Late Japanese Entry For The Spring
- Friday, 06 August 2010 05:45
Promising young stayer Meisho Dontaku has further strengthened the Japanese contingent for the spring carnival with his late nomination for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups and the Cox Plate.
Connections of the four-year-old on Friday paid the late entry fee for both the $6 million Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 2 and the $2.5 million Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield on October 16.
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Meisho Dontaku finished third in Japan's premier 3200m handicap, the Group One Tenno Sho, in early May behind original Cup nominees Jaguar Mail and Meiner Kitz.
The Masaru Honda-trained stayer takes to six the number of Japanese horses entered for this year's Cups.
The other three are Three Orion, Tokai Trick and White Pilgrim who is also entered for the $3 million Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 23.
In addition to the Cups contenders, Japanese three-year-old Break A Theory has been nominated for the $1.5 million Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington on October 30.
The Hiroshi Miyamoto-prepared Galileo colt will become the first internationally-trained starter in Victoria's most prestigious three-year-old race if he makes the trip as planned.
The Japanese horses will be the first to compete in Australia since stablemates Delta Blues and Pop Rock finished one-two in the 2006 Melbourne Cup.
Japanese horses have been prevented from travelling to Australia since equine influenza outbreaks in both countries in 2007.
