Melbourne Racing Club considers 'Marathon Series' Victoria's bid to boost the status of staying races in this country could get a further fillip if the Melbourne Racing Club signs off on plans to introduce a "Marathon Series" with a final over 4000 metres - 800 metres further than the Melbourne Cup. If the idea gets off the ground the Marathon final would be the longest flat race in Australia and would give gallopers for whom stamina, not speed, is a strong suit another series of opportunities. The plan is still to be ratified by the MRC's committee, says chairman Mike Symons, but it is under consideration. Heats for the final would probably be run at the MRC's three venues - Caulfield, Mornington and Sandown - with the final's venue yet to be determined. The distances of the heats could be progressive, building up from 2400 or 2800 metres to the 4000 metre final. That is the distance of the world's premier weight-for-age staying race, the Ascot Gold Cup. The committee would, Symons says, have to be convinced that there was a demand for such events: it doesn't want to programme a series of long-distance tests only to find small fields and low wagering turnovers. But if it does think there would be support there is no reason why such a programme could not be put together. Racing Victoria's general manager of racing, Greg Carpenter, has previously argued that with the Melbourne and Caulfield Cups Victoria is the natural home of staying races and says the local racing administration is keen to lift their number. Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Gai Waterhouse also called for a major increase in the number of long distance events after Fiorente's win last Tuesday, saying raceclubs in other states had been "mad" to cut the distance of their traditional Cups races and that more should be done to encourage the purchase and breeding of distance horses. The public, Waterhouse insisted, enjoyed the tactical nature of longer races that unfolded over two or three minutes just as much as the thrill of watching the fastest sprinter blaze through 1200 metres in less than 70 seconds. It's something we are looking at. We have to work the details out, and we would have to be confident that there would be wagering support for such races, but its something we would like to try," said Symons. In recent years there has been a steady increase of stoutly-bred staying types being purchased from the northern hemisphere, some at very expensive prices, with their owners hoping they can go on to run prominently in the Melbourne Cup. Fiorente, for example, cost in excess of $1 million when he was imported to Australia from England last year. But not all of them go on to do as well as Waterhouse's stallion. Some fail to adapt to the quicker tempo of Australian middle distance racing, some founder because there are few races of 2400 metres and above for them to target, and some are simply not as good as previously thought and cannot compete at the highest levels in group 1 and group 2 races in their new country. A marathon series, says Symons, would offer scope for horses like that to pay their way and find a competitive level that suited them. There are a lot of those types of horses around now, they just aren't quite good enough to win at the higher group levels, but they would be good in long distance handicaps at a lower grade. Such a series of races could also help develop the state's jumps racing stock. Granted a reprieve by current Premier and Racing Minister Denis Napthine, jumps racing is still suffering from a lack of runners in its major races and constantly attacks criticism for the low wagering turnover when hurdles and steeples are run at city tracks. Long distance staying events over 2800 metres, 3200, 3600 and 4000 metres could help tune those gallopers up for a career over obstacles, and earn some prizemoney along the way. It is an anomaly of the Victorian racing scene that the most prestigious events of the spring - the Melbourne and Caulfield Cups, the Cox Plate and the Victoria Derby and Oaks - are run over 3200 metres, 2400 metres, 2040 metres and 2500 each while the vast bulk of the programme is contested at 1600 metres or less. Carpenter has pointed out that RVL has tried to boost staying stocks with the introduction of the Moonee Valley night series of races over 3000 metres and the Galilee series for staying three year olds in the autumn.