Racing Honours – 2022 Best of the Best

Form analyst, RIC CHAPMAN, looks at the 2022 Season and finds those worthy of the big accolades.

 

The season was thwarted to a large degree by the constant rain but stars emerged and ran through the pain and rain. The best of them I believe has to be ANAMOE (Street Boss-Anamato). He ended the year running a brave 4th in the Gr 1 Champions (McKinnon) Stakes but he was done by that race after winning four Gr 1 races in a row during the Spring including the Cox Plate. Thus far he has earned $10million in prize money and what a career – placed in the Gr 1 Golden Slipper and Blue Diamond before winning a juvenile Gr 1 as a 2YO, and just improving and improving as he aged. Very rarely, only once in a generation do you find horses who win Gr 1 races as a 2YO, 3YO and a 4YO. He did.

Tip: Anamoe

 

So hard to quantify this one. Do we look at Gr 1 wins, or maybe number of individual winners for the year, or a training effort with one horse? Just impossible but I think the gong should go to Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott. They had multiple Gr 1 winners during the year but the effort to get the enigmatic and ailing ALLIGATOR BLOOD (All Too Hard-Lake Superior) back to his best to claim a Gr 1 in both the winter and the Spring was nothing but sensational horse management. Ciaron Maher and Dave Eustace must get a a special mention too for the consistency of talent their horses show along with Annabel Neasham who just keeps producing star after star.

Tip: Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott

Because I was on Gold Trip for a big amount in the Cup I wanted to nominate him for this category but really there is only one winner: the Gr 1 Epsom Handicap at Randwick. Picture this: a Heavy 8 track, three horses accelerate as they top the rise and dash clear with about six inches between them, then with 75m to go that number drops to two with them both hitting the line exactly together. Ellsberg (Spill The Beans-Love Of Liberty) and Top Ranked (Dark Angel-Countess Ferrama) dead-heated to claim the race with a head back to Hinged (Worthy Cause-Tints) in 3rd. Race for the ages.

Tip: Gr 1 Epsom Hcp

Oh, how this is a topic of conjecture. At this stage to my eye I think Godolphin’s Golden Mile (Astern-Calaverite ) and the beast from the west Amelia’s Jewel (Siyouni-Bumbasina) probably have caught my intention going forward. Both these 3YOs were Gr 1 winners this year with the colt Golden Mile winning 4 of his 6 race starts. Once he strengths up he will be a major star in races like the Cox Plate, QE Stakes etc. As for the filly, oh my word she is good. In her career thus far she has claimed 6 races from 7 starts – her latest being a superb Gr 1 win in the Northerly Stakes over 1800m. She is equally as potent over 1200m and when she comes east, get on.

Tip: Golden Mile & Amelia’s Jewel

Again, a subject open to speculation but I truly think despite the fact millions and millions of dollars were lost on Nature Strip in The Everest that he figures in the talks. His English win, his dominant Gr 1 win there was a proud moment for all of us to share. As was the emergence of horse and trainer Gigi Kick and Clayton Douglas. When he stormed home to claim Nature Strip with 100m to go and win The Everest we knew we saw a changing of the guard and the emergence of a real star. And his trainer Clayton Douglas, is very popular and deserves a look at the greener grass Gr 1 racing brings.

Tip: Giga Kick & Nature Strip