KEY POINTS:
Yes, the Mark Kavanagh sympathy over Maldivian's scratching from Saturday's A$2.5 million Caulfield Cup was well deserved.
So, how come Mike Moroney missed out when Eskimo Queen became the second victim - in her case because of Maldivian's unsettled nature?
Just don't mention that to Moroney.
He doesn't want your sympathy.
Like all those striving to achieve at racing's top end, Moroney looks ahead, not back.
You can change tomorrow, you can't change yesterday.
Given the chance, there are a lot of yesterday's the Melbourne-based, 48-year-old ex-New Zealander would probably like to change.
Like the problems that have kept one of Australasia's finest gallopers, Xcellent, out of the winner's stall for two years.
Like Eskimo Queen losing rider Greg Childs mid-race when expected to win the Queensland Derby in June.
But Moroney would much rather talk about the prospects of the brilliant light of success at a Melbourne spring carnival being turned on again and Eskimo Queen's chances in Saturday's weight-for-age championship, the A$3 million Cox Plate.
Victory would be very nice, thank you.
Popular opinion is that Eskimo Queen is using the Cox as a replacement A$5 million Melbourne Cup lead-up after tragically missing the Caulfield Cup start.
Moroney doesn't agree with that.
He rates Eskimo Queen a stronger chance on Saturday than at Flemington 10 days later.
"When we originally planned the mare's Melbourne spring we agreed the Cox Plate was her second best chance of winning a major race after the Caulfield Cup.
"She stays well, but there are questions over her ability to manage the 3200m of the Melbourne Cup - she's actually not bred to run the distance."
Moroney has won the Melbourne Cup with Brew and knows what type of horse is required.
"Brew could never have won a 1200m maiden race - Eskimo Queen did and she ran 1.10. She has a lot of brilliance along with her ability to stay."
Bookmakers are happy to bet $35 about Eskimo Queen's chance on Saturday, but Moroney rates her chances better than that.
"A lot has been made of the fact that Sunline could win two Cox Plates even though she, overall, struggled to get 2000m, but it is usually a test of stamina.
"This mare has a turn of foot and she can stay - she has a lot of Cox Plate attributes."
Big hurdles were jumped on Monday and Tuesday when Eskimo Queen showed no ill effects from getting cast under the Caulfield Cup barriers.
A massive assist was the mare's even temperament. Most horses in similar circumstances would have thrashed about, possibly doing massive damage.
One of Moroney's stable staff gave Eskimo Queen the green light when she worked the mare on Monday and race rider Craig Newitt was in raptures after working the mare at the Breakfast With The Stars at Moonee Valley on Tuesday.
"It was brilliant to be able to have Craig on the mare and he thought she felt sensational," said Moroney.
His one look back at the Caulfield Cup produced the reflection that disappointment came from the fact it wasn't Eskimo Queen's fault.
"The third time Maldivian attacked the gates there was a loud noise and Eskimo Queen thought the start had been made," he said.
"She lunged forward, bounced off the front of the gate, hit the back of it, lost her footing and fell.
"We thought she could win the race.
"But I've been in this game a long time, since I was 16, and went through those times with the O'Sullivans when they had all those good horses.
"Luck is always going to be a part of horse racing.
"When you sign up for a trainer's licence you know these things are going to happen, you just hope they don't happen in races like the Caulfield Cup."
That was last week, this is this week.
Moroney turns his attention to those he has to beat in Saturday's big race.
Bookmakers have Miss Finland the $4 favourite, but Moroney fancies the next three in the market.
"I've always been keen on Haradasun ($5) and El Segundo ($5.50) loves the Valley. I've also got a bit of respect for Devil Moon. She beat us first-up this season."
* Every good story has a postscript.
But most don't take 21 years to materialise.
Dave O'Sullivan and the Ritchie stable fought one of the great racetrack wars of all time when the Frank Ritchie-trained Bonecrusher edged out Waverley Star in the 1986 Cox Plate.
O'Sullivan bears no malice missing out on what would have been one of the highlights of his outstanding training career.
And on Monday he proved it.
Shaune Ritchie told the Herald at the weekend he would not be taking his Cox Plate runner Magic Cape into Moonee Valley for Tuesday's Breakfast With The Stars because he felt the charged atmosphere would unsettle the horse who has been trained in quite surroundings on the Mornington Peninsula.
On reading that in Monday's Herald, Dave O'Sullivan telephoned Shaune Ritchie's father Frank.
"Tell Shaune," said O'Sullivan, "that I'm not trying to train his horse, but tell him I said I made a massive mistake when I took Shivaree over for the 1979 Cox Plate.
"He was an excitable horse and I decided not to take him into Moonee Valley before raceday for the same reasons as Shaune. It was a mistake.
"We probably couldn't beat Dulcify that year - he won by seven lengths - but we chased him home in second and from the 800m Shivaree did nothing but gaze about at everything around him because it was new."
O'Sullivan did not become one of New Zealand's finest trainers by accident - and Magic Cape showed up at Moonee Valley on Tuesday.
The 2000 Guineas winner is at long odds to win Saturday's big race, but it would be a fitting 21st anniversary of the Bonecrusher/Waverley Star showpiece if he got some of the spoils.
