Appleby picks four for spring carnival campaign

GEELONG Cup- winning British trainer Charlie Appleby will send four of his horses into quarantine this week before making a trip to Australia in a fortnight for the upcoming Spring Carnival.

Last year’s Geelong Cup winner Qewy, who finished fourth in the Melbourne Cup, is currently 40th in the order of entry for this year’s Melbourne Cup after being allocated 53kg by Racing Victoria chief handicapper Greg Carpenter on Monday.

Stablemate Francis Of Assisi, who won the Group 3 Bendigo Cup and Queen Elizabeth Stakes last spring, is guaranteed a start in the Melbourne Cup with 54kg.

But Appleby will also bring with him Kidmenever, who looks destined to head towards this year’s Geelong Cup.

The Northern Hemisphere four-year-old has been allocated just 50.5kg, but the Godolphin trainer may look at setting Kidmenever on the same path that gained Qewy a Melbourne Cup start.

“Kidmenever will probably need to win one of the prep races to get into the Cup, but we’ll give it a shot,” Appleby told the Godolphin website.

Appleby will also bring out Folkswood, who holds an entry in the Cox Plate.

Fellow Godolphin trainer Saeed Bin Suroor will also bring up to four horses.

Prize Money is guaranteed a run in the Melbourne Cup and could follow the path of Beautiful Romance and Secret Number who ran first-up in the feature race, while Natural Scenery is also set to make the trip Down Under.

The Dubawi mare looks a potential Geelong Cup candidate, needing to move up in the weights to gain a start in the Melbourne Cup. “We have four entries (for the Melbourne Cup) and will decide on final plans in coming weeks,” the UK-based trainer said.

“Prize Money is guaranteed a run with 55kg, and the plan is to take him out to Australia with Natural Scenery, who runs at Doncaster on Thursday.

“Winning Story came out of the Ebor in good form, and we will make a decision regarding him and Red Galileo as we get nearer the race,” he added.