3 minute read
A look back at Palawa King's astonishing win.
Before reading on – make sure you've seen this…
Palawa King's performance in his heat of the Fireball at The Meadows on Saturday was one that had everyone's jaw on the floor, everyone saying 'no way' turning for home and 'what the…' as he crossed the line.
He would've drawn the attention of the AFL's match review officer Michael Christian after that vintage hip and shoulder laid on Lakeview Nola (5) near the 525m boxes.
Did the depth of the field and some tiring front runners make it look better? Sure, but who cares. That was the pinnacle of our sport's theatre.
Races come and go and so do the winners but if a 'next-to-jump' punter had something on Palawa King and saw that – they wouldn't be forgetting his name any time soon. Exciting, entertaining and a winner.
And the punters were aboard on Saturday. The race was a loser for Sportsbet's books even after plenty of early support went the way of Exploded. Since the market opened for this Saturday's final, the King holds the most money, albeit nothing significant yet given it's Monday afternoon.
His past performances at The Meadows have only been in tame times, at least for his standards and what he's capable of. He's been over The Meadows' 730m six times – won two Group 1s and placed in another two, all from last.
We all often say the clock doesn't lie, but it sometimes does when the King is going around.
While his resume is sublime, he's never gone faster than 42.70. To put that into context, that's about a length better than the average time of 42.77 in feature race heats there.
He doesn't miss the jump, he chooses to walk out. And don't we love it.
He's a 16-time Group race finalist and for the Booker T fans out there a five time, five time Group 1 winner. He's won $1.1 million in prizemoney, he's not four years old until January and with the way he's managed by Jack and Maree Smith, the King has plenty more to give.
Don't take him for granted. This is one of the all time great stayers giving the sport plenty.
