Interesting , reminds me of the let's elope ,better loosen up match race but unfortunately loosen up wasn't at his best at that time but great memories

That’s a lot of money but even if VE wins addeybb won the queen Elizabeth. The race will mean nothing

Its about backing a winner in this sport .

Bit of a silly idea imho

Wow

What a lot of hoo ha. Sounds like sour grapes to me. Addeybb beat Verry Elleegant fair and square on Saturday and with the score at 3-1 it’s obvious that he is the best horse. A match race would only see him winning by a bigger margin. To Mr Sokolski, I would say suck it up and be gracious in defeat, you just sound like a sore loser.

10 million dollar match race who are they going to satisfy themselves if they got so much money why can't that's spended covid research that will make a lot more people happy then just two owners

Not sure how i feel about this.Is it disrespectful to the Addeybb camp to come up with this sort of offer so early after their defeat.Was it alcohol infused by some young fella trying to prove by throwing down a heap of money that they are the strength and money is a way of lets show them.I hope the Addeybb camp enjoy their success and they certainly have nothing to prove,that was done on Saturday.

Totally agree. VERY poor sportsmanship. That's bad enough in itself, but the timing - straight after a great win by Addeybb and his team - is contemptible arrogance.

In lieu of a contrived match race post the actual main event, here's my suggestions for them. (1) Take a leaf out of the Addeybb connections' book and get your mare on a plane to the UK for a race William Haggas will target with Addeybb. I'm sure he'll let you know which one. (2) Too scared to take him on in his own backyard? Get a grip, and stop giving knockers of Australian sportsmanship another opportunity to stick it to us. (3) Suck it up petals.

I think you should direct your penultimate sentence to Australian sportsmen. There’s been a few doozies over the years!

Lack of grace, i would say
Mr Sokolski likes to be in the limelight

Was the track watered for Addeybb? Reminiscent of a track watering in 2005!

The decision to put 2mm of water on the track on Friday was a disgraceful move.

Agree - it opens up all sorts of questions some of which would be very embarrassing for the ATC.

Apparently it was 4ml. Also there were many who were at the races that were pretty brassed off and angry.

And soft tracks put her at a disadvantage how? She has got a terrific soft track record.

Are you a bit dim? If they had left the track dry Addeybb would most likely have been scratched or certainly wouldn’t have performed as he did in the soft. All the hype would have gone out of the race & VE would have won. Very reminiscent of that race in 2005.

Rubbish. Addeybb was running irrespective. Didn't come 17000km to squib it. VE is at least as adept in the wet as Addeybb so neither was advantaged. In the end Tom outriding James probably made the difference in a slowly run race which didn't suit either. A Good 4 - which this wasn't despite the official rating -often has give in it. It's borderline dead in the old money.

Can you tell me why they watered the track? There was no reason other than to accommodate Addeybb as far as I can see. And no I am not talking through my pocket - I never backed VE. In the Quadie I had both horses. My anchor horse was Probabeel in the Sydney quadi which is why I missed getting the Sydney Quadie.

Ouch, don't mention the quaddie, I like you missed out with Probabeel as my banker!

No. Rubywax makes a very good point a wetter track would of been better for her too. Perhaps you should shelve your track watering conspiracy theories and accept that Addeyyb is the better horse.

I do accept he is a better horse on soft to heavy ground. However on a dry track VE would win.

That is a ridiculous statement. They were always going to run, just because he is great on wet ground, does not mean he isn’t world class on good ground. He won the Ranvet last year on a good track

Read what the trainer said. And why did they water the track the night before the race?

The ride didn't help her chances, but yes you are right Addeybb would have been scratched.

Which would be news to Haggas Van.

From earlier last week on this website (my emphasis):

“Addeybb is nowhere near as good on a dry track,’’ Haggas told The Daily Telegraph from his Newmarket stables in England.

“If it wasn’t so far away I’d probably consider not running him but there is nothing we can do about the weather.’’

Addeybb won the Queen Elizabeth Stakes by nearly three lengths from Verry Elleegant last year on a track rated a heavy 8 but he won’t have anything like those conditions on Saturday.

The Randwick track surface was rated a soft 5 late Tuesday and with fine weather forecast for the rest of this week, it is expected to be in the good range for Sydney’s richest autumn carnival race.

Haggas said despite concerns about the relatively firm Randwick surface Addeybb will be given his chance to win successive Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday.

Yes I read that and I listened to Mr Haggas’ interview on Sky Racing and he was concerned about the track, the saving at the time was he felt Randwick would be a better track than Rosehill in terms of a softer going. He was hoping the rain came. None of us will know if the going was a good 3 or 4, which was more likely until the track was watered and became a Soft 6, would have swayed the trainer not to run. But it’s a decision he did not have to make. I think that is the nub of the matter.

No Van, Addeybb wouldn't have been scratched. They came half way around the world to run in these two races and the horse was fit and well. If the track was too hard for him to stretch out, I'm sure that the trainer of the horse would have just copped it on the chin because it is an outdoor sport. The real issue here is race clubs manipulating tracks to satisfy some owners and trainers and/or to make the race(s) more "competitive", if that is indeed, what the aim was.

The Champion mare loves soft going and the watering of the track didn't hinder her chances, however, maybe there were some at the ATC who thought that she would donkey lick the Champion from the Northern Hemisphere if the going was too hard for him and he didn't stretch out and that would be bad for "marketing and PR". Sport and manipulation don't go together.

Read Callendars article written after my post re track being watered to aid Addeybb. I’m pretty sure there are some naive people taking exception to my comments - you being one of them.

They were running on a Good Track anyway, no discussion about scratching

Funny most analysts who were interviewed on Monday said no way was the track Good. The track was discussed at length on Monday and the consensus was the track should not have been watered due to a number of factors specific to Randwick.

l never said it wasnt a Slow Track, l picked up on that fact races earlier and bet accordingly, what l said was they were never going to scratch

It was mentioned by racing analysts on Sky radio who probably have more idea than you. You obviously know nothing about marketing so I won’t waste my time explaining it to you.

That's unfair and uncalled for. rubywax gave a perfectly legitimate response to your initial post and as Gg says below, Addeybb was going to run irrespective of the going.

Read Richard Callendars latest article. He posed the same question as I raised.

Very elegant got beaten by the best horse, this English horse is way above average I'll go one better he's a better ,stronger than very elegant you only have to go through his career runs

VE was beaten by a more strategic ride and despite being pocketed and finding it difficult to find clear air still ran to half a length of Aydeebb. Dare I say maybe we are looking at two well above average horses and that the win of either will come down to who is the most strategic in the ride. Tom Marquand had it over JMc on Saturday. Next time it may be different.

Spot on

There is no way you could offend anyone by saying "we are looking at two well above average horses", they are way above average.

Exactly Sharon and some of the riding involved in the strategy was borderline in my opinion. Addeybb is a very good horse and tough but so is she. Next time it will be different. I don’t believe that JMac, if he is the jockey would allow that to happen again.

If they are well above average what does that make all the others that all finished within 2 lengths of VE?
With all due respect to the beaten brigade I don’t think they are between a head and 2 lengths of being well above average.
I think you’ll find this race and the Ranvet weren’t actually all that high quality.

We all have our opinions Stephen. If you don't respect the horses who race in Australian G1's that is your opinion. We had the Cox plate/Tancread Stakes winner, Rosehill Guineas winner, All Star Mile winner etc. All above average I would say. My point was that the race was won by a superior tactical ride by TM. After a poor start he read the race brilliantly. Personally I don't think there is much between A and VE and as in most G 1s it is the way the jockeys read and play the race which is often the difference between a win and a placing. I guess that is why trainers always try to get the top jockeys aboard for these races.

TM knows VE's 'achilles heel' is being bottled up on the fence, a look at the replay will show he came up beside her and stayed with her just long enough to unsettle her (she started to throw her head about) before he moved forward into the race. I think the race was won for him there. Just my opinion.

At 2000, that seems to be the case and in my view, The Champion mare is becoming more dour as she's getting older and more mature and at this stage of her campaign, 2000 meters was probably too short for her. Mr. Waller may have kept her on the "fresh" side to run the 2000 meters with more "zip" but it backfired - she was too fresh and keen. Over 2400 and beyond, I'd be backing Verry Elleegant every time but that was not the distance, it was 2000 meters and good on Waller and Haggas and the owners for taking up the challenge.

The only owner that has no concept of the sport is that Sokolski character.

What ever u do mr sokolski don’t go near the arc ! She’s not arc material stick to the wet tracks in Sydney and Melbourne or else u will create history first horse that got beaten by 50 lengths, have a couple beers and chill ! I will put 10 k at 5 to 1 she doesn’t finish within 10 lengths from the winner . Ask makebediva and classic legend what’s it like to take them on overseas ? Arc is the toughest race in the world . For horse sake ! Don’t take MacDonald over there use a local jockey.

Why not have a go at the Arc? 2400 is perfect for the mare! She may be beaten, well beaten or she may win or run a bottler; you just don't know until you try.

We're not talking about some Group2 handicapper here, we are talking about Verry Elleegant. Did you see what she did in the Group1 WFA 2400 meter Tancred last year? You know, the one that she won in a jog trot over her right distance at weight for age and how about when she outstayed the English Derby winner in the Caulfield Cup carrying the most weight for a mare, since Tranquil Star in in 1942, who won with 8 stone 12 pounds (56kg)? The second highest weight ever carried by a mare in the 141 year history of the Caulfield Cup.

A fit and healthy Verry Elleegant going into the Arc would give us a real guide as to how good she is and to the standard of our Australasian mile and half horses.

Well it wouldn’t.
It would only give us a guide as to the standard of one mile and a half horse.
Her performance in an Arc wouldn’t represent the general standard of 1.5 mile horses here.
She’s a lone shining light in a sea of general dross.
Anything she did in an Arc would only be a reflection of her, not a reflection of the state of staying ranks we have here in general.

That's fair enough too.

That’s sound like losers. VE run brave as she was victims by K-boy pulling hand break in mid race & also was average ride by Jmac .

3-1 say no more.