Weir, there and everywhere
Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Darren Weir has his eyes on another 3200 metre Cup.
The kingpin of the Victorian training ranks has tabled six nominations for the Group III $250,000 New Zealand Cup at Riccarton in November.
Weir famously won the 2015 Melbourne Cup with the now retired Prince of Penzance but the race is best known for his jockey Michelle Payne becoming the first female jockey to win the iconic race.
Fresh off his fourth consecutive Melbourne trainers’ premiership, Weir has put forward former Kiwi runner Yogi, Big Duke, Gallic Chieftain, Kellstorm, Lord Van Percy and Red Cardinal for the New Zealand Cup.
Yogi, who was formerly trained by Mel and Warwick Coles, was sold to Australia and has gone on to win five races from 10 starts since crossing the Tasman.
By White Robe Lodge sire Raise The Flag, Yogi was an eye-catching maiden winner at Riccarton in February 2016 but was later disqualified when a post-race swab returned a caffeine positive.
The New Zealand Cup is not the only Riccarton feature Weir is chasing.
Choisborder, Cliff’s Edge, Sebfire, Snitzepeg, Souffrant, Tamasa and Zhu Ge Liang feature in the nominations for the 2000 Guineas and Leather’N’Lace, Limestone, Rayaheen and Rebel Rose are in the mix for the1000 Guineas.
Weir also has former Kiwi Mongolian Wolf in the Group II Coupland’s Bakeries Mile nominations along with stablemates Burning Front, Plein Ciel, Raw Impulse, Sixties Groove, Tahanee and Think Babe.
Canterbury Jockey Club chief executive Tim Mills described the quantity of nominations from Weir as ‘‘hugely exciting’’ but he was not getting ahead of himself either.
‘‘This is just the first stage so we have to keep our fingers crossed but it is very encouraging,’’ Mills said.
It is nothing new to get nominations from across the Tasman but not to the extent of what was revealed on Wednesday.
However, Mills said it was unrealistic to expect them all to arrive.
Prominent Australian trainers David Hayes, Peter Snowden, Kris Lees and Henry Dwyer have nominated horses for the Cup week features.
Riccarton actively engages Australian trainers in an effort to entice them over for the carnival and Mills said that had drawn strong interest this year.
Meanwhile, in Melbourne, the Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained Weather With You has made a promising Australian debut in a three-year-old maiden at Sandown.
The Teofilo gelding out of Tarique, is raced by Melbourne owners and is being aimed at the Victoria Derby (2500m) in November.
Second behind Qiji Phoenix in the Listed Champagne Stakes at Ellerslie in April, Weather With You’s Sandown appearance was his first start as a three-year-old.
Weather With You, in the hands of Damien Oliver, was three wide for the majority of the 1400m trip but made up late ground to hit the line strongly - just one and a quarter lengths behind race winner Wassergeist.
Wassergeist is trained by former Kiwis Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young and they will clash with the Baker-Forsman team again in Saturday’s Group II Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes at Moonee Valley.
The Baker-Forsman partnership will start ATC Oaks winner Bonneval and Lizzie L’Amour in the race that features the return of the Busuttin and Young-trained Tavago.
He will be having his first start since suffering an injury during the running of the Group I The BMW back in March.