Another interesting fact from Melbourne Cup Week – Despite recording some 211 Group 1 victories as of Derby Day, Chris Waller has still never won the VRC Oaks

That is an absolutely true fact – The second-oldest 3YO Group 1 in Australia, the VRC Oaks (First run in 1861) is one of approximately 13 unique Group 1 races (Having won approximately 63/76 Group 1s in Australia as of Lady Shenandoah winning the Toorak last month) that Chris Waller has never won as a trainer, a fact that remains as De Armas ran 2nd to Proxima Dea on Thursday, with the Australian Guineas in the Autumn being the only other Flemington Group 1 that Waller has never won.

Other than that, it’s been a wildly interesting week capped off by the events of Tuesday afternoon, as in the 166th edition of the Melbourne Cup, King Charles’ Frankel progeny Point of Law at start number 6 exploded down the straight to become the first favourite to win the Cup since Fiorente in 2013 (The only 2 favourites since Makybe Diva to win the race), capping off what was an usually good day for favourites at Flemington, Ciaron Maher became the first trainer to train the trifecta of the Melbourne Cup, on top of that having 5 of the first 6 runners home, and he was the first trainer to train the quinella since Bart Cummings’ fifth Cup quinella in 1991 with Let’s Elope and Shiva’s Revenge…

Of course, Shane Dye rode Shiva’s Revenge and protested against Let’s Elope, to which Bart replied “Well, I can’t lose!”

And we’ll also just curiously overlook the European-style pacemaker ride that Ben Allen gave on Royal Supremacy (Which we all assumed was outlawed in Australia), which perfectly set things up for the remaining Maher brigade to run over the top and fight out the race, because that ride was one of many things, among them a good ride that actually gave Royal Supremacy a chance to pull off a boilover given he was still leading at the 200m, and kicked like a mule and only just lost the photo for 4th, but unfortunately leading all the way in the Cup has only been done twice in living memory, by a certain Might And Power and Twilight Payment.

Anyway, that was Cup Day, and now we have the last day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, aka Stakes Day, officially known as CHAMPIONS DAY with the 3 Group 1 races; The Champions Sprint (The Darley Sprint Classic), featuring Everest winner Tempted, the Champions Mile (The old Cantala Stakes) which used to be the feature race of the last Saturday of the Cup Carnival, and the Champions Stakes, which is the time-honoured Mackinnon Stakes that Bart Cummings used as a lead-up race to the Melbourne Cup so perfectly for decades, but has now become the encore performance for the Cox Plate runners as Via Sistina backed up from both Cox Plate wins to win the 2024 & 2025 races, finally giving the VRC some justification for moving the race a decade ago, and now Cosmic Crusader backs up from his Flemington Cox Plate victory, joined by Birdman, Aeliana (Much better draw this time around), Sir Delius, Light Infantry Man, Land Legend, Von Hauke and Attrition.

It should also be noted that William Pike aboard Cosmic Crusader gets the chance to win a Mackinnon that he would’ve absolutely won in 2020 with Arcadia Queen, but The Wizard had to go back to Perth to quarantine in time to ride Inspirational Girl for the Railway Stakes, so Luke Currie got the perfect sit and steer ride and won the race… it wasn’t all bad for The Wizard because he did win that Railway.

Other than that, Rosehill has the Hot Danish Stakes, the Five Diamonds and the Golden Gift, and Ascot has the feature Group 2 Lee Steere Stakes, the primary lead-up race to the Railway Stakes in a fortnight, which does seem ironic because it used to be on the same day as the Railway Stakes, which itself used to be on the same day as the Perth Cup during the New Year.

Another interesting fact – 5 Group 1s during Cup Week have been all been won by the betting favourite…. anyway that’s about to change, because here’s Crazy Craig!

Pinhole (No.4, Barrier 7) in Race 3 at Flemington (MR3), 1:50pm AEDT

2600m Group 3 Quality VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes

Trainer: Chris Waller, Jockey: James McDonald, 56kg

G’day knackers, Crazy Craig here, and here’s a fun history lesson for those of you who don’t know, the Queen Elizabeth/Queen’s Cup (Renamed in 1979) is the old C.B. Fisher Plate, always run on the last Saturday of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, which has been won by some proper bloody legends of the turf, many of them backing up after winning the Melbourne Cup on the Tuesday:

Phar Lap in 1930, completing the immortal achievement of winning on all 4 days of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, Ajax in 1938, Rising Fast in 1954 and 1955, Even Stevens in 1962, Galilee defeated Tobin Bronze in 1966, Rain Lover won it in 1968 days after winning the Cup by 8 lengths, Hyperno in 1979 and 1980, it was the scene of Might and Power’s last win in 1998, backing up from his Cox Plate win, and of course an unknown Makybe Diva won the race in 2002, which allowed David Hall to set her for the 2003 Melbourne Cup, but sadly the race has suffered since it was downgraded to a Group 3 in 2005…

But that won’t deter me for going for a winner here, and off the back of what turned into a barrier trial in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup, Pinhole should be getting the right run to win this one, up against Joseph O’Brien’s Defiantly, who was at one point favourite for this year’s Melbourne Cup before getting scratched by the Racing Victoria vets only last Saturday!

And now, here’s an appearance from Pinhole…. sorry, I meant Hole:

Cosmic Crusader (No.1, Barrier 11) in the Champions Stakes at Flemington (MR8), 5:10pm AEDT

2000m WFA Group 1 TAB Champions Stakes

Trainer: Andrea Leek, Jockey: William Pike, 59kg

Cosmic Crusader… we should call him COXmic Crusader now, after this great moment in the history of Australian racing, THE ONLY HORSE TO WIN THE COX PLATE OUTSIDE OF MOONEE VALLEY, COURTESY OF THE GREATEST WIZARD SINCE SIMON WHITLOCK, WILLIAM PIKE!

Crazy Crappy Group 1 Picks

Champions Sprint: Headwall (No.3, Barrier 6) E/W… no issue with the straight, the Cup winning jockey in Ethan Brown, worth an each-way thought especially with some forecast rain for Flemington, given Tempted might prove to be too strong.

Champions Mile: Autumn Glow (No.8, Barrier 2), very underwhelming CHAMPIONS Mile as the field run scared from Autumn Glow, hence the $1.22 quote… first start in Melbourne as well, so we’ll see if she has as many problems running counterclockwise as Kingston Town did.

Enjoy your Saturday folks, STAY DRY, stay safe, stay negative, KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD, and remember, I’m Crazy Craig, and that’s why they call me Craaaaaazy Craig!