It's time for Bet or Forget with Wayne Hawkes. Wayne, there aren't enough leading lightweight
jockeys for the Doncaster Handicap -
Bet or Forget? Bet. The problem is the quality jockeys
and most of the quality jockeys in Australia actually ride 55 and up. So 18 jockeys need to be riding between 54
and a half kilos and 49 kilos. Is there enough of them to do that? Well, there of course is going to be enough jockeys,
but I'm talking about the quality jockeys. You've got Nash Rawiller,
you've got H
ugh Bowman, you've got Ben Melham, you've got Mark Zahra. Another
bloke called J-Mac or something. They're all going to be watching
from the sidelines. Wouldn't the race be better
with those guys in it? To play devil's advocate,
the one storyline that I like that can sometimes come out of these types of handicaps
is the fact that you get these lightweight jockeys who get given an opportunity
that they wouldn't normally get. Sure. With that being said,
when you go through the Doncaster honour rol
l, very few of
those stories exist. Mainly they're all the household names. You're talking Williams and Kah. Glen Boss
won six of them. There might be one story in there - James
Innes Junior a few years ago. Remember the scenes post-race when he won
his first Group 1 in a Doncaster? That was nice and that was an opportunity
he probably wouldn't have got if he wasn't that lightweight rider. No doubt about that. And there was also, long before you were
born, little jockey called Patrick Payne. He
was 16 years old, went to Sydney, won
the Doncaster, jumped on the plane, got in his seat and the flight attendant,
she walked up and said, "Young man, would you like some pencils and crayons
to fill in your picture?" True, true story. The childrens' pack! He says, "Lady,
I just won a Group 1. Exactly. Well Britt for the
controversial part of the week. Last Saturday at Beaudesert the stewards
upheld a protest that has everybody up in arms. Bet or Forget -
did they get the decision right? Forget
. No,
I think they got it horribly wrong. Horribly? Why? The winner was eased down on the line. I don't know in what world
that could be overturned. Did the winner interfere? Marginally. What, you would uphold the protest? Did we get interfered with? Yes. Did you take my running? Yes, you did. Did you get impeded at any stage? No, you didn't. You had clean running. I didn't change my action
and I didn't stop riding the horse. But I don't have to do that. The track was a heavy 37.
It was underwat
er. So trying to pick yourself up when you lose your momentum
and you half get put on your head, that's where the stewards without knowing,
that's where the stewards have had to have looked at it
and said it was underwater and we reckon the horse
probably should have won or should have won,
should I say? So the answer is. So Wayne Hawkes, the steward. Uphold it. All right, last one, Wayne.
You know I love this mare. Imperatriz will win the TJ - Bet or Forget? Forget. I think it's only two-horse
race. My tip will be I Wish I Win. Why? How does he beat the in-form mare? Well,
the thing is, is that Peter Moody's now I think going for his third preparation
where he's sitting in for a big race first up. So the fitness side won't be the issue
because Peter will have this horse
as best as he can have him on Saturday. And he's a great saying -
train to the minute. I reckon Peter will have him
trained to the minute this week. Well I think Imperatriz
will continue on her winning way. I think she
'll make it her 11th Group 1. I know there's so many arguments to say,
you know, is she going to handle
the Sydney way of going? Has she taken on the best of the best yet? But you can only beat what's in front of
you and the direction that you're going. This is going to be the big test
and she's risen to every other occasion. I think she can do
the same on the weekend. Gee this is going to be a good clash.
I can't wait for it and can't wait to do this all again
next week on Bet or Forget. You wi
n some, you lose more. For free
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