Racing: Bargain buys ensure romance survives

Take a bow whoever penned the line "the romance of the turf".

Notice they've never mentioned the romance of Formula One or the romance of yacht racing.

There's no doubt been some romance among the petrol heads and the salties, but that's of a one-on-one nature.

The romance of the turf is something different - what it really means is you can't buy your wins.

You can with cars and you can with yachts.

We've said it in this column numerous times: the battler can beat the kings, queens and sheikhs when it comes to the noble thoroughbreds.

You and I could have raced Sunline.

We could have raced Takeover Target.

You could have bought both horses for the price of a round-the-world air ticket for your family and they won $19 million between them.

Meanwhile, the two world racing giants, Sheikh Mohammed and Coolmore are waiting, desperate to win their first Melbourne Cup.

Australian journalist Matt Stewart penned a lovely piece on the subject, centred around Takeover Target's sad retirement after breaking down in last weekend's July Cup in England.

"Joe Janiak [owner-trainer] has been as important to this story as the horse. One without the other would never have worked," he wrote.

"One of the most important twists in this fairytale was that Takeover Target, whose name suggests something grand, was owned by silvertail members of Crown Casino's board before they got fed up with the horse's constant injuries.

"When they sold up, the battler got his chance and the fairytale was under way. No one had ever heard of Joe Janiak, a taxi driver from Queanbeyan who lived in a caravan at the local racecourse.

"His existence couldn't have been more anonymous.

"Janiak will now drift off stage but his place as a significant figure in racing history - as the wily horseman who nursed his champion through injury to beat all-comers - is assured.

"The sight at Royal Ascot of rough-as-guts Janiak in ill-fitting top hat and tails, splattered in horse shit and meeting the Queen, should resonate not just through sport but throughout Australian culture."

Amen to that - and add New Zealand.

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Takeover Target's injury was a cracked hind cannon bone, which horses can recover from, particularly if the crack is vertical up the bone, not out to the side. But the wonder sprinter's age was against a comeback.

McGinty is a classic example of a topliner who returned to group glory after a cracked cannon.

But the head-on vision of the last 120m of the July Cup told you all you needed to know about why Takeover Target had so many problems with front leg soundness.

It's almost hide-your-hands-behind-your-face stuff when you watch the ugly way the Aussie champ threw out his near-side leg at a wild angle.

Sunline did the same thing with the same leg, but after throwing it around - rather fast you have to say - she had her foot facing directly forward when it hit the ground again.

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Some people never learn. Sydney brothel owner Eddie Hayson is being sued for A$1 million by young bookmaker Tom Waterhouse for unpaid betting debts.

Late last year Michael Eskander's betting operation sued Hayson for A$500,000 on the same grounds.

Hayson must know a great deal more more about the sex industry than he does about racehorses.