Racing: Japanese will make Australia their goal

Hana's Goal scores a Randwick win at her second try. Photo / Getty Images

Australians have copped an uppercut from the Japanese just a week after learning New Zealand is a big threat to their own success in the newly formed A$20 million Championships.

Victory in Saturday's A$400,000 All Aged Stakes at Randwick by Japanese mare Hana's Goal had its share of drama around it, but the win itself is much less significant than what it could eventually spell out.

Winning rider Nash Rawiller predicts the Japanese could dominate the Sydney autumn carnival in years to come.

Those who thought Hana's Goal was simply a token Japanese runner giving international flavour to the huge carnival, copped a shock when she powered down the outside to easily eclipse Weary and Tiger Tees.

Rawiller said he believed Hana's Goal's win would lead to many more Northern Hemisphere-trained horses coming to Australia for the autumn.

And why not?

Surely, we haven't already forgotten what the Japanese pair of Delta Blues and Pop Rock did in the 2006 Melbourne Cup?

The pair came together in front at the 350m and left the others behind by fence panels.

Australia's tragic EI outbreak and at home Japanese encephalitis were the only factors to stop that traffic, but the path is now clear.

"It's a tough ask bringing a mare all the way out here but she has proved it can be done," said Rawiller.

"There will be more of this in the future. Us boys here riding our horses at home have been pretty spoiled, but it's going to get tougher.

"The Japanese are very special horses."

Hana's Goal is owned by expat Australian Michael Tabart, who lives in Japan and races up to 40 horses.

His father, Laurie, representing his son on Saturday, believes the media coverage of the win back in Japan will be bigger than anyone could imagine.

The Northern Hemisphere representation at the Melbourne Spring Carnival has mushroomed to around 15 to 16 horses in the past couple of years.

With the victory a few weeks back by Irish sprinter Gordon Lord Byron in the group one George Ryder Stakes to add to Hana's Goal, it would be no surprise to see numbers approaching that at next year's Sydney carnival.