Global Weekly Review: Jameka will need to be a true champ

For day-to-day action, both on the racecourse and off, it was hard to beat last weekend. The G1 Caulfield Cup in Melbourne, Champions Day in the UK, a first defeat for crowd-pulling Pakistan Star in Hong Kong, and victory for the French at Woodbine in Canada.

If you like your racing laced with a Global flavour, you must have loved last weekend. But perhaps the most significant 'event' took place off-track, in the office of Racing Victoria handicapper, Greg Carpenter, who announced a 1.5kg (approx 3lb) penalty for Jameka in the G1 Melbourne Cup on November 1.

At face value, this seemed a reasonable reassessment, especially considering the manner of her  authoritative three-length triumph in the G1 Caulfield Cup. But, then, the true scale of the challenge facing this outstanding filly became clearer.

Now re-positioned on a handicap mark of 53.5kg, she will need to set a weight-carrying record if she is to win the iconic 3,200m Cup this year.

Old-timers on the Australian Turf recall that the current holder of that record is the great Light Fingers, a much-loved mare, who in 1965 gave the late Bart Cummings the first of his 12 Melbourne Cup wins.

As Carpenter pointed out, Jameka will need to write a new chapter in racing history if she is to win with that weight.

It is a compliment to runner-up Scottish, the Godolphin runner, that such a penalty has been imposed on the winner. "1.5kg represents around 3 lengths over 3,200m," Carpenter pointed out.  "And this is the same margin as she defeated Scottish," he added.

Scottish turned in an outstanding run in difficult circumstances -- reminiscent of Fiorente's Cox Plate effort prior to his Melbourne Cup win in 2013.

However, all the above developments will be purely academic to French trainer Francis Graffard, who had wanted to bring his middle-distance horse Erupt to Melbourne for the Caulfield Cup. Alas, a poor run at Deauville scuppered those plans, and Erupt instead made the journey to Toronto, where he recorded a resounding success in the G1 Canadian International at Woodbine.

If only..... Graffard might well be wishing he had by-passed Deauville in August, though there may be opportunities for other visits to Australia for the talented young trainer.

Another French-trained horse, Almanzor, was the star of a highly-successful British Champions Day at Ascot (UK), proving himself the outstanding three-year-old colt in a year in which one was desperately needed. He won the G1 Qipco Champion Stakes in brilliant style, vouching for the validity of his G1 Irish Champion Stakes triumph.

The memorable card at Ascot was a reminder that decent 'good' going is always required to provide a suitable championship testing ground. The previous four Champions Days had been staged on 'heavy' going -- begging the question in the Brexit era, why don't they move the day to an earlier slot in the calendar?

Finally, Pakistan Star has lost his unbeaten tag, though, I suspect, not his fan base in Hong Kong. The grey son of Shamardal, whose last-to-first wins made him a star of social media, found it beyond him to gather in Mr Bogart in a Class Two race, over 1,400m at Sha Tin on Sunday.

The story of this freakish racehorse cannot be over yet, surely?