Stawell Gift marks

[Sharmer]

@kitkat1

I didn’t say pro runners are shit. There’s a difference. I just think that the whole pro game is warped because its about beating the handicapper, getting under his/their guard - which happens every year at almost every large meet and the results are often “interesting” - remember when Linford Christie was beaten by some guy at the Botany Bay Gift but the first prize went to Christie because they promised him so much money that they needed to make most of it up from the prize pool. They never contemplated he could lose.
As to whether the guys you mentioned were fast because they ran pros, that’s equally in doubt since many “amateurs” have run even faster. Maybe the pros would have run faster had they been brought up on conventional training the likes of which Usain Bolt follows, rather than the speedball etc the likes of which Allan Wells is the pin-up boy for.

Having said all of that, Perry, JD, Brimmer, the Boss and many others of byegone eras in the pro ranks are all great guys, no doubt, and talented. Reg Austin, Ken Irvine, Steve Proudlock et al. Great blokes. But the game they played was dodgy and it still is. Publicity gives credibility it seems, but you can buy publicity if you have enough money and crazy ideas (pole vaulter to run Stawell etc). At the end of the day, another smokey ran off with the purse. What a larf it all is :rolleyes:

The same can be said for the race that stops the race nation on the first Tues Nov- so many champion racehorses ( Octagonal, northerly etc) were handicapped out of the Cup. From memory when Northerly was handicapped at 60.5kg after winning the Caufield cup in 02- no modern horse can carry that weight and win.

The secret to the winning the cup is getting in with good weight hcp by staying under the radar.

Handicap horse racing is very similar to pro- running. Its part of Oz culture.