Mosse has star billing at Te Rapa
French great could notch a double for punters aboard John Bell- trained pair of Enough and Mosse today
Consecutive races will throw up real class at Te Rapa this afternoon.
Race 5 sees one of our most talented emerging horses in Hiflyer ( No 7) resume from a spell and 35 minutes later another of that ilk in Enough ( No 3, R6) similarly resumes with one of the world's greats, Frenchman Gerald Mosse on his back.
Both races are worth attention. Hiflyer has not raced since May, but was given a barrier trial on October 27 in which he beat Derby victor Rangipo. He has the outside gate of the 12 acceptors, but the 1400m barrier at Te Rapa is not so fierce on wide gates as the 1200m and there will be a bit of time to hopefully work into a decent spot. He is in for a big season.
So i s Enough, who has put together t wo wins a second and a third from just four raceday appearances. His last start was in March, but he has been working well at Cambridge. Mosse and Enough should be a good match.
Te Rapa opens with a juvenile event, which i s a mixture of youngsters
that have had one start and debut runners. One of those, Astor ( No 6, R1) was stylish in winning two barrier trials, particularly the more recent at Te Aroha. A similar effort would take her close.
Midnight Runner ( No 3) won his trial the same day and looks promising. Lady Rossa ( No 7) i s another with a real chance on debut.
Shock Horror ( No 1, R2) has finished powerfully in two starts so far over 1300m and 1400m. He i s by Shocking and will improve as the distances increase and looks perfectly placed at 1600m today. Miss Catherine ( No 6) has a nice barrier and has promising form behind her.
Clarify ( No 9, R4) got no favours from the barrier draw last start and still finished third when resuming. He comes out of a much more favourable gate this time and in an even field should be competitive.
The open sprint, is complex. Ryan Mark ( No 1, R7) is all class, but the 60kg looks daunting, yet it is difficult to rule him out. Mosse ( No 8), to be ridden by the man whose name he carries, has a good record when fresh from a break and although he will improve greatly with this run — his first in 11 months — he has great class.
Then, there is last week's winner Close Up ( No 6), fresh runner Fully Fledged ( No 5) and another classy act in Natuzzi ( No 2).
Marain ( No 9, R8) was heavily backed on debut and did not let the team down. The win was so decisive he could repeat it against tougher opposition.
Preetha Varma ( No 8) disappointed even though she did not get the best run when the Ellerslie rail was out 9m last start. She is talented and worth another chance here.
Class comes out in group one races and Mongolian Falcon ( No 3, R7) at Riccarton has plenty of it. His close second at Te Rapa last start was as good as a win.
He will almost certainly go forward from his handy barrier this time and will take the race to the oppo- sition. As usual there is plenty of talent on offer here, but bad luck looks to be Mongolian Falcon's main danger.
Stablemate Wyndspelle ( No 5) will love the big wide open spaces of Riccarton. He can get home strongly in his races and with the almost certainty of pace in this race, he will be well suited. Ugo Foscolo ( No 2) will Picture / Sport the Library be somewhere in the placings.
The best bet on the impressive card at Flemington for the wind- up of the Melbourne Cup Carnival looks to be Tom Melbourne ( No 3, R3). He did a great job to lead, go clear and have the Lexus won everywhere but the last two strides last Saturday. Unless that has taken too much out of him, this is his race to lose. Anaheim has scored a consolation win for connections at Flemington after missing a start in the Victoria Derby. The Trent Busuttin and Natalie Youngtrained 3- year- old was second emergency in last Saturday’s classic so the pair turned their attention to the Listed TCL QUHD TV Stakes at Flemington on Thursday. Ridden by Ben Melham, Anaheim ($ 9) scored by a length from Righteous Mate ($ 7.50), with Rockstar Rebel ($ 5) 1 ¼ lengths away third. Victory by Anaheim provided the New Zealand training partners their first city success after making the shift across the Tasman and setting up at Cranbourne in August. Young said Anaheim would now be given a month spell before beginning a Derby campaign next year. Melbourne businessman Lloyd Williams refuses to say how much it has cost him to become the most successful owner in Melbourne Cup history. While Australians wagered more than A$ 140 million on Tuesday’s Cup, Williams did not have a bet, channelling his money into buying horses like the winner Almandin from Europe. Imported German horse Almandin gave Williams his fifth Cup when be fought off Irish horse Heartbreak City. Williams and his friend, the late Kerry Packer, used to strike fear into the bookies’ ring, notably pulling off a coup when Waikato mare Jezabeel won in 1998. The potent Dave and Jean Faheytrained greyhound American Warrior will jump as a hot favourite to win Thursday’s $ 100,000 Christchurch Casino NZ Cup after he drew perfectly in trap eight. He crushed his 520m semi- final rivals by eight lengths, clocking a slick 29.91s from the same trap. Electric sprinter Swimming Goat has drawn poorly in trap five for his $ 30,000 Fitz Sports Bar Galaxy Sprint. The impressive winner of 30 of his 33 Addington 295m sprints is smart enough to overcome his draw disadvantage. R9. NZ Cup, 8: 59pm: 1 Berridale Lad, 2, Luminary, 3 Epic Dream, 4 Opawa Shackley, 5 Zipping Jordan, 6 Homebush Howard, 7 Spud Missile, 8 American Warrior. Reserves: 9 Letron James, 10 Ebert Bale. R7. Galaxy, 8: 04pm: 1 Magic Mike, 2 Kihael Kaluna, 3 Miss Fanning, 4 Fireman’s Galaxy, 5 Swimming Goat, 6 Wheelchair Norm, 7 Cawbourne Elpaso, 8 Fliberty Jiberty. Reserves: 9 Burn Early, 10 Speedy Return. A judge will have to decide whether evidence from a vet who gave a Melbourne Cup winning trainer’s horses cobalt is reliable. Trainers Mark Kavanagh and Danny O’Brien are fighting their disqualifications in a Victorian tribunal after five horses returned cobalt positives. Dr Tom Brennan told the tribunal Kavanagh and O’Brien knew he was adding the substance to drips given to horses in their stables and they each paid A$ 3000 for three bottles of it. The pair deny knowing cobalt was in the drips. “Maintaining a consistent and plausible lie about these events is proving quite beyond O’Brien and Kavanagh,” Racing Victoria barrister Jeff Gleeson, QC, said in his closing submissions on Wednesday. However, Judge Greg Garde questioned how much weight he could give to Brennan’s evidence, given it had changed throughout the investigation. Henry Dwyer is hoping for a case of third time lucky as far as the Riccarton carnival goes. The Caulfield trainer has ditched plans to run Sonntag in the New Zealand Cup and Swampland in the NZ 1000 Guineas. “Sonntag wasn’t good enough the other day and the filly pulled up sore,” Dwyer said. “I tried to get over last year as well and that didn’t work out, hopefully we might get there next year.” Complications after surgery for colic have claimed the life of the former top race mare Glamour Puss. “She was a wonderful mare for the stud,” farm principal Mark Chittick said. “Not only did she win two group ones and five black type races in Australia for Danny O’Brien, she produced a foal each and every year she retired with all [ race winners].”