What fascinating and potentially fantastic Victoria Cup we have ahead of us.
Lots has changed since Kingman burst into the big league with the first mega win of his career and easily beat the great Leap To Fame (who ran third) in the race last year.
When Kingman then backed it up in the NZ Cup, and went even better than he did in the Victoria Cup, many felt the changing of the guard had arrived and he was overtaking Leap To Fame as the best pacer in this part of the world.
That theory didn’t last long.
Leap To Fame has since reaffirmed his status as a standout, while Kingman managed just one win from nine starts (albeit over Leap To Fame in the Shepparton Cup) since he returned from his fantastic Christchurch raid last November.
Leap To Fame then easily beat Kingman home in the Hunter Cup, Miracle Mile and Cambridge slot race.
The spotlight is now on Kingman to show he can bounce-back and recapture his phenomenal form of late last year.
He’s with the right man in Luke McCarthy to do it.
And a title defence in the Victoria Cup at Melton on October 17 is his first major target.
Kingman is just weeks away from a racetrack return.
Although he won’t have Leap To Fame to contend with, he will face arguably as challenging a rival in Captains Mistress, given she’s so well suited to a 2240m race around Melton. Especially if she draws to lead.
Most Australians had barely heard of Captains Mistress when Kingman won last year’s Victoria Cup.
She only joined Jason Grimson’s stable from NZ in late December and her 13 starts since making Australia home have netted 12 wins and that desperately unlucky fifth to Leap To Fame in the Miracle Mile.
Captains Mistress has won five Group 1 races in that time, most notably that last start win over Leap To Fame (the first time she’s beaten him) in the Brisbane Inter Dominion final on July 18.
She hasn’t just been winning, she’s been stunning onlookers and smashing records.
Captains Mistress obliterated Leap To Fame’s 2138m and 2680m Albion Park track records with her respective wins in the Rising Sun and Inter Dominion final.
Although she did run out the 2680m last time, the shorter the races, the more it plays to her almost unbelievable high and sustained speed.
Hence, dropping back to 2240m around Melton – a trip most consider a glorified sprint – will be right in her wheelhouse.
That said, it’s easy to forget just how stunningly impressive Kingman was in those Victoria and NZ Cup wins, especially NZ which was universally regarded as one of the all-time best wins in the iconic race.
All eyes will be on Kingman to see what he brings to the track in his first couple of runs back this campaign.
We know what we’ll see from Captains Mistress at Melton, let’s hope we get to see the best of Kingman again, too.
That’s not to say this will only be a two-horse Victoria Cup, but they are headline acts and they well and truly earned that billing.
Bring it on.
