Global Weekly Preview: Jameka after another place in history

It is hardly a novel concept but Melbourne's 'Super Saturday' works exceptionally well in showcasing the best racing in the Autumn in that part of Australia.

Just as in England, Ireland, France, Dubai, Sydney and the United States, officials have seen merit in packaging the best races and running them on the same day.

For TV, it works brilliantly, while the local racefan has quickly come to appreciate being able to see a large percentage of the best horses at one fixture. With fierce competition from other sports, this has proven popular and sees racing holding its own.

A field of at least 11 will face the starter for this year's G1 Australian Cup, traditionally one of the great races on the Australian calendar.

The Ciaron Maher-trained Jameka, who could already have earned a place in history as the winner of the last G1 Caulfield Cup run as a handicap, has the right profile to take the big race.

She is a talented mare -- she won the VRC Oaks in addition to the Caulfield Cup -- and she has been improving gradually in her runs this time up. This is the perfect assignment for her.

Rival trainer Darren Weir has two strings to his challenge, ex-New Zealander Humidor (whose third dam is former European champion sprinter Habibti)  and the ultra-consistent Stratum Star, while course and distance winner Awesome Rock has been primed for the race.

Godolphin trainer John O'Shea is hopeful Tally can return to top form at Flemington, where he finished third to stablemate Hartnell and Jameka in the G1 Turnbull Stakes last year. A repeat of that would see him putting Jameka under pressure.

Whatever the outcome, it is unlikely to produce a race to equal that of the 1979 running when Dulcify, an outsider shunned by race fans on the day, flew home down the outside to beat Manikato, the champion sprinter trying 2,000 metres for the first time, and Family Of Man.

They were great horses, all three, and went on to better things. Another vintage running was Bonecrusher's Australian Cup in 1987.

Incidentally, the Melbourne Racing Club announced this week they are considering a proposal to change the Caulfield Cup to a weight-for-age race, remaining at 2,400m, and increasing prizemoney.

The G1 Newmarket Handicap has long been regarded as Australia's premier sprint, and again plenty of big names are lining up. Terra Vista beat Spieth by a narrow margin in the G1 Lightning Stakes, over 1,000m at Flemington, and again, not much separates them this time round over 1,200m.

Joao Moreira, fresh from his record 8 wins at Sha Tin last weekend, flies down from Hong Kong for another day's racing in Australia, which is becoming almost routine for the Brazilian. He rides Extreme Choice for trainer Mick Price.

Sheidel, the Oakleigh Plate winner, and the well-credentialed Star Turn are also strong contenders.

In Sydney, the G1 Coolmore Classic, for fillies and mares, takes pride of place at Rosehill, but in reality, everything is gearing up for the G1 Golden Slipper, the world's richest two-year-old race, the following week, on March 18.