Two year olds will be stepping out for the first time at Randwick today, with the Breeders Plate for the colts, and the Gimcrack Stakes for the fillies.

Previously when the A J C Spring Carnival was over four days the colts raced on the Saturday and the fillies on the Monday.

It was the turning point in the career of Jack Green as a trainer and the launching pad for one of the greatest sires this country has known.

Kingster won the Breeders Plate and Ultrablue won the Gimcrack Stakes, both trained by Jack Green, and both were by Star Kingdom.

Black Type with his very first two runners, Star Kingdom was an instant success, the world was his oyster.

Star Kingdom sired the very first Golden Slipper Stakes winner, Todman, and the four to follow, while three sons sired five winners of the classic.

Jack Green trained the full brothers, Skyline and Sky High; each won a Golden Slipper Stakes and a Derby besides Kingster, Gold Stakes and Starover, all by Star Kingdom.

Star Kingdom was a great sire, Jack Green, a great trainer, and when you included Athol George Mulley into the mix you couldn’t go far wrong.

After winning the Melbourne Cup with Baystone, Green was killed in a motor accident in Melbourne.

The passing of Jack Besanko late last week, he was the fifth generation to have trained at Epsom.

He was a popular and well respected figure in racing, well known in the Mordialloc -Epsom area which was his home for 85 years, his family and his horses were all that he wanted in life.

Epsom was a closely knit community, at one stage the best training centre in Melbourne, a natural sand base it suited horses, the nearby beach at Mordialloc was also a huge asset to swim the horses.

Jack was never in a hurry to take out a trainer’s licence preferring to be foreman to his father, they worked together well, it was only after the death of his father that Jack applied for a licence to train.

He could always tell a good story, he had a great repertoire, like the time the grandstand was burnt to the ground at Epsom, he was the first on the site, he even beat the fire brigade.

It was a sad loss for racing as it was never rebuilt, racing ceased thereafter, the course was only used as a training centre.

When a meeting was convened to discuss the cause of the fire, a member of the club declared it was Squissy Taylor; he was blamed for burning the Guineas stand down at Caulfield, only to be told that the alleged was murdered two years before the Epsom fire.

Jack retired from training when the course was finally closed for training in April 1998, his wife, Ivy, a lovely lady, passed away some years ago, he is survived by sons Barry and Raymond, who train at Pearcedale.

Whether Golden Horn, the English challenger to Treve in Sunday’s Prix De L’ Arc De Triomphe, at Longchgamp, near Paris, will be determined by the track conditions.

Trainer, John Gosden, is adamant a track no worse than soft, and the colt will run, bookmakers have since shortened his price by a point to 5-1.

Golden Horn has since won the Irish Champion Stakes after the defeat by Arabian Queen in the Juddamonte Stakes at York, the mare ruined his previous unbeaten record.

Treve is a preferred favourite at odds on, Parisians will not hear of her being beaten, she is there to create history as a triple winner of the Arc.

Her trainer, Criquette Head –Maarek, claims if she wins the Arc she would be the best mare to have raced in the world, Europe without question, but the world, Makybe Diva had no peer.

The future of Rich Enuff hangs precariously in the balance, as to which direction it will take.

After Saturday’s dismal performance in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes there are serious decisions to be considered as to his future.

It appears quite obvious he is a different horse to what we knew 12 months ago, the transition period from a three year old colt to a four year old stallion is noticeable.

Off the scene for almost a year through injury has created another problem that is not going to go away.

Formerly he could be led off a piece of string, that has all changed now, he needs two handlers to lead him in the paddock, plus he gave trouble at the start at Caulfield and threw his trainer, Ken Keys, into the rose bushes at Flemington.

In reality he was off the racing scene for far too long, it may have been a gamble that has back fired.

Had he won the Caulfield Guineas last year a stud career looked assured, Woodside Park Stud, at Tylden, invested in the horse as a potential sire.

A narrow defeat has cost him that precious Group1, the chances of seeing him returning to that level are looking pretty remote, the bird may have flown.

Had he won the Guineas he could have commanded a five figure sum as a service fee that could now be halved?

Group1 is the all important factor now when looking to mate a mare; the owner will overlook her short comings, but never the sire.

Rich Enuff

Adelaide filly, Miss Gunpowder, proved too speedy for her Melbourne counterparts in the Guineas Prelude, for fillies at Caulfield.

She led clearly down the railway side of the course when a bit of a scrimmage occurred; however, hard luck stories could not be accepted as it was nothing more than minimal.

Whether she can get the extra 200 metres of the Thousand Guineas remains to be seen, she was appearing to shorten stride when the post was reached.

Payroll was running on after coming from mid field, a repeat performance of that would see her included in the mix.

Jameka is near ready to win another race, she was a Stakes winner in the autumn, having won the Sire’s Produce Stakes.

Before getting too carried away, judgement should be delayed until next weekend with the running of the Edward Manifold Stakes over 1600 metres at Flemington that should sift the wheat from the chaff.

Much of the interest will centre on the run of Don’t Doubt Mamma in the Edward Manifold Stakes, she showed up well at Moonee Valley when fourth in the Atlantic Jewel, plus her win thereafter at Caulfield over 1400 metres was full of merit, we will be looking for her as she treads towards the Guineas for fillies .

Miss Gunpowder returning to scale