Many who’ve tried to back a Melbourne Cup winner have done so convinced their favourite colours will be first past the post, finding their luck as good as any other.
It’s a superstition some racehorse trainers and owners share, guarding the colours their jockey wears like a family coat of arms, especially if the combination evokes the memory of a thoroughbred legend.
Lunar Flare ridden by Michael Dee with the colours of the former champion racehorse Taj Rossi. Credit:Getty Images
Jockey Michael Dee will ride Lunar Flare for its first Cup appearance on Tuesday – all being well after the horse displayed lameness on Monday – wearing 1960s-style white colours, which are also known as silks, with brown hoops.
The colours pay homage to part-owner John Valmorbida’s parents-in-law’s horse Taj Rossi, a former Cox Plate and Victorian Derby winner and 1973 Australian Racehorse of the Year.
“Just like the guernsey of your football club, the horse becomes like a player in the team until the colours are defined by the horse; which happened with Taj Rossi,” Valmorbida said.
“I’m dreaming that on Tuesday we define the colours.”
Melbourne Cup runner Lunar Flare owner John Valmorbida and wife Michelle show off its colours, formerly of Michelle’s parents’ horse Taj Rossi, with jockey Michael Dee. Credit:Eddie Jim
The colours, not just to please crowds, help race callers and punters distinguish one horse thundering past from another. For this reason, designs can be the same but no horse in a Victorian race can carry the same colour set.
“If there is a clash of colours on race day then a different coloured cap is used to distinguish the horses,” a Racing Victoria spokesperson said.
Owners and trainers have registered 2350 colours currently through the racing authority, with registrations lasting for up to five years. Three sets of colours – green and gold belonging to trainer Bart Cummings, salmon and black spots worn by champion Black Caviar, and Winx’s dark blue and white – are barred from registration.
Some believe racing colours possibly trace their history to days of medieval jousting, but Victoria Racing Club history consultant Andrew Lemon says using them to tell the difference between modern racehorses stems from 1760s England.
“Racing colours have been used in Australia basically ever since English horseracing has been conducted here,” Lemon said.
“There is no real prestige attached to any colour except for the lovers of tradition.”
Designing a unique colour combination has become harder as registrations proliferate, says Roger Cameron, the managing director of Melbourne manufacturer Mitty’s. The business has been making racing colours since 1905 and usually prints between 300 and 400 sets every spring racing carnival.
“The range of colours is getting greater because they’re all gone,” Cameron said. “People don’t give up their colours; they’re like a family crest … most people are fairly superstitious about it.”
Colours were made of silk until the early 1960s, when traders switched to nylon with patterns stuck on manually. But the weight of the hand-stitched garments inspired Mitty’s to be first in the world to print the colours, with Cummings its first customer.
Trainer Bart Cummings and jockey Michael Rodd after Rock Classic’s win at Flemington in 2010.Credit:Vince Caligiuri
Cameron has seen dollar sign designs, attempts to get logos into designs requiring additional review, and customers asking for explicit images that he politely warns won’t get past registration. He said the most successful are traditional.
“The brighter and the simpler the better. It doesn’t necessarily come down to good taste,” he said. “A navy-blue set of pinstripe racing colours you’re not going to see.”
Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox every Monday.
Most Viewed in National
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article