Racing: Extra dollar for those backing veteran

Just before McGinty beat the great Marscay with a broken bone in his leg in the Golden Slipper Trial at Rosehill in Sydney back in 1983, Colin Jillings rushed out to rider Bob Vance in the birdcage seconds after he'd mounted.

"Walk him up close to Marscay and let the public see how small he is - we'll get an extra dollar on the price," said a breathless Jillings.

McGinty was small and Marscay was a giant and Jillings was right about the price.

Along those same lines, Noel Harris should make himself very visible in that other famous Sydney birdcage - Randwick - late this afternoon.

Those backing the New Zealander Six O'Clock News in the A$350,000 Metropolitan Handicap will almost certainly get an extra dollar or two if he does. Australians don't rate 54-year-old jockeys.

We all know Noel Harris as an exceptionally gifted horseman on the right animal. Australians see him as an old jockey.

Too young to get Glengowan home in the Melbourne Cup as a teenager in the 1970s and now too old to even think about it. It surprised more than a few when the Busuttin stable announced it would be taking Harris to Australia with Six O'Clock News.

But Paddy and Trent Busuttin know they can trust Noel Harris to be doing his best this afternoon and Six O'Clock News is not a horse for a first-time rider on his back in a major event.

And this race is crucial. Six O'Clock News needs to win to force his way into the Caulfield Cup, a race which the stable sees as critical to the horse's chances in the A$5.5 million Melbourne Cup.

Provided the Randwick track stays firm - and indications were it would - Six O'Clock News is a terrific chance.

He has a remarkable finishing sprint on him and if you doubt it's good enough to win in Sydney today, go back to the internet and watch him come from last to first in the closing 400m of the City Of Auckland Cup at Ellerslie last summer.

That was a spectacular dash and one which would get him past the opposition he faces today.

This could be a watershed day for New Zealand horses.

Also running at Randwick is Nom Du Jeu, who has Nash Rawiller to guide him around in the A$125,000 Craven Plate over 2000m.

Monaco Counsel is an acceptor for the A$300,000 Spring Champion Stakes.

Most of the interest will focus on Red Ruler taking on the guns in the A$500,000 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington.

It's a tall ask to be trying to get over the top of the likes of El Segundo, Maldivian and C'est La Guerre and a star-studded field, but Red Ruler looked unlucky when tightened for room in the home straight in the Underwood Stakes in Melbourne last start.

John Sargent says he has improved since that race and the big advantage is that this race is set weights and penalties, not weight-for-age. Red Ruler drops massively in weight as a result to a comfortable 54.5kg.