Jumbo out to atone for Eagle Farm flop
THE form from recent Eagle Farm meetings has not held up at other tracks and trainer Michael Nolan is hopeful it will prove the same for Jumbo Prince in the Ipswich Cup.
Jumbo Prince turned in the worst run of his 42-start career when beaten 10 lengths into 12th place in the Group 3 Premier’s Cup at Eagle Farm three weeks ago.
Nolan is hoping the run can be put down to Jumbo Prince getting in the wrong part of the Eagle Farm track on a day when many runners struggled.
Subsequent carnival meetings were moved to Doomben.
The form out of that Eagle Farm meeting has been unreliable and Nolan only has to look to last Saturday to get a perfect example.
“The Brisbane Cup winner Chocante finished back with us in the Premier’s Cup and he came out and bolted in,” Nolan said.
“We will have to see how the track is at Ipswich on Saturday. I don’t want it too heavy.”
Jumbo Prince, who ran second in last year’s Listed Ipswich Cup (2150m) with 56.5kg, has paid the price for his consistent form in stakes races from which he has two wins and eight minor placings.
He has been given 58kg which is the same weight carried by Maurus to win last year’s Ipswich Cup.
“Jumbo Prince isn’t a big horse but he is all heart. I am not looking very far ahead with him because of the weights he gets,” Nolan said.
Tough New Zealand galloper Benzini will break a 55year-old weight-carrying record if he can win the Ipswich Cup with 60kg.
Only two horses have carried more than 57kg to win the race since it began in 1935.
Sharply holds the record at 58.5kg (9 stone 3lb) for his win in 1961.
Maurus had 58kg when he won by three lengths last year.
Benzini, the 2016 Brisbane Cup winner, will again be ridden by New Zealand jockey Kelly McCulloch who steered him to fourth in his attempted Cup defence at Doomben last week.
“It was a solid run when he was fourth in the Brisbane Cup last time under a big weight (58kg),” McCulloch said.
Co-trainer Adrian Bull said he had expected Benzini to get 59kg in the Ipswich Cup because the race was a Quality Handicap.