BIGGEST RACE ORDER OF ENTRY
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Champion jockey Glen Boss says Constantinople has all the assets required for the gruelling 3200-metre Melbourne Cup after jumping on his back for the first time in a track gallop at Flemington yesterday morning.
Not out to test the clock, the fouryear-old son of Galileo worked on the synthetic track over 1800 metres, going 14 seconds a furlong before quickening the last 300 metres. Trainer David Hayes said the Cup favourite would continue to tick over towards the first Tuesday in November after running fourth to Mer De Glace in Saturday’s Caulfield Cup.
“He galloped today with Glen Boss on for the first time and he followed his stablemate around and strode down the straight not breaking records but looked pretty impressive,” Hayes said.
“What I liked about it, as I did before the Caulfield Cup, is he didn’t want to stop.
“I think he’s got elite staying potential and he should have a Caulfield Cup on the mantle so he’s pretty good I think.
“He won’t be tested too hard before the Cup because that’s why he ran in the Caulfield Cup, to have a good hit-out. He’ll work on Breakfast with the Stars on Tuesday and then we’ll start tapering into the Cup.”
Boss, a three-time Melbourne Cup-winning hoop on Makybe Diva, said the lightly-raced Coolmore stayer ticked a lot of boxes.
“That was the first time I’ve seen him in the flesh; he’s a pretty impressive-looking horse,” he said “He’s got a very impressive frame but he hasn’t quite got all the muscles yet; he’s a young horse so he’s still growing, he’ll be growing for another year or so. But he’s an impressive when you get on his back, he’s quite impressive.
“He’s a true galloper but I just said to Hayesy [David Hayes], I watched all his runs in Europe and he looked like a bit of a one-paced [horse]. But he feels like he’s got a turn of speed ... he showed that in the Caulfield Cup. He’s a nice horse.”
Boss will return to ride a full book of rides in Sydney on Saturday, then fly back to ride Constantinople on Tuesday, then return back to Sydney for the Golden Eagle meeting before Tuesday week’s Melbourne Cup.
“He’ll do a bit more on Tuesday on the course proper; he’s got a nice engine but he’s got a good set of pipes to go with it, which is very important,” Boss said.
CORRUPTION CLAIMS
Meanwhile, horse torture and corrupt betting allegations have been detailed in the criminal case against Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Darren Weir and his former right-hand man, Jarrod McLean. They face a string of charges alongside stablehands William
Hernan and Tyson Kermond, involving 2018 Cup runner Red Cardinal and thoroughbreds Yogi and Tosen Basil.
McLean is alleged to have used poly pipes and electric shock devices on Red Cardinal and Yogi at Warrnambool during last year’s spring racing carnival, between October 24 and Cup Day on November 6. The techniques were allegedly part of an “illicit covert training regime” designed to deceive racing stewards while giving horses an edge for betting purposes, documents released by Melbourne Magistrates Court show.
Weir, McLean and Kermond are charged with using shock devices to torture, abuse, terrify and overwork Red Cardinal, Yogi and Tosen Basil at Warrnambool on October 30.
The trio is also accused of conspiring to cheat and defraud Racing Victoria stewards between October 24 and November 17. - The Age