Hygain presents “Blast from the past”
AS THE industry prepares to experience another Victoria Cup on Saturday night, it is the perfect time to relive one of the most famed editions of the Group One thanks to Hygain
THROUGH the tests of time, sayings or quotes are so often misconstrued.
For example, Humphrey Bogart never said ‘play it again, Sam’ in the film Casablanca, yet the line is used as an everyday term supposedly made famous by – and certainly credited to – the ageless classic.
Darth Vader is renowned for declaring “I am your father Luke”, but in reality he said “No. I am your father.”
Another piece of auditory which has several versions, but leads to the same climax, is the late Vin Knight’s speech during the presentation of the 1989 Winfield Gold Cup at Moonee Valley.
After successfully defending his title in the Grand Circuit event with stable star Bag Limit, which scored at 16/1, Knight received a less than welcome reception as he returned to scale.
The hostile crowd, which were angry at the perception of a form reversal from the previous week, proceeded to hamper Knight while he addressed them after accepting the trophy.
Growing increasingly frustrated of the jeers and boos, Knight, waving on the ‘posse’, responded with: “It doesn’t matter how much you boo, I’m still gunna talk.”
Knight proceeded to make his speech by stating: “Last week, for reasons not of his own, there was a driver who took his legs in the back straight…”
The rowdy gathering’s bagging then pushed Knight to the limit, with the champion horseman altering his speech to one that has become harness racing folklore and pretty much always misquoted.
In a true example of the Mandela Effect, those who recall hearing the speech will tell you Knight told the crowd to “stick their heads up their bums”, but that is not accurate.
“…and youse that’s booin must have your heads up your backsides because he would’ve run fourth last week,” Knight declared.
A $200 fine from the stewards failed to faze him, with Knight later quoted as saying “it felt like they were booing my best mate.”
Wind back a week earlier and Bag Limit had finished ninth behind Village Kid, which followed a ninth the week before.
Those unplaced runs led to the perception of a form reversal, yet his two previous starts were victories in the South Australia and Ballarat Cups.
After settling towards the tail of the field from the second row, Bag Limit was angled three-wide by Knight, who dashed the son of Tarport Skipper to the lead with 1500 metres to travel.
Establishing a winning break on the final bend, Bag Limit scored by four-and-a-half metres from Luxury Liner, with Rufus Young Blood a nose away third.
Covering the last half in 57.2 seconds, Bag Limit rated 1:58.5 for the 2380-metre journey.
Bag Limit’s victories in the Winfield Gold Cup – or Victoria Cup as it is now known – was part of a strong affiliation the Knight stable had with one of the state’s premier features.
The record-breaking father and son combination won the Cup six times between 1982 and 1991 – which was not held in 1985 or 1986.