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Okay, Mourayan has been removed from the two significant antepost markets in Australia, with Sportingbet and Betstar. So something’s obviously up.
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No surprise to see the world’s worst disguised owner trainer lose another one.
I can definitely confirm that the earliest Cups prep ever that I’m aware of was for What A Nuisance in 1985. From memory he was bought to hand slowly from provincial meetings around May/June. I saw him at the track daily around that time.
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Perhaps Mick Price can confirm the correct date for you Andy. He was a foreman for Meagher at the time.
Yes, sorry about the HP confusion. They had Herculean Prince (wrong spelling) amongst the dead ‘uns, and Herculian Prince (right spelling) in its normal place.
The good news is not only has Mourayan reappeared, but so has my bet!
I think it was the Shoot Out story I waas reading that was saying that the horse would run every fortnight. Now that might be okay for a horse starting in early September, but Shoot Out will have six runs before the Melbourne Cup.
This is a resume of things we already know, by the NZHerald of AAP material, but I couldn’t resist posting it, as its got tomorrow’s date:-
Racing: Trainers have a spring in step as Cup Day looms
3:59 AM Wednesday Jul 14, 2010MELBOURNE – The loss of one of his most promising horses in a road accident has not dampened Adelaide trainer Leon Macdonald’s enthusiasm about Melbourne Cup contender Rebel Raider.
One of the stable’s rising 3-year-olds was hit by a taxi outside Morphettville racetrack last week and subsequently destroyed.
On the bright side, Rebel Raider is steadily working towards fulfilling Macdonald’s Melbourne Cup dream and will resume racing next month.
One of the early favourites for last year’s cup, the dual Derby winner suffered a leg injury at trackwork a day after weights were declared.
He recovered with the aid of surgery and a lot of work on the water walker and had a short autumn campaign to keep him fit.
The plan Macdonald had in place for Rebel Raider’s 2009 spring is the one he will follow this year.
"He has been back in work for six or seven weeks and will resume over 1400m in the Penny Edition at Morphettville next month," Macdonald told the Herald Sun.
"He will go to Melbourne after that and follow exactly what was going to happen last year with three weight-for-age runs into the Caulfield Cup.
"Everything is good with him and his leg is good. He has thickened up a little bit but still has the same temperament and shows no signs of being bullish.
"He’s a gentle giant."
After the Penny Edition on August 21, Rebel Raider will head to Melbourne for the Makybe Diva (1600m), the Underwood Stakes (1800m) and the Turnbull Stakes (2000m) before the Caulfield Cup on October 16.
Joining Rebel Raider in Melbourne will be five-time stakes winner Majestic Music whose aim will be the Myer Classic (1600m) on October 30.
* In Victoria, dual group one winner Whobegotyou is back in training in preparation for the spring.
The Mark Kavanagh-trained 4-year-old was given a few weeks to recover after he stripped flesh from a hind tendon when unplaced in the Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm on June 12.
Stable manager Merv Harvey said Whobegotyou’s injury had healed well and the Street Cry gelding had arrived from Queensland at Rockmount pre-training facility at Euroa to spend the next two weeks on the water walker.
"He arrived there on Thursday and he looks in really good order and the leg is fine," Harvey said.
"He will spend a couple of weeks on the water walker and then come to Flemington."
Harvey said Whobegotyou would follow a weight-for-age campaign in the spring but would be entered for all the major spring races, including the Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup.
He said Whobegotyou could resume as early as next month.
"It just depends on how he comes up but he is a pretty clean-winded horse and has only had three weeks in the paddock. He won’t take long to come to hand.
"The water walker gets them pretty fit and he will probably just need a couple of sharp hitouts on the track.
"The jury is still out whether he can stay but he will be entered for everything in the spring."
Harvey said Whobegotyou’s backmarker racing style also made it hard for him to show his best.
"With his style of racing it is always going to be hard because he has got to make his own luck," Harvey said.
* Further north, Sydney trainer Bart Cummings said his Flemington base is small on numbers but big on group one winners as he begins another assault on the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
Cummings spoke to The Age from his Sydney office, where doctors have allowed him to return after three weeks in hospital with pneumonia.
"We’re building our numbers in Melbourne but the numbers we’ve got there are pretty well distinguished group one horses so it’s all looking pretty good."
One of his most interesting additions to the stable is last year’s Cox Plate winner So You Think, who missed the autumn after injury.
"He’s in Melbourne and doing everything right," Cummings said. "He’s put a bit of weight on, he’s working well. You just have to ask a couple of my experienced track riders and they’ll tell you he’s going beautifully."
Cummings is likely to start So You Think’s spring late next month but is keen to see the horse’s condition before naming a starting event.
Another addition is Queensland Derby winner Dariana, who has started work for the spring in the past few weeks.
"She’s another who has done well. I’m more than happy to have her going along at this stage and she’s sure to be a player in the big races this year."
Cummings said his Melbourne base would build slowly over the next month but is confident he has the firepower to get similar results to last year’s spring carnival.
* Meanwhile from Queensland, Stathi Katsidis believes AJC Australian Derby winner Shoot Out is on target to emulate the legendary Phar Lap during the Melbourne spring.
Shoot Out kicked off his ambitious spring campaign aimed at the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup with an impressive hitout in a 900m barrier trial at Doomben on Tuesday.
The rising 4-year-old, ridden by Katsidis, was beaten less than two lengths when second to tearaway leader The Chanster who led by six lengths in the middle stages.
Katsidis was impressed with Shoot Out’s trial and continues to be amazed by the gelding’s ability.
"He’s come back better than ever and I was rapt with his trial," he said.
"He’s an amazing horse and he’s probably the best horse I’ve ridden.
"Until now, the best two I’ve ridden were Show A Heart and Gold Edition. He’s a lot better than Show A Heart and it’s probably a little early to compare him with Gold Edition who was purely a sprinter, but potentially he’s better."
Trainer John Wallace was delighted with Shoot Out’s work and has booked him on a flight on Wednesday week to Melbourne, where he’ll resume in the Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on July 31.
It will be his final race as a 3-year-old before running every two weeks into the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in October and Melbourne Cup at Flemington in November.
Wallace and Katsidis aren’t concerned with history which shows Phar Lap was the last horse to win the AJC Australian Derby then the Melbourne Cup as a 4-year-old, in 1929 and 1930.
The Gold Coast trainer also holds no fears about Shoot Out handling the left-handed Melbourne direction.
"He’s a very good horse and good horses can do anything," Wallace said.
"I’m not saying he’s as good as Phar Lap or anything like that but there hasn’t been many attempts at the double Phar Lap won and hopefully my bloke is good enough to do it."
Wallace conceded Shoot Out still had to prove himself over 3200m but rated him a better stayer than Oompala who finished third to Jeune in the 1994 Melbourne Cup.
"I suppose the jury is still out with him running two miles but I think he can do it and I think he’s better than Oompala," he said.
"I’m not worried about him running the Melbourne way. We’ve been working him twice a week that way at the Gold Coast and he seems to handle it fine."
Katsidis is on the same page as Wallace despite admitting Shoot Out pulled hard in his Australian Derby triumph.
"My instinct and gut feeling says he’ll handle 3200m," Katsidis said.
"He pulled his brains out when he won the Derby but he’s older now and has got the breeding and stamina to run it."
– AAP
This is fun. Looks like Rebel Raider and Shoot Out won’t meet until the Melbourne Cup!
Rebel Raider
21 Aug Penny Edition
4 Sept? Makybe Diva
18 Sept Underwood
2 Oct Turnbull
16 Oct Caulfield CupShoot Out
31 Jul Bletchingly
14 Aug JJ Liston
28 Aug Memsie
11 Sept Data Tan Chin Nam
25 Sept George Main?
9 Oct Yalumba
23 Oct Cox PlateWe’ll be able to set the Forum clock by the pair of them!
The George Main hasn’t been mentioned, but if they keep up the race a fortnight, I think that is the one for that date.
Any chance that Rebel Raider will be under-prepared, and have to run in the Mackinnon on 30 Oct?
I really think Rebel Raider, like Monaco Consul, will be one of these horses that may start at big odds on the day but will run big races. In particular Rebel Raider, he looks a dyed-in-the-wool stayer. And you saw how he relished Flemington in the VRC Derby.
Chiswickian, What A Nuisance started his prep on June 27th at Bendigo.
And one thing for you Gerald, I emailed Cumani in my role as a journo for Just Horse Racing. He himself responded last night, he’s very keen to bring Drunken Sailor down. Perhaps a very good find by you. He said the stable’s two main hopes are Drunken Sailor and Manighar.
I reckon he’ll probably give Manighar a lead up in the Caulfield Cup and Drunken Sailor a lead up in the Geelong Cup.
Actually, Andy, I doubted Drunken Sailor for the Melbourne Cup, which I thought was confirmed by the way he folded last weekend.
I thought he would go for the Caulfield Cup, or a couple of the other races though.
I’m used to being wrong!
I might have either written directly or implied a couple of pages ago that Drunken Sailor isn’t qualified, but he just about is. He won £41k in a 12f h’cap at the Galway Festival last Summer on Soft to Heavy going, which ought to convert to Aus$60k+.
Jeremy Noseda has said Sans Frontieres is a possible Cup horse, which means he now has two possibles – it and Theology.
Surprising considering how critical he has been of Australian racing in the past – especially his comments regarding Takeover Target’s drug-related scratching from the HK Sprint and the fact that trips to Australia aren’t subsidised.
Yet again, one more possible.
http://www.jeremynoseda.com/news/Newsindex.htm
Sans Frontieres is Melbourne Cup possible
ALL at Shafleet were thrilled to see Sans Frontieres return to winning ways in the Group 2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes last Thursday.
The son of Galileo suffered an injury in last year’s Dante Stakes which forced him to miss the rest of the 2009 season.
He returned to the track in April and has improved with every run, looking right back to his best with a two and a half lengths win over Redwood last week.
Noseda said: “I was delighted with his performance. He started cantering again today but future plans for him are still a little fluid.
“I have spoken to Sir Robert Ogden and his racing manager Barry Simpson and we are looking at the Irish St Leger and perhaps a tilt at the Melbourne Cup could be an end of season target.”
Interesting – still believe that the field will be more than half internationals. We’ll know in the next week if the Japanese are coming, and as well, I’m hearing Carthage may be back in the mix for new trainer Derek Cruz.
For the locals, however, it is the time when many of them start to step up their preparations.
For those unfamiliar with Australian racing, most trainers publicly barrier trial them before a race. It’s a mock race, and because there is no prizemoney, trainers can work them as hard or as little as they want.
Those set to trial in the next week include Herculian Prince, Descarado, Theseo (not a Cup horse, but definite Cox Plate contender) and Rock Classic.
Others who could make some of the lesser races but probably won’t be in the main race itself include Zabdued, Seventh Reason (Sadler’s Wells x Sunday Joy), Standing Ovation (Sadler’s Wells out of Golden Slipper winner Ha Ha), Rabbuka, Sainthood and Sobers.
American sprinter Cannonball will also be trialling for Gai Waterhouse.
Former British stayer Timetable trialled at Newcastle this morning, while Shoot Out trialled on Tuesday.
Former British stayer Timetable trialled at Newcastle this morning, while Shoot Out trialled on Tuesday.
Is Timetable still in training with Freedman?
Whatever the answer to that is it’s great to hear he’s still moving. He can go onto the reminder list on racenet just in-case he turns up at a Metropolitan track in either Sydney or Melbourne as a short priced favourite where he can be layed. I can still remember when he fell in to win at Caulfield last year and the visible disappointment from Freedman in "how" he won.
No, he’s now with Kris Lees. I think he’s being aimed at the Wyong and Newcastle Cups.
But here’s the unbelievable part – he won his 1000m trial by a head this morning. And even more unbelievable, he ran 0.42 quicker than Snow Alert, who won his trial by close to 4 lengths.
Maybe Kris Lees has found the key to him, he’s good with those dour staying types.
VRC steps up 150th Melbourne Cup celebrations
The Victoria Racing Club begins its celebration of the 150th Melbourne Cup on July 28, with the release of The Story of the Melbourne Cup: Australia’s Greatest Race, a book commemorating the race that stops the nation.
Edited by Stephen Howell of the Slattery Media Group, the book promises to “celebrate the remarkable history of a wonderful horse race – one of the world’s most famous and enduring tests of a thoroughbred.”
“This is a story of the risk takers and planners who have made a race into a cultural phenomenon; toffs and battlers; the genius trainers Cummings, de Mestre and Freedman; the marvellous riding skills of Lewis, White and Boss; the obsessives, the families, and the flukes; the dominance of the Kiwis and the sudden surge of northern invaders; and how the Melbourne Cup has evolved through boom times, wars and depression. The concept of a handicap race as a nation’s greatest event is unique to Australia and the Melbourne Cup. It represents so much about its host nation – a chance for all no matter the circumstances of birth or opportunity,” the Slattery Media Group says.
Sure to be one of the most popular additions to the book is the “24 Runners in the Greatest Cup Never Run.”
Current Racing Victoria chief handicapper Greg Carpenter has selected his ultimate field of Melbourne Cup winners, with his judgement sure to be scrutinised and analysed by racing followers.
The release of the book is the first in a number of events the VRC has planned to celebrate the sesquicentenary of the Melbourne Cup.
A DVD, also entitled The Story of the Melbourne Cup: Australia’s Greatest Race, will be released on August 1.
On August 13, a symposium will be held at the National Museum in Canberra, with a commemorative coin series launched at the symposium.
In late September, Flemington’s new Visitor Centre, Walk of Fame, Guided Walking Tours and Heritage Trail will be unveiled.
The Story of the Melbourne Cup: Australia’s Greatest Race will be available at all good bookstores from mid August.
Written by Andrew Hawkins
Cumani prepares for Melbourne Cup
Prolific English trainer Luca Cumani has vowed to return to Australia to win the Melbourne Cup, with a number of horses under consideration for a trip down under.
Cumani confirmed to Just Horse Racing that the two most likely to make a trip to Melbourne are Manighar and Drunken Sailor.
Manighar, a European four year old, was purchased by Simon O’Donnell’s OTI Racing at the start of this year with the Melbourne Cup in mind.
Previously trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre in France, Manighar has won three of his seven starts and only missed a place once.
He has form around top European stayers Ask and Schiaparelli, and two starts back easily accounted for 2007 Melbourne Cup seventh Blue Monday.
Drunken Sailor is a much more seasoned galloper, having had thirty starts for eight wins and eleven minor placings.
His last two starts have netted two seconds, in the Northumberland Plate (Britain’s richest two mile handicap) and the John Smith’s Silver Cup over 2800m.
As a result, he will be heading to the Ebor Handicap at York on August 18, with a good result likely to see him on a plane to Australia.
However, Cumani refused to rule out a trip for his previous placegetters Purple Moon (2007) and Bauer (2008).
Purple Moon’s owner, Craig Bennett, is said to be warming to another trip to the Melbourne Cup, having run second to Efficient three years ago.
Since his Melbourne Cup second, Purple Moon has run a place in many major races around the world, including the Hong Kong Vase, Dubai Sheema Classic and the Ascot Gold Cup.
Bauer is returning after a long layoff following an injury suffered in training last year. A return to Melbourne would depend on the gelding recapturing his best form.
He was second to Viewed in one of the tightest photo finishes ever seen in a Melbourne Cup.
Written by Andrew Hawkins
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