Schweppes Thousand Guineas Entries

Tuesday, 03 August 2010 04:59

Entries for the Group One Schweppes Thousand Guineas (1600m) to be held at Caulfield later this year were released this afternoon.

Connections of over 230 horses have paid the $165 entry fee.

Trainers who have missed out on today’s deadline can pay a $1,100 late entry fee prior to midday next Tuesday.

Below is the full list of entries for the 65th edition of the Group 1 Schweppes Thousand Guineas (1600m).

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Schweppes Thousand Guineas - Entries

Picture: Sportpix

Emirates Melbourne Cup Entries

Tuesday, 03 August 2010 03:26

Over forty international horses have been entered for 150th edition of the Group One Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m).

Entries for the Melbourne Cup closed at midday this afternoon with connections of 253 horses paying a $660 fee.

Last year’s Melbourne Cup received 230 entries with five fewer international runners then this year.

However the number of international runners entered for this year’s Melbourne Cup (45) is lower then 2008 when 57 horses paid the first entry fee.

Trainers who have missed out on today’s deadline can pay a $3,300 late entry fee prior to midday next Tuesday.

Handicaps for the Melbourne Cup will be declared no later than September 1.

Below is the full list of entries for the Emirates Melbourne Cup with international entries highlighted in red.

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Picture: Quentin Lang

Shocking Heads 253 Cup Nominations

Tuesday, 03 August 2010 04:45

Last year's winner Shocking heads the 253 nominations for this year's Melbourne Cup.

Among the entries were 45 from overseas including the 2007 runner-up Purple Moon and Bauer, second in 2008.

Both horses are trained by Luca Cumani while Irish trainer Dermot Weld, who has won the Cup twice with Vintage Crop and Media Puzzle, has five entries.

Bart Cummings, the trainer of 12 Melbourne Cup winners, has a dozen entries for this year's historic 150th running of Australia's most famous race.

Later Timeslot For Cox Plate

Tuesday, 03 August 2010 03:03

This year’s Cox Plate will be held later in the afternoon as the Moonee Valley Racing Club (MVRC) moves a step closer to staging Australia’s Weight-For-Age championship under lights.

MVRC Chief Executive Michael Browell said the Cox Plate would be the eighth race at 5:35pm on a nice-race card that would start no earlier then 12:30pm.

"The timeslot this year will take the Cox Plate to a whole new audience leading into the National Nine news at 6pm," Browell told the Herald Sun.

"Not only will we grow the domestic audience, but also the international audience of the Cox Plate."

Last year’s Cox Plate was held at 4:30pm with the first race at 12:10pm.

Picture: Quentin Lang

Wickedly Back For Spring

Tuesday, 03 August 2010 04:30

Lightly-raced mare Wickedly gets her chance to realise her potential this campaign after recovering from a back complaint which prematurely ended her spring preparation last year.

Trainer John Moloney said there was good upside to the six-year-old who will having only her 14th start when she resumes in Wednesday's Betfair Handicap (1300m) at Sandown.

"We are certainly looking for a better go with her this time around," Moloney said.

"She definitely has good promise but didn't quite come up last time after a good first-up run at Cranbourne."

Wickedly has run some of her best races when fresh, including last campaign when a fast-finishing fourth against 72-class horses at Cranbourne in October.

At her previous campaign she won first-up at Moe while at her race debut she was third at Geelong.

Her only two city runs have been at Sandown in April and May last year when she finished third over 1500 metres and fifth over 2100m respectively.

"She handled the heavy track okay at Cranbourne and she may be able to run into the money on Wednesday," Moloney said.

Wickedly at 71 is among the higher-rated runners on Wednesday along with Bubble Below (75), She's Good As Gold (74), Thrillionaire (73) and Cool Diva (72).

Meanwhile, Matt Laurie will be looking to get a city winning run going when Coolago runs in the Trevaskis Handicap (1200m).

Laurie trained his first Saturday Melbourne winner last weekend when The Big Steel scored at Caulfield.

Coolago has been consistent this campaign and has twice posted seconds at Sandown in the last two months.

The gelding chased home Tasmanian Lake Crescent on June 2 and last start led and was run down by Adaptor on July 21.

Mornington-based Laurie trains about 25 horses and had 13 winners last season.

Trainers Chris Hyland and Colin Little are both likely to avoid the heavy track at Sandown with their respective horses Miss Phromily and Poco Gusto in the Ahern's At Highways Handicap (1600m).

Hyland said Miss Phromily, a last-start Moonee Valley placegetter, was nominated for Flemington this Saturday but was most likely to run at Randwick over 1800m the same day.

Little said Poco Gusto, who has run second at his three provincial runs this campaign, was likely to run in Saturday's Natalie Short and Nicholas Ward Handicap (1800m) at Flemington.

Horses To Follow - Caulfield 31 July 2010

Tuesday, 03 August 2010 00:56

The Caulfield track had jockeys & trainers puzzled with many electing to stay off the rail and other happy to stick to it, needless to say winners came from everywhere.  Here are a handful of horses to follow:

Race 1: Congratulations Luke Nolen Handicap (1000m)

The first and second horses look the part as two-year-olds but Mr Cool Cat may have a fair of improvement in him with maturity.

Keep and eye on the Tale Of The Cat gelding during his three-year-old preparations.

Race 2: Congratulations Peter Moody Handicap (1200m)

Ratatat Lass is a lovely strong mare who was eyecatching in the yard with great condition and needing a run.

Far from disgraced and if she doesn't win second up she will win third up.

Race 6: Bletchingly Stakes (1200m)

Secret Flyer is racing against horses of equal ability but was still able to finish on the heels of the Bletchingly placegetters despite losing lengths around the home turn.

McGill made a decision to give the six-year-old galloping room and unfortunately it didn't work out with Secret Flyer spending the rest of the straight making up the ground he lost peeling out.

Look to surprise against similar company.

BMW Caulfield Cup Entries

Tuesday, 03 August 2010 04:22

Over thirty foreign horses have been nominated for the Group One BMW Caulfield Cup (2400m) to be held at Caulfield on October 16.

Connections of 36 international horses have paid the $350 entry fee. Amongst those are ten horses from Godolphin and five from Luca Cumani.

Nine of the 18 horses who contested last year’s Caulfield Cup have been entered for this year’s edition.

They are; C’est La Guerre, Fiumicino, Master O’Reilly, Predatory Pricer, Red Ruler, Zavite, Harris Tweed, Vigor and Allez Wonder.

Trainers who have missed out on today’s deadline can pay a $2,750 late entry fee prior to midday next Tuesday.

Handicaps for the Caulfield Cup will be declared no later than September 1.

Below is the full list of entries for the BMW Caulfield Cup with international entries highlighted in red.

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Picture: Quentin Lang

Mackinnon Now A $1 Million Race

Monday, 02 August 2010 07:15

The Mackinnon Stakes will be worth $1 million this year with the Victoria Racing Club announcing a number of stakes increases for feature races at Flemington.

Previously worth $750,000, the Mackinnon is a traditional lead-up race to the Melbourne Cup four days later.

The 2010 Patinack Farm Classic (1200m) and the 2011 Lightning Stakes (1000m) have both been increased by $250,000 to $750,000, while the 2011 Kewney Stakes (1400m) for three-year-old fillies has gone up $100,000 to $500,000.

The 2010 Bart Cummings (2500m), 2011 CS Hayes Stakes (1400m) and The Vanity (1400m) have all been increased by $50,000 to $200,000.

The increases mean the VRC will distribute $36,480,000 in 2010-11, including $6 million for the Melbourne Cup.

The Patinack Farm Classic and Lightning Stakes are two legs of the Global Sprint Challenge which encompasses races in Australia, England, Japan and Hong Kong.

Tatts Cox Plate Entries

Tuesday, 03 August 2010 03:57

If weight of numbers is any indication, this year’s Tatts Cox Plate may struggle to have an international runner.

Last year’s Cox Plate won by So You Think did not contain a single international runner in the race.

The last time an international horse contested the Cox Plate was in 2005 when South African-galloper Greys Inn and Japanese visitor Tosen Dandy joined Hong Kong horse Super Kid to finish down the track to champion mare Makybe Diva.

After the retirement of Gloria De Campeao earlier this week, only nine foreign horses (excluding New Zealand-trained horses) have been entered for the 2010 Cox Plate.

Interestingly, only five of the 14 horses who contested last year’s Cox Plate have been entered for this season’s edition. They are Zipping, Whobegotyou, Heart Of Dreams, Rock Kingdom and So You Think.

Scenic Shot, Sir Slick and Speed Gifted were not among the entries.

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Picture: Quentin Lang

Eurell Sprinter To Follow Proven Route

Monday, 02 August 2010 06:15

Promising galloper The Handsome One will be out to emulate former stablemate Mic Mac by winning the Aurie's Star Handicap at Flemington on Saturday.

Prepared by Greg Eurell before a switch to Paul Messara, Mic Mac was an impressive winner of the 2009 Aurie's Star (1200m), beating subsequent Group One Emirates Stakes winner All American and 2007 Cox Plate hero El Segundo.

Mic Mac went on to take out the Group Two Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield at his next start and that is the same path Eurell will take with The Handsome One should he be successful on Saturday.

"That's what there is to offer so if he's good enough we'll go in that direction," Eurell said.

The son of Shamardal, out of the unraced Dehere mare Dehere And Now, The Handsome One was resuming when he won down the Flemington straight 1200m course on a heavy track narrowly beating Beyond Pardon on June 26.

"He's in very good order," Eurell said.

"We actually gave him a let-up after his win down the straight at Flemington.

"We basically give him 10 days off and gave him a bit of a freshen up and he's ready to go again."

The Handsome One will be ridden by Dale Smith who has partnered the four-year-old in each of his five starts for three wins.

The chestnut won over 1100m at Traralgon and 1200m at Caulfield last December, earning a shot at the Zeditave Stakes (1200m) on January 26 and the Wellington RC Stakes (1400m) on February 6, both at Caulfield.

He didn't measure up, finishing seventh and last of six respectively - both times behind Denman.

Eurell believed the horse had been squeezing his testicles and he was gelded and sent for a spell.

"I honestly think he might have had a few issues there with that because he just wasn't performing as well as he should have," the Cranbourne trainer said.

"But the way he's working now you can tell it has made a difference."

Eurell believes The Handsome One, who is yet to race beyond 1400m, will get 1600m.

Nominations have been extended until Tuesday morning for the Aurie's Star which attracted 12 entries on Monday.

The Peter Moody-trained Headway is the class runner of the field being a winner of the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington last spring.

Moody has kept his options open by also nominating the Charge Forward mare for Saturday's Group Three Missile Stakes (1200m) at Randwick.

L T Cleary Stakes winner Beltrois, Anniversary Vase winner Delayedreaction, Elusive Touch, Grand Duels, Leica Larrikin and Spacecraft are nominated.

Pictures: Fiona Tomlin