Thought bubble or carefully considered plan?
If the latter, the suggestion that the VRC St Leger could be upgraded with better prizemoney to become a ballot-free pathway to the Melbourne Cup will be welcomed by those pleading for the Australian industry to breed more stayers rather than the sprinters who are currently the focus.
Whether the initiative takes wings is yet to be seen, the club and Racing Victoria are to be commended for thinking outside the square about the prospects for a race that is older than the Melbourne Cup .
The St Leger was first run in 1857, four years before Australia's greatest race, but it has fallen in status dramatically as investment in the bloodstock sector has been concentrated on sprinter-milers, even if the nation's most richly rewarded races are all over classic distances of 2000 metres-plus.
Even if it does, it will come a year too early for Caulfield trainer John Moloney and connections of Dornier ($19), the surprise winner of the listed St Leger, the Anzac Day feature at Flemington on Tuesday.
The son of Artie Schiller, partnered by apprentice Jordan Childs (who was not allowed to claim his 1.5 kilo allowance as this was a black-type race), showed he relished the extended trip of 2800m and the rain-sodden ground, which brought his stamina into play.
Whether he would ever measure up to Melbourne Cup class is highly unlikely.
But in any discussion of the Leger's current status, that is beside the point - its value and status (it was worth $120,000) means that only the lesser lights among the staying-bred three-year-olds tend to be aimed at it. The better colts and geldings shoot for group 1 glory and the bigger stakes available in the South Australian Derby at Morphettville in May and the Queensland Derby at Eagle Farm in June.
Dornier's trainer certainly does not envisage him taking higher order among his age cohort as he did not even nominate him for the SA Derby - hardly surprising as he had won only once in nine previous starts and had been third last time out in a 2100m race at lowly Stony Creek.
But track conditions and the stamina test played to his strengths, although Childs conceded afterwards that he would not have wanted the race to be another metre longer as the winner just held on to resist the late challenge of the Darren Weir-trained filly Parthesia, who had struggled to get clear running in the straight before finishing best of all.
"He's been working up to this. He's flown under the radar, but he does like the ground and its about the feature of being able to stay, and that's what he did," said Moloney, whose family has a terrific record in the race. His trainer father Jim and his trainer brother Gerard also having won it in the past.
"When he jogged into the corner I thought, oh, hello, look out, we are a big chance here, and away he went."
He summed up the trials of training - and owning - a slowly developing stayer well.
"You could watch his early runs in this preparation and you might say there's not much happening, but you have to have owners that are patient and stick with you.
"It would be a giant leap," Moloney chuckled when asked about the cup. "Maybe the Tuesday handicap [the 2800m support race on Cup Day) would be an ideal race for him."
It was a family affair for the jockey, too, as his father, Greg, had won the race on Sunday Gold in 1999.
Childs senior was on the Flemington lawn welcoming his son back, shouting for him to throw his goggles his way.
"He's the sort of horse that doesn't show much interest for the first three quarters of the race, just out the back flopping along, but when I gave him a squeeze about the 1000m mark to pick up the bridle, he really did. When I let his head go he quickened up well. It was a real good staying test.
"I have won a listed race and group 3 in Adelaide, this is my first one at Flemington."
Earlier in the day there was also a Flemington first for young apprentice Chris Caserta, who won the opening race on Sadaqa giving him a winner at headquarters on only his second race ride there.
