Note: This piece was written as Deputy Editor for Idol Horse.
Australian stayer Half Yours smashed an international field to land the G1 Melbourne Cup, while Ka Ying Rising, a sprinter bred in New Zealand – a country far better known for producing stayers – has emerged as the fastest horse on the planet.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Forever Young became the first Japanese-trained horse to win the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, toppling America’s finest on dirt.
So many of racing’s long-held truisms have been tossed out the window over the past month.
In the words of one of the Melbourne Cup’s most famous admirers Mark Twain, the reports of the demise of the Australian stayer were greatly exaggerated if Tuesday’s win by Half Yours was anything to go by.