Jon Snow ruled out of Cup
NEW Zealanders will not get the chance to cheer on a Kiwi-trained runner in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup.
The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained Jon Snow has been ruled out of the A$6.2 million race due to what veterinarians say is an injury.
But the decision immediately became a controversial one with Baker saying there is nothing wrong with the star stayer.
The Victoria Racing Club Committee made the decision yesterday following veterinarians refusing to pass the horse fit to run. Racing Victoria (RV) stewards announced soon after that Jon Snow would not be permitted to accept for the Melbourne Cup because he was found to be lame.
A dejected baker was bewildered by the decision and maintained there was nothing amiss with Jon Snow yesterday.
‘‘He’s got a very shallow foot in his near fore, but he worked brilliantly this morning and Stephen Baster said he felt great and he’s been the same throughout his career. It doesn’t worry him when he’s warmed up.
‘‘They said he’s two out of five lame and there’s not much you can do about it. He’s working well and racing well so there’s not much wrong with him in my opinion,’’ Baker told NZ Racing Desk.
Jon Snow, last season’s Australian Derby winner, was a $31 chance in the futures market.
The difference of opinion between Baker and RV stewards was tainted with a feeling of deja vu for both parties.
Stewards determined Jon Snow’s stablemate Bonneval was one in five lame before the running of the Caulfield Cup when Baker insisted there was no issue.
She was also found to be lame after the race where she finished a disappointing 14th.
Before Jon Snow was officially ruled out, Baker told media that Jon Snow had always had the issue and his condition yesterday was no different to what it had been before races in New Zealand or Sydney. The news will be a bitter pill to swallow for Jon Snow’s owners the Zame Partnership.
Some members of the Zame family had already made their way from Gisborne to Melbourne on Friday.
The only consolation was that the ruling came before they had to stump up for the A$49,500 final acceptance fee.
Meanwhile, the only other Kiwitrained runner with a chance of making the Melbourne Cup field has missed out by a frustratingly small margin.
The John Wheeler-trained Pentathlon has produced an exceptional performance in the Lexus Stakes (2500m) but has come up less than half a length short of earning a Cup start.
Pentathlon charged home from the back of the Lexus field to finish a close third behind Cismontane and Vengeur Masque.
The winner of the Lexus Stakes gains automatic entry to the Melbourne Cup.
Pentathlon, who was the outsider of the Lexus field and returned $11 a place, finished just a short neck plus a head behind Cismontane.
Melbourne Cup starters Humidor and Who Shot Thebarman are Kiwi owned but are trained in Australia.
Well down in the order of entry, Pentathlon, who finished ninth in the 2016 Melbourne Cup, needed to win the Lexus to make the Melbourne Cup field.
Along with Humidor and Who Shot Thebarman, New Zealand will also be represented by two jockeys.
Last month’s Caulfield Cup-winning jockey Cory Parish will be back aboard Boom Time and yesterday Michael Walker was confirmed for the ride aboard outsider Bondi Beach.
DAVID Payne’s Australian dream has come true with the former champion South African trainer realising his longheld ambition to win the Victoria Derby.
Ace High, a horse Payne identified as a Derby player early in his career, delivered on the big stage at Flemington on Saturday with a superior staying performance over the 2500 metres.
Payne arrived in Australia in 2002 to start a new life in Sydney and shortly after businessman John Cordina joined him as a supporter of the trainer’s stable.
Last month they celebrated their first Group I win together when Ace High won the Spring Champion Stakes in Sydney.
But the Derby is a different level again.
‘‘This is by far the best feeling I’ve had,’’ Cordina said.
‘‘I was a bit worried in the run when he was three and four-wide but it was a great ride by Tye (Angland) and it’s just an amazing feeling.’’
Payne trained the winners of all South Africa’s big races and has had success at the highest level in Australia with his tally at more than 100. There is at least one more he’d like to win.
‘‘We could be back next year for the Melbourne Cup,’’ he said.
Ace High beat home Sully by two lengths with a further neck back to Astoria in third.
The New Zealand bred Sully ran a strong race for former Kiwi trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young.
The promising Reliable Man gelding, out of Lady Winifred, was having just his seventh race day start.
Sully’s jockey Hugh Bowman can see a bright future for the horse later in the season.
‘‘Very pleased with his effort. No excuses, the winner was too good today but I can see my horse really improving come the autumn.’’