This will be a short report, written just prior to Caulfield Stakes Day.
Jockey Joust
In the lead up to both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, we see the preliminary josseling of jockeys angling to get their feet into the stirrups of top chances ahead of time.
Some have been known for a while, and then there are those that are taking a wait-and-see approach, as some horses may drop out of contention I’ll drop his also need to be careful not to enjoy the rest of the students and in Curry a link the suspension which cuts through the Flemington carnival.
He is a list of who we believe have secured rides in the cup.
Marmelo – H Bowman
Avilius – G Schofield?
Master Of Reality – F Dettori
Steel Prince -?
Surprise Baby – J Childs
Twilight Payment – W Lordan
Latrobe – J McDonald
Raheen House – B Avdulla
Finche – K McEvoy
Constantinople – L Nolen
Southern France – M Zahra?
Rostropovich – D Dunn
Cross Counter – J Doyle
Ispolini – W Buick
Vow And Declare – G Boss?
Mustajeer – D Oliver
Mr Quickie – J Allen
Il Paradiso – R Moore
Shraaoh – J Ford
Glory Days – C Williams?
Miarge Dancer – B Melham
Prince Of Arran – M Walker
Red Verdon – Z Purton?
Qafila – C Parish
Other jockeys in consideration:
Pat Musgrave
Jamie Spencer
Oisin Murphy
Joao Moreira
Damian Lane
Tim Clark
Jamie Kah
Tommy Berry
Declan Bates
Linda Meech
Dean Yendall
Dean Holland
Jye McNeil
Ben Allen
Blake Shinn
Jason Collett
Opie Bosson
Racing New South Wales – disruptive or destructive?
More murmurings from north of the border again, this time CEO of Racing New South Wales Peter V’landys, stirring the pot by suggesting the Melbourne Cup should be moved from its current date to some other date in November.
You have to admire the man for having the balls to say such a thing as we go deep into the spring season.
It’s all good and well saying such a thing, but he just threw it out there without firstly providing a reason, and secondly, what the benefits would be.
In particular to Racing New South Wales because that’s the jurisdiction he represents and he’s been disruptive enough to upset the national framework of Australian Racing already.
Let’s face it, Melbourne has a 160 year legacy and it won’t be changing anytime soon.
Also, by the time November rolls around, Racing New South Wales doesn’t actually have a viable racing product.
All they could offer are pop-up races.
Sydney Group 1 races are out of the question because there are enough already (some say too much) while trainers are also winding down their horses so they can spell over Christmas in readiness for Autumn.
You can only stretch the elastic band so far before it breaks.
If it’s a ‘stir of the pot’ jest, then fine.
We’ll ignore it for the nonsense that it is.
If he’s serious, then how about detailing how it would work, and how to rework the logistics of an Australian institution on the annual calendar.
Not that it’s the job for a neighbouring and rival racing jurisdiction to make.
Racing Victoria counterpart Amanda Elliot will surely have something to say about that and will be most vociferous about it.
Any change would have a bounce on effect for other codes, including the recently concluded seasons for AFL and NRL, cricket, golf, ANBL basketball, A League, and other events where sponsorship dollars are at a premium.
We should also mention other racing carnivals that follow on from the Melbourne Cup including the Japan Cup and the December International Hong Kong meeting.
In recent years we have had several horses go up to Hong Kong and race up there in December including Latrobe, Rostropovich, Prince Of Arran.
Any changes to date scheduling basically throws the Hong Kong meeting out the window.
There’s just not enough time to prepare.
I guess what I’m saying is that any change to a major event like the Melbourne Cup has a flow on effect through many aspects of sport and the Australian way of life in general.
One can’t help see the myopic vision that Peter V’landys comes to the table with. Best leave well alone I say.
That’s all for this weeks Melbourne Cup Watch Report.
Keep checking in with Kruzey.com.au for more, as we count down to the first Tuesday in November.
