Scottish to miss Melbourne Cup
Caulfield Cup runner-up Scottish will not be stretched to the 3200 metres of the Melbourne Cup and will instead run in the Emirates Stakes on the final day of the Flemington carnival.
Trainer Charlie Appleby said on Godolphin’s website he was happy to drop the horse back to 2000 metres given his consistent form over the distance in Britain this season.
Sheikh Mohammed’s global operation still has several runners in contention for the Cup on Tuesday, including the favourite, Australian-trained Hartnell, second to Winx in the Cox Plate.
Geelong Cup placegetter Oceanographer has been added to the field for the Lexus Stakes, the final race in which the winner is guaranteed a Melbourne Cup start.
Oceanographer, one of a large team of internationally-trained Godolphin horses in Australia, is at No.29 in the order of entry for the Cup on November 1. He finished third at Geelong last Wednesday behind his Charlie Appleby-trained stablemate Qewy who is at No.25, one outside the field limit for the Cup. Trainer David Vandyke has confirmed Cox Plate placegetter Yankee Rose will take her place in the VRC Oaks.
Vandyke had given the filly the green light after looking at her on Wednesday morning, saying she had bounced back from her tough run behind Winx and Hartnell on Saturday.
Yankee Rose is the $2 favourite for the Oaks on Thursday week with many of her potential rivals running in the traditional lead-up, the Wakeful Stakes at Flemington on Saturday. Meanwhile, Mannerism, the mare who defeated Veandercross in a memorable Caulfield Cup in 1992, has died at 29.