MULTIPLE group 1 winners Whobegotyou, Shoot Out and Typhoon Tracy today stake their claim for next month's Cox Plate, but as opinions differ as to who should be favourite, there appears to be one certainty about today's Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes: the judge will be needed to clarify the result, reports The Age.It says: Apart from last year, when Whobegotyou beat an abnormally inferior bunch by a length, a photo has been needed to determine the winner each year since Sunline's 2000 romp, where she
MULTIPLE group 1 winners Whobegotyou, Shoot Out and Typhoon Tracy today stake their claim for next month's Cox Plate, but as opinions differ as to who should be favourite, there appears to be one certainty about today's Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes: the judge will be needed to clarify the result, reports The Age.
It says: Apart from last year, when Whobegotyou beat an abnormally inferior bunch by a length, a photo has been needed to determine the winner each year since Sunline's 2000 romp, where she strolled home by 3¢ lengths as the $1.18 favourite.
Consider not only the margin but the class of horse that has won and been narrowly beaten in the race since 2001, when Northerly beat Sunline by a long head. In 2002, Fields Of Omagh beat Magical Miss by a half head; in 2003 Natural Blitz beat Vocabulary by a short neck; in 2004 Delzao beat Makybe Diva by a short head; in 2005 Makybe Diva went down by a short head to Lad Of The Manor, who won the race again in 2006, this time by a nose from Apache Cat. In 2007, El Segundo beat Haradasun by a nose, before Guillotine came with a late run to pip Casual Pass by a long neck in 2008.
The Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes is also intimately linked with the Cox Plate run at the same track six weeks later. Six of the past 10 Cox Plate winners have come through the race. Today's race is crucial for the main players for varying reasons. Most critically, Gold Coast super horse Shoot Out must show he can adapt to the tight-turning track if he is to continue towards a Cox Plate.