International: Melbourne Cup | Horse Racing

With the Melbourne Cup just three weeks away, as of next Tuesday, I thought I'd keep those in the North abreast of the latest news on the European contingent to make the trip. Top of the list of course is last year’s impressive winner Americain, trained in France by Alain de Royer-Dupre. His form since that wonderful win has been pretty disappointing, going down to fellow traveller Jukebox Jury in the G2 Prix Kergolay over 3016m on August 21. But he remains well in commission at 9-1. He is yet to set foot on the track this campaign. Americain is entered for both the Cox Plate and the Moonee Valley Cup. It looks as though he’ll probably go into the MV Cup, then onto the big one.

Those that turned out today in the 2400m Herbert Power Stakes were the 9 year old Bauer, trained Luca Cumani, and the two Brian Ellison horses, Moyenne Corniche and Saptapadi. Last start the Ebor Handicap winner put in a blinder. Settling mid-field along the fence, Zahra rode him a treat. He ran home very strongly in the run to the line, to take third. His stablemate Saptapadi was dragged back from a wide draw. He came three deep down the back, then was pushed even wider on the corner, but ran out of steam in the straight. He should take some benefit from the run though.

The evergreen Bauer put in a nice solid run in the same race. Having only his fifth race since his great second in the Cup in 08. He was third last in running but came via the cape on the corner to get to the line in solid fashion. He’s long in the tooth but, as he’s been the victim of damage that kept him off the scene for quite a while, he still might have a big run in him on that Tuesday. Cumani also has Drunken Sailor, Manighar and Sahara Sun entered. The latter went around in the 2000m Caulfield stakes today. From an inside barrier, he dropped out the back. As the tempo quickened at the half mile, he was dropped. Hard ridden, under the whip, he was hooked deep on the corner and was seen to be doing his best work over the last 200m. The trip was way too short. Encouraging run though.

As mentioned earlier, Jukebox Jury has made the trip down under. The G1 winner of the Irish St Leger has not as yet stepped out, and nor has his companion and stablemate Fox Hunt. The G3 win in the German St Leger has incurred a 0.5kg penalty which has allowed Fox Hunt to jump to 32 in order of merit, almost assuring him of a start. Jukebox Jury is assured of a run, as the Irish St Leger is an Automatic Qualifier.

Other contenders who’ve yet to make an appearance are the Godolphin pair Modun and Lost In The Moment. Ed Dunlop’s Red Cadeaux is yet to appear too. Dermott Weld brings Galileo’s Choice. The other European challenge comes from France, Dunaden. Trained by Mikel Delzangles, the horse comes with consistent form, having missed just two placings in his last 13 races.

A couple that have come under the spotlight are a pair of German horses, Lucas Cranach and Illo; both have been placed in Australian hands. The former has been bought by local interests and been placed with the Freedmans. Lucas Cranach is the winner of 5 from 9, winning at G2 level coming from last with a storming finish. He’s been backed off the map. As much as 150-1 was taken; he’s now a 10-1 second favourite. The other German, Illo is to be trained by the man who’s won the event 12 times, Bart Cummings. Illo will go straight into the Geelong Cup, then the Melbourne Cup. He’s the winner of 5 of 13.


Americain. 9-1.
Lucas Cranach. 10-1.
December Draw. 10-1.
Lion Tamer. 12-1.
Midas Touch. 12-1.
At First Sight. 16-1.
Jukebox Jury. 18-1.
Precedence. 18-1.
Absolutely. 20-1.
Mourayan. 20-1.
Shamrocker. 20-1.
Descarado. 25-1.
Moyenne Corniche. 25-1.
Drunken Sailor. 30-1.
Dunaden. 30-1.
Fox Hunt. 30-1.
Hawk Island. 30-1.
Illo. 30-1.
Manighar. 30-1.
Modun. 30-1.
Usual Suspect. 30-1.
-------------------------------
40-1 and above the rest.
Lost In The Moment 40-1.
Red Cadeaux 60-1.
Saptapadi. 80-1.
Sahara Sun 100-1.

 

Jukebox and Drunkern sailor look good ew bets at those odds.I will definately put this in the black book, to do some form studying,looks a good race in the making.Cheers Cyc

 

There is something about the Cup that excites Australians like no other event Islander, Olympics included. Like they say, it's the race that stops the nation.

 

Cyc: Good day to you! Bit early for me for MC, got to wait a bit.............

(How on earth you beat SA I'll never know, but you did and well done. Sort of fancy a Wales v. Australia final; wasn't all that impressed with NZ, but Argentina are getting tougher all the time?).

 

It was one hell of an escape by the Wallabies Swanny. The Boks had all the ball and should have nailed us in tat last 20 minutes, when they assaulted our line. To be frank, the best team didn't win. I'm a happy man none the less. The semis are going to be something to watch. I'd like to see a Wales - Australia final too, but I don't think it'll happen. The All Blacks should go in as hot favourites against us, so we'll be up against it. As for the other game, it's probably close to a 50-50 game. I hope the Welsh can pull it off, but I think the French might be too good. Fingers crossed though.

 

Cyc: Yes, the French have suddenly woken-up. They were fairly awful early on, but showed what they can really do against England. I'll stick with Wales though. To me they have looked the best of the European teams from the start? We'll soon see!

 

Stranger things have happened. I seem to remember Australia went into the semi in 2003 against NZ as underdogs...

 

New Zealand certainly have very serious injury problems. Real bad luck for them. Now have to see how strong they are in depth.

 

NZ have some serious stand off problems. They miss Carter no ends. With their two reserve 10s both carrying an injury, it doesn't look good for them. They've also lost their fullback. The great fear in NZ, is their possible collapse when the pressure is applied. They have been the bench mark for decades, but have had the habit of crashing when the going gets tough in the World Cup. Kiwis are on the edge of their seats already, and it's just the semis.

Oz can not play any worse than they did against the Boks, so hopefully we can step up. Our 10 had a shocker in the Quarter, and our pack is not that great. The All Blacks should hold the upper hand in the scrums and line outs, and they seem to get to the break down quicker than we do. Their phase play can be outstanding. We need to ambush them in the opening 20 minutes and put them on the back foot. Our big hope is that the pressure gets to them.

 

Cyc: Excellent summary. What with the RWC semis and Frankel too, can't wait for next weekend. Nothing to do with betting either, that's the beauty of it!

 

I'd be interested to see how Lostinthemoment gets on. To me is a horse who needs a trip, yet again was staying on very late last time. Is just one of those who if he gets a bit of luck in running, he might strike at a big price.


As for the rugby Cyc, Aus are my tip to win the tournament and have been for some time, despite their frailties. All of the big packs are out of the tournament, barring New Zealand. But you have shown you can beat them when winning the tri-nations. Alarmingly, I thought NZ were a bit panicky when Argentina had the ball. If Australia can get close to 50/50 possession then I think you will cause serious problems. They look absolutely lost without Dan Carter.

I desperately hope Wales knock the French out but it would just be bloody typical of the French to go and win. They are a terrible side on the back foot though so hopefully Wales will keep getting over the gain line and send them into disarray.


The winner of Aus/NZ will win the World Cup in my opinion.

 

TC, Lost In The Moment is due to be shipped out on the 15th and will arrive here on the 17th. He'll then do two weeks in quaranteen. So he'll have no lead up run. I don't know too much about the horse, but he seems to have ability. He wouldn't be making the trip if he didn't. It seems that he was a bit rusty last time out in the 12f G3 Cumberland Lodge Stakes, after his Ebor run, according to Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford. He was out paced when they changed gear, but ended up getting to the line well. Seems they were happy with the run.

 

The Freedman boys are heavyweight racing types in Australia. As soon as the word went out they they were off to Germany to bring back Lucas Cranach, the horse was backed off the map. As Stated above, as much as 150-1 was secured about the horse. He's now challenging for favouritism. So in light of the German form in the Arc, I went and had a look at the G2 Grosser Preis von Lotto Hamburg Hansa Preis. The horse's win was astounding. I can see why the money went on. I've included a link. Lucas Cranach is last in running, and seems to have gold or orange colours.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0-2HGZN9m4

 

Numbers just released for entrants in the Cox Plate, which saw entrants drop from 59 to 37, have given a huge hint that last years Cup winner Americain night line up at the valley. His rider Brad Rawiller gave the horse a resounding thumbs on on the horse's first look at the track. There can be no better lead up to the big race than the Cox Plate which carries a total purse of $3,000,000.

 

Big day out for some foreign Cup hopefuls at Caulfield this afternoon. Among them Drunken Sailor, Mighty High, Manighar, Lucas Cranach GR, Saptapadi, Usual Suspect US, December Draw, and Green Moon. As I'm short in time at the moment I'll give a better rundown on what happened, a bit later. But Southern Speed had a cracking win over Green Moon. The German Lucas Cranach went well as did Manighar. The Cup favourite December Draw has to be eased out of the race after being galloped on. More later.

 

Correction to the placings today in the Caulfield Cup. Southern Speed beat Green Moon.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkbJmV0JpZg

 

A big firmer in the market has been the second place getter in the Caulfield Cup, Green Moon. He ran a cracker of a race. About a dozen lengths off early and three deep, the 5 year old ex Irish horse led up the wide line. He took them to the corner where two deep he charged to the front. He couldn't hold off the winner, going down by a couple of lengths. His rider Nick Hall stated ''It was a fantastic run. He didn't have the tactical speed to go forward early and he had to recover a lot of extra ground but held on well. I was very happy with the performance.'' Green Moon has firmed into 9-1 second favourite, but at this point is not assured of a run. Due to his allotted weight, he's well down the Order Of Merit. He needs to win the Lexus next week to win an exemption from the ballot.

Lucas Cranach, the German import, put in a good run. He went into the race under an injury cloud, but was passed fit to run. He pulled up sore. He was slowly away and settled well back, then came widest of all with a sweeping run. He wobbled for a few strides on the bend but went to the line well. a nice trial, but the injury cloud persists, and as a result he's drifted from 11 to 13.

December Draw. The 6 year old gelding had a shocker. The one time favourite was galloped on during the race ans was eased out of contention. Michael Rodd said the horse had nothing when asked so he took hold believing that something was amiss. He pulled up last. Test have now confirmed the the horse has fractured a lateral splint bone in the off hind leg. Game over.

Drunken Sailor. Was well back on the inside in running. He got a lovely run a dozen lengths off them, but when the hammer was dropped, he was badly held up behind a wall of horses. By the time he got free, the race was over for him. He ran on ok but others went to the line better. The longer trip of the Cup, on the bigger Flemington track will suit him though. He's now a 25-1 shot.

Unusual Suspect. U.S. galloper who in a very nice run for an old bloke. Ridden a very cold ride by Rawiller, he drifted out the back to second last. wasn't asked for much at all until they approached the corner. He was under a hold before this. He tried to get up under Drunken Sailor, in the straight, but that horse drifted in, forcing Unusual Suspect to hook of is heels. He looked fresh going to the line. Probably one of the best trials, but few horses of his age win the Cup. Worth thinking about though. 40-1.

Septapadi. No pace to go with then early, so ended up settling well back. Pulled stops out 4 from home and made nice ground on the inside of Lucas Cranach. Extremely wide on the bend, held up for a second, but then was outpaced again by most of them in the run to the post. 80-1.

Mighty High. The former French horse who now campaigns in Asia, got involved in a furious tussle for the lead. Shook them off to then lead by a couple of lengths until that came at him at the half mile. They rushed past him at the 3, then he dropped out to be a well beaten second last. 60-1.

Manighar. Made the best of his ideal draw, but didn't have the pace to be with the leaders as the left the straight the first time. Was used a little in first 2 furlongs to hunt up along the rail. Then settled mid-field on paint, six off the lead. Got to save a lot of ground while others went wide. Went around one on the corner so never held up at any stage. Made some ground in the first half of the straight, but a number were doing more in the last furlong. Maybe needs further, but no excuses today. 20-1.

 

In relation to the Cumani horses. Stable foreman Charlie Henson said. ''We're very happy, and we couldn't have asked for much more,'' said Cumani stable foreman Charlie Henson. ''Both horses will be much better suited at Flemington but both of them ran really well today. We're very proud.'' He then added. ''Both boys rode really well. For Dwayne (Drunken Sailor) to get to where he was, it was a brilliant ride. Damien (Manighar) also rode a great race and we've got no problems with either of them.''