‘17 Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup always approaches fast, with the 2017 edition set for Tuesday, November 7. The race that stops a nation is more exciting than ever this year. There are a total of 10 races taking place throughout the day, with varying race distances and priz
Last Saturday’s Caulfield Cup winner Boom Time has received a weight penalty for the Melbour ne Cup. Boom Time has received a 1kg penalty for the Melbourne Cup following his Caulfield Cup win which is the same penalty that Viewed, Dunaden and Mongolian Khan all received for their wins. Boom Time will now carry 53kg in the Melbourne Cup 2017.
MARMELO EQUAL FAVOURITE
International visitor Marmelo has stormed into equal favouritism for the Melbourne Cup after an eye-catching Caulfield Cup run. The Hughie Morrison-trained horse ran home strongly from back in the field to finish equal sixth in Saturday’s 2400m handicap, won by Boom Time.
Winner of the Prix Kergorlay (3000m) in France in August, Marmelo has firmed from AU$11 to AU$6.50 for the 2017 Melbourne Cup and shares favouritism with last year’s winner Almandin while Johannes Vermeer is at AU$9. “Excellent performance,” Marmelo’s jockey Hugh Bowman said. “He’s right on track for the Melbourne Cup.” Marmelo was not the first of the three international horses home in Saturday’s Cup, with the Aidan O’Brien-trained Johannes Vermeer finishing third as the AU$5 favourite.
“He ran really well,” jockey Ben Melham said.
“He took a step backwards as the barriers opened and I would have liked to be a couple of spots closer in the run. I just had to pick and weave through the corner but he was really strong on the line.”
The Willie Mullins-trained Wicklow Brave, the other northern hemispheretrained runner in the Cup, finished 12th and is at AU$51 for the Melbourne Cup..
SINGLE GAZE CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
Canberra trainer Nick Olive had tears as he spoke with pride about the performance of runner-up Single Gaze in last Saturday’s Caulfield Cup. The pint-sized mare led around the home turn and was only overhauled by eventual winner Boom Time passing the 100m of the famous 2400m handicap. “Unreal,” Olive said.
“I’m just so proud of her. How gutsy was she? She had to guts it out from the 500-metre mark. She had to take the field up to the tearaway leader (Sir Isaac Newton) and she was still there fighting at the end. I’m just so proud of the horse. I can’t say enough about her.”
Olive admitted he thought his stable star might have been going to win the race when it came to the business end in the final 300m. “Even at the 200 (metres) I thought she was going to keep going,” he said.
“He (Boom Time) just got the drop on her and beat her but she was strong the whole way and she had to do it tough.” Single Gaze won the Group One Vinery Stud Stakes during the 2016 autumn carnival in Sydney and then didn’t race for 45 weeks after falling in the Australian Oaks at her next start. The mare has campaigned in Melbourne during the spring, with Saturday’s Caulfield Cup her major aim. Her connections were celebrating her performance for second.
Her jockey Kathy O’Hara copped a 10-meeting suspension out of the Caulfield Cup. Having performed so gamely, a start in the Melbourne Cup 2017 now awaits Single Gaze.
“If she pulls up well, she’ll be running,” Olive said.
BONNEVAL RULED OUT
Once a leading Melbourne Cup contender Kiwi stayer Bonneval will not push onto the Melbourne Cup following her disappointing finish in last Saturday’s Caulfield Cup. Bonneval had an injury cloud over her throughout the week and she obviously did not race up to her quote finishing at the tail of the field in the Caulfield Cup after jumping at AU$7 in markets with stewards reporting she had pulled up lame.
ALWARD’S MELBOURNE CUP DREAM
Imported French stayer Alward might race in Group company during his first Australian campaign after all, providing he wins at Randwick.
Sydney’s premier trainer Chris Waller has played down Alward’s prospects since he won a Benchmark 82 Handicap (2000m) at Rosehill in August and was installed, temporarily, as favourite for the Group One Metropolitan Handicap.
Waller has limited Alward to benchmark races until Saturday’s Listed City Tattersalls Club Cup (2400m). Should he justify his pre-race favouritism, Waller said Alward could run in the Group Three Lexus Stakes (2500m) at Flemington on November 4. The winner of the Lexus is guaranteed a start in the Melbourne Cup if already entered as is the case with Alward.
“He’d have to win to look at the Lexus. You never say never but he’s been up a long time,” Waller said.
Alward has won four of his seven starts since joining Waller’s operation from France in September last year. The campaign started in July and he finally steps up to what could be his best distance.
“It’s the right time to try him over 2400. He ran second in a 2400-metre race in France, normally that’s a pretty good guide to their distance,” Waller said.
“They (French trainers) seem to work it out quicker than we do. They don’t seem to get it too wrong.”
Alward is backing up from a three-horse race at Randwick where he won a Benchmark 90 Handicap (2000m) from his stablemates Up ‘N’ Rolling and Veladero. Waller insisted the race was a genuine work-out for Alward, who won by 1-3/4 lengths.
“It looked quite competitive to my eye. My instructions to our riders was to simulate race-like conditions as close as they could,” Waller said. -