O ne out of the box, as an old neighbour of mine used to say: the Victoria Racing Club’s inaugural Champions Day last year proved magical. There is a great word in French: prestidigitation. Think of Mandrake the Magician in cape and top hat: now you see it, now you don’t … and now you do! On Champions Day at Flemington last year, classics seemingly vanished. Something bigger and better took their place. The VRC launched its new-look final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival with not just one but three $3 million Group 1 champion races to strengthen the last of the traditional four race days as a grand finale, sustaining depth and quality right to the end of the week. There was also the Group 3 Queen’s Cup for stayers, icing on a magical cake. Those three Champions Races justified the label and the increased prizemoney. They stay fresh in the mind. The 2022 VRC Newmarket Handicap winner, New Zealand mare Roch ‘N’ Horse, edged international champion Nature Strip out of first place in the Darley Champions Sprint. Rising star Giga Kick finished fast but narrowly missed a place. Then, in the Kennedy Champions Mile, the popular Alligator Blood beat Group 1 winners Tuvalu and Mr Brightside. The flashy Zaaki defeated his stablemate Mo’unga in the TAB Champions Stakes. But here is the real magic: something can be new and historic at the same time. Each of those new Champions races has a pedigree that stretches far back into the past, bringing the lustre of history to the champions of 2022.
EPIC SPRINT: Roch ‘N’ Horse claims another Flemington feature Group 1 in the 2022 Darley Champions Sprint. (Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images)
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