The St Leger, to be run at Flemington tomorrow, is just another race with little interest shown, an excuse to find the way to the cafeteria for a cup of tea.

That was not always the case, however times have changed, our staying races have been supplemented by sprint horses, with very few races run beyond a mile, or 1600 metres.

Whilst it is the oldest classic run in the world, at Doncaster, in Yorkshire U K, it has lost whatever status it had previously, one wonders if it can be viable at Listed level, and for how long?

The St Leger looks as it is on borrowed time, some interstate race clubs have deleted it completely from their calendar, and in some cases permitted four year olds to join three year olds to make up the numbers..

Racing for ever is changing, the Victoria Racing Club was a four day Autumn Carnival in early March, with the St Leger on the final day, and the Gibson Carmichael Stakes, over a mile for two year olds, if they had to run that distance so early in the year now most of them would topple over.

At that time the St Leger was the measuring stick to determine if a horse could stay, Spearfelt, Trivalve, Phar Lap, Hall Mark, Comic Court, and Tulloch, were never found wanting.

Racing has certainly changed with foreign investment being involved; yearling prices are selling at absorbent prices.

Service fees have risen up to $170,000, while young colts, that have won a decent Group 1 race, have recently been sold for $25 million dollars, or more.