Western Australian Cup

ASKING NICELY

 

A few years ago, at Belmont, I asked Fred Kersley, “when is your grey next racing?”

The champion horseman replied: “which one?”

I replied,“ask me nicely and I will tell you.”

Fred replied: “in that case I will tell you nicely,” – and he did.

Fast forward to March 2015 at a mid week meeting that saw Ask Me Nicely’s look alike, Silver Plated, trained by Gavin Foster, score emphatically and I again asked Fred about his grey and whether he was a 3200m proposition.

The trainer replied his main goal was the Pinjarra Cup (2300m) at the end of March. Ask Me Nicely ran second to Kirov Boy in that Battle of Pinjarra-a more peaceful resolution then in the 1852 conflict between police and Aboriginals

The Western Australian Cup this Saturday sees the 3200m race distance feature again at an Ascot meeting.

It has taken some seven years to slot another 3200m in, because the iconic Perth Cup was last run over the two mile journey in 2008.The move to change the distance thereafter, to 2400m, led to a firestorm of protests, and a promise, subsequently, by Perth Racing committee, to bring back a race to test the true prowess of stayers.

It has been a case of the squeaky wheel getting the oil and a win for those repeatedly asking, nicely, for such a race.

Certainly April is a better month, climatically, for such an endurance race as January 1, the traditional Perth Cup date, is often a blazing hot day. There was talk of changing the Perth Cup to April at one stage but the committee had bitten off enough, back in 2008, with their policy of changing the distance.

Will the WA Cup form a new tradition? Time will tell. The stake money of $120,000 is a modest one and hopefully it can increase in the near future.

So what of the prospects for the inaugural Western Australian Cup which this writer considers the most interesting race of a day that includes the WA Derby, Sires Produce Stakes and Matchmaker Stakes?  (So much so that I asked my Sunday Times colleague, Julio Santarelli, ever so nicely of course, to do the Derby and allow me to concentrate on the two-miler. He agreed. There are times I am absolutely irresistible and this was one of them!).

Kirov Boy is the nominee of the ‘Veterans Affairs Department.’ The five year old chestnut ridden by Australia’s oldest jockey Danny Miller, (67), and trained by 75 year old Arthur Mortimer is in impeccable form.

I had to smile about a reader’s comment in Racing and Sports back on the 31 March 2011. It read: “Danny Miller has lost his ability to think and react why does he continie (sic) to do it? Only disaster can come of this PLEASE Danny retire NOW.” Talk about being left with egg all over your face…………his forecast is even worse than his spelling and punctuation.

The writer described himself as ‘Lukestarsback,’ a better name would be shellback. Four years on Dashing Dan is covering himself with glory.

If Miller lands Kirov Boy victorious it will be his fourth cup win in a fortnight. It pays to write nicely about senior jockeys! The Mingenew, Pinjarra (2300m) and Dongara cups have all fallen to the veteran hoop, the middle victory with Kirov Boy.

The chestnut can carry weight as he has showed in his last two successes. He carried 59kg at Pinjarra, beating Ask Me Nicely (Shaun O’Donnell), with 54kg.  A few starts earlier, with apprentice Emma Stent aboard, he carried 60.5 kg, over 2400m, and beat Dragon Lead (William Pike) 54kg by half a head. Mortimer’s move to put a claiming 3kg apprentice on was vindicated as 63.5kg would have been a bridge too far.

In addition on Christmas Eve, last year he won the ATA Handicap (2200m) by almost eight lengths from Ask Me Nicely (55-54kg).

Both Kirov Boy (2015) and Ask Me Nicely (2013) have run third in 2400m Perth Cups.

Can the grey reverse the verdict of recent battles against his chestnut bête noire?

He is certainly advantaged by a 5kg pull in the weight. Ask Me Nicely will only carry 54kg and over the 3200m journey that may count in the finish.

While Danny Miller has always said Kirov Boy would be a perfect two miler weight over the distance may tell against the topweight against his grey rival –who has the services of the mercurial one-Shaun O’Donnell.

However, Ask Me Nicely, despite two cup seconds at his last two starts has not won a race since the end of November, 2013, when Steven Parnham was the rider, as he was for all six of the grey's WA wins.

I have written enough about O’Donnell lately (see ozrace stories- Adaptable O’Donnell gets Lion share of prize, Donga’s Day, and A good duel in the first). A fierce competitor, with a take-no- prisoners attitude, he is just as much at home poking through a gap on the fence or sweeping imperiously down the outside to claim victory. He can give a witty retort one moment, and be serious the next. He can advise racing writers on what questions to ask and also sort out recalcitrant punters who interject on his speeches –as he did famously on Railway Stakes Day 2013.

Ora Dare is also a strong chance. Staying races and cup races attract top trainer Adam Durrant in the same way that white pointers are attracted to blood in the water. With the services of jockey Peter Hall the Durrant galloper will want for nothing in the saddle. Hall is a strong rider and seems a perfectly relaxed, happy individual.

He and Durrant combined to beat Ask Me Nicely in the Grandstand Cup (1500m), some three weeks ago, with Tower of Lonhro.

However Kersley may finally crack a cup win with his relaxed grey over the now unknown 3200m distance for stayers.

If so, it will then be a case of Fred replying to questions by saying, “ask me nicely and I will tell you.”

I’ll make a point of it.

 Ditto for Donga.

Hoofnote: Ask Ne Nicely did in fact win the inaugural 2015 WA Cup in as thrilling finish. The grey galloper also went on to win the Boulder Cup later that year and has since been retired.