Switch of plan for Mongolian Wolf
Promising three- year- old stayer Mongolian Wolf has been scratched from the Rough Habit Plate at Doomben because of transport problems but is still expected to contest the Queensland Derby.
The Darren Weir- trained Mongolian Wolf and stablemate Neverland were stranded in Melbourne when they could not make a flight to Brisbane.
Weir scratched both at the first opportunity yesterday morning.
Mongolian Wolf, who would have been the short- priced favourite in the Rough Habit Plate, will now run at Caulfield today.
He will accompany stablemate Articus, the Doomben Cup favourite, to Queensland by float early next week. Syndicate head Jamie Lovett told RadioTAB Mongolian Wolf was still headed to the Queensland Derby on June 10 after he runs at Caulfield.
The Doomben track is rated a soft ( 7) for today’s meeting after no rain fell overnight.
Track manager Jim Roberts said provided it remained fine the track should recover further.
“We got caught by 10 millimetres of rain on Monday as the track had been fertilised. I would hope the rating will be better by Saturday,” Roberts said “But they are predicting up to six millimetres tomorrow so hopefully it will miss us or they are wrong.”
After watching the Kentucky Derby from the Churchill Downs stand as a fan, Chris Waller will be back to business at Scone.
Louisville and Scone may seem worlds apart but the two- day carnival in the NSW Hunter Valley is close to Waller’s heart.
The Scone crowd will be minuscule compared to the 145,000 at Churchill Downs who witnessed Always Dreaming win the Derby’s 143rd edition but Sydney’s premier trainer still drew comparisons with the NSW town.
“Louisville has 800,000 people but it’s realistically a country town. It’s the breeding hub of America as is Scone ( in Australia).
“There’s a lot of similarities between there and Scone. There’s fantastic open spaces, a lot of history.” Waller lines up Shillelagh, Tsaritsa and Elle Lou in the Dark Jewel Classic today.
He rates Shillelagh as his leading hope on the strength of her last- start win in the Godolphin Crown at Hawkesbury.