, as if comparing the next-best boxer to Ali. But racing’s weights and measures are a strange thing.
At weight-for-age, and as a concession even in handicaps, the boys are treated more harshly than the girls, even big lumps like Black Caviar.
Watch Lankan Rupee’s win here:
Final 300m of Lightning Stakes
It’s the notion of a fairer sex that seems to carry less currency every time a 550kg mare like Black Caviar, Makybe Diva and Sunline thunders onto the scene.
Black Caviar won the Newmarket Handicap with 58kg in 2011. She is long gone but her impression lingers.
Black Caviar’s 25 straight wins were commemorated on Saturday with placards signifying each win for the length of the public lawn. Some of her owners mingled in the rather spartan crowd.
As Price and everyone else knows well, Lankan Rupee is not within cooee of our greatest ever sprinter — yet if he is to win the Newmarket Handicap next month he will have to carry more weight.
Racing Victoria handicapper Neil Jennings hinted strongly after Lankan Rupee smashed Brazen Beau and Deep Field that Lankan Rupee would be asked to carry a “minimum’’ of 58.5kg in a Newmarket that is shaping as epic.
Lankan Rupee, as good as he is, will lump probably the same weight as the mighty Hay List when Hay List bobbed and beat Buffering in the 2012 Newmarket.
He will have to give promising horses like Chautauqua — who shares $3.50 favouritism for the race with Lankan Rupee — Terravista and Deep Field up to five or six kilograms.
To win the Newmarket Lankan Rupee will have to be probably be better than before and the signs were there on Saturday that he may be.
Unbeaten, powerful Deep Field was crunched into favouritism. High class three-year-old Brazen Beau was also specked.
But there was no match race, no sneaky dangers. Lankan Rupee blitzed them.
Craig Newitt played the role of stalker rather than bunny, a role that caused his downfall at least twice last spring.
By the 200m Deep Field and Brazen Beau were flat and fading as Lankan Rupee cut loose, winning by almost three lengths.
Ultraconservative Price described the win as “a bit dominant.’’
“Sometimes you get a blowout horse in these races with small fields but it worked really well,’’ he said.
Price said he was determined to now have Lankan Rupee ridden from behind, as was effectively the case on Saturday.
“I want his best 400 to be his last 400,’’ he said. “He’s only Lankan Rupee, not Black Caviar — he has to be ridden properly.’’
Price said he would accept the Newmarket challenge with Lankan Rupee, then head to Sydney for the T.J. Smith Stakes — which he won last year — before heading to Brisbane.
John Hawkes is a bit like Price — he does not make excuses or mince words.
Deep Field was plainly disappointing.
“Just beaten by a better horse on the day,’’ Hawkes said.
www.heraldsun.com
