Kruzey has been tracking many horses both locally and internationally since the end of Autumn.
All of our Melbourne Cup reports up till now feature so many horses that it’s hard to get a decent read on where they line up in terms of pre-Cup form.
Trying to gauge the merits of international horses, particularly out of Ireland and England is a bit difficult because the graded races over there are mostly Group 2 and Group 3 form, the best horses who were racing in Group 1 races aren’t coming out to Australia. For instance Stradivarius.
In an attempt to group horses rather than individualize them, we will assemble their merits under their trainers banner.
List of Melbourne Cup Trainers
Chris Waller
As to be expected, the Sydney trainer has many decent horses at his disposal in readiness for the spring carnivals both in New South Wales and in Victoria. Stayers like Finche, Count Octave, Verry Elleegant, Youngstar, Unforgotten, Brimham Rocks, Eastender, Nights Watch, Kings Will Dream, and Shraaoh. There is some undoubted quality horse flesh in there and it will be interesting to see how they all stack up.
Lindsay Park
The Hayes, Hayes and Dabernig stable also has a rock star look to its staying back line. Rostropovich, Muntahaa, Constantinople, Alfaris, Qafila, Super Titus, Sikandarabad, Neufbosc are all nominated.
Liam Howley (Macedon Lodge)
This is the stable of the Lloyd Williams empire, with many ex Irish stayers now based locally in Australia. There is an array of talent lining up in 2019. Including Yucatan, Steps, Spanish Point, US Army Ranger, Our Venice Beach, Nelson, Johannes Vermeer, Bass, Douglas MacArthur, Exemplar, and Homesman.
Aidan O’Brien
We won’t know exactly, until a few more weeks when all the horses leaving quarantine out of England finally get on the plane. Only then will we know who’s coming down under. But of the initial nominations that were put forward, the list is impressive. Check it out. Eminence, Magic Wand, Il Paradiso, Mount Everest, Norway, Hunting Horn, Kew Gardens, South Pacific and Western Australia. Aidan also had a couple of other decent horses which have since moved to other stables, three in particular were Constantinople, Southern France and Cape of Good Hope.
Joseph O’Brien
Son of Aidan, and trainer of 2017 Cup winner Rekindling, Joseph O’Brien returns with a minimal team to Melbourne in 2019. It’s a small but useful list. Master of Reality, Latrobe, Buckhurst, Downdraft and Twilight Payment.
Maher/Eustace
One of the stables that benefited from the breakup of the Darren Weir operation earlier in the year was the Caulfield operation of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace. The list of nominees for the Melbourne Cup looks good on paper but I’m not actually convinced that there is a genuine 2 mile winner among it. Possibly the closest would be the ex Irish and O’Brien galloper Southern France. Other horses on the list include, Yogi, Wall of Fire, Azuro, Kenedna, Humidor, Dal Harraild and Bondeiger.
Kris Lees
Newcastle trainer Kris Lees has a number of Australian Bloodstock gallopers in his stable. Probably the most interesting is the latest addition to his stable which is Mustajeer, a last start winner in the Ebor Handicap over in York. Other names to the list include: Aliferous, Attention Run, Big Duke, Angel Of Heaven, Fairlight, Red Cardinal, Saunter Boy, Sixties Groove and Our Candidate.
Of course there are other top rated galopers that are coming out individually with their trainers. So it will pay to keep an eye on the all-in betting sites.
Keep an eye on Kruzey’s Melbourne Cup reports as this list may change as we get deeper into the spring season.
Return to: Melbourne Cup 2019
