2005 September | Australia Melbourne Cup and Racing News

Barry Irwin, the president of Team Valor, has announced that the John Hammond trained five-year-old mare Sweet Stream will miss the Melbourne Cup.

A winner at her only two starts this year, the French mare hasn’t settled in to her new surroundings. “The quarantine grounds where she is stabled are unsuitable. It is adjacent to an area where wild boar are hunted in the afternoon.”

“John Hammond told us this afternoon that he cannot properly prepare the mare for the race and our travel plans with the airlines have also hit a snag,”

“The mare is no longer thriving under these circumstances and John cannot get the quality or amount of work into the mare necessary to allow her to be competitive in a race like the Melbourne Cup.”

“If we cannot go with a big chance, then we don’t want to go.”

The Godolphin racing empire is sending out three horses to Melbourne for the Spring Carnival. Razkalla who recorded a ninth placed finish last year heads the trio who are expected to arrive today.

Fight Your Corner, who won the Group 2 Henry II Stakes (3290m) at Sandown Park in May with Adelaide jockey Kerrin McEvoy in the saddle, and last year’s Group 2 Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Fantastic Love make up the threesome.

Godolphin is yet to decide which horse or horses will line up in the Melbourne Cup with the stable keen to be represented in the Caulfield Cup, Geelong Cup, Mackinnon Stakes and Sandown Classic.

Sydney Jockey Hugh Bowman’s appeal against his suspension for six weeks on a careless riding charge was dismissed yesterday by the Racing NSW Appeal Panel.

However, Bowman will be able to ride at today’s Super Saturday meeting at Randwick after his suspension was varied.

Bowman will be suspended from midnight on Saturday 1st October 2005 until midnight on Saturday 15 October 2005, this will force Bowman to miss the Caulfield Cup meeting.

A big weekend of racing ahead with the Epsom Handicap and Metropolitan headlining a Super Saturday at Randwick that will see four Group 1 races decided while Makybe Diva and Lad Of The Manor will do battle once again in the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington.

Leading Sydney trainer Gai Waterhouse will be shooting for a fourth Epsom Handicap when she saddles up Mr Celebrity, Lotteria, Flaming and last years winner Desert War. The Allan Denham trained Collate is the hardest to beat after taking out the Cameron Handicap at Newcastle, a race in which Mr Celebrity finished second.

The John Hawkes trained Railings and Tim Martin trained Stormhill look as though they will battle out the Metropolitan. The Grafton Cup winner Stormhill gets the nod after turned the tables on Railings the last time they met.

Australian Horse of the Year Makybe Diva and Lad Of The Manor will again do battle in the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on Saturday. The champion mare has been under a cloud during the week with some members of the press reporting all is not well after bookmakers took bets on Mummify to win the Cox Plate.

Trainer Lee Freedman responded to those suggestions during the week, daring $4-00 to be posted for the Turnbull so he could get on.

Caulfield Cup winning trainer Tony Vasil has been suspended for six weeks by the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board after he admitted to administering TC02 (bicarbonate) to one of his horses within 24 hours of a race.

Vasil was charged after Mr Splinters was produced at Sandown races last April with an elevated bicarb reading, above the allowable level of 36 millimoles per litre. Mr Splinters finished 12th of 14 runners.

Vasil has 45 horses in work and has been given 10 days to make alternative training arrangements for his team.

He is expected to appeal against the suspension that will see him miss the entire Spring Racing Carnival. Vasil was suspended from midnight on October 8 until midnight, November 19.

The John Hawkes trained three-year-old Paratroopers is heading to Melbourne for the $1 million Caulfield Guineas on Saturday week.

Not surprisingly, Hawkes has decided to miss Saturday’s $600,000 Epsom Handicap at Randwick and restrict the colt to racing against his own age group for more prizemoney.

Meanwhile, Racing manager for Tony Santic of Makybe Diva fame, Kevin Williams, said yesterday that Santic was keen for Makybe Diva to shoot for a third straight Melbourne Cup win.

The dual Melbourne Cup winner will run in Saturday’s Turnbull Stakes at Flemington and then the Cox Plate before once again heading to Flemington on the first Tuesday in November.

The lure of being proclaimed “Worlds Best Miler” seems to be too much for owner Paul Makin to turn down, with his 5 year old chestnut Starcraft now set to take on the worlds best in New York.

Having claimed champion miler of Europe status with a comprehensive win over Godolphin champ Dubawi in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Saturday, Starcraft is now set to take his place in next month’s $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Mile at Belmont Park.

Makin has already issued a challenge to the connections of Dubawi declaring, “I do not think Dubawi could beat us over any trip, ground or time,”

“He came over to join us in the race and actually hung into us, but then when our boy realised there was still a race, he pulled away.”

“Dubawi had his chance and had his ground. If Frankie can persuade the boss into a sporting wager, maybe we can get a match on.”

“It doesn’t matter where it is or what the distance is, we’ll just turn up on the day. It would give me a lot of satisfaction.”

Makin will however have to pay either a $400,000 or $800,000 fee to run the son of Soviet Star in either of the Breeders’ Cup Mile or the mile and-a-quarter Breeders’ Cup Classic which will both be run on dirt.

“Money doesn’t come into it with Starcraft and we’ll have to go where our convictions take us, but I don’t think it will be the Champion Stakes at Newmarket,” he said.

“We brought him over here to race against the best in the world, not to take on pussycats. Leroidesanimaux (the early favorite with English bookmakers for the Classic Mile) is one we’d like to beat.”

English stayer Collier Hill, who defeated the Dermot Weld trained Vinnie Roe in the Irish St Leger, has been ruled out of making the trip to Australia for the Melbourne Cup.

Trainer Alan Swinbank announced Melbourne Cup plans for the eight year-old were abandoned due to the recurrence of an arthritic problem.

Swinbank said, “While it’s disappointing our adventure to Australia is off this time, and we’ll have to wait for another year, it’s impossible to be too disappointed about a horse who has won so much for us around Europe and beyond.”

“Over the years he has been troubled on and off by arthritis in his joints. We’ll just have to sit and wait for things to come right again.

“Hopefully, it’ll not be too long before he’s right again, but whether we take him again to Dubai in the spring, I don’t know.

“He won and was placed in top-class races there last year.”

Melbourne jockey Noel Callow is the new rider for the Paul Perry trained Golden Slipper winner Stratum after regular rider Glen Boss opted to stick with the Bart Cummings trained Gods Own in the $1 million Caulfield Guineas.

Boss has ridden Stratum into second place at each of his three runs this time in.

The Newcastle horse picked up his third straight placing this campaign on Friday night in the Bill Stutt Stakes at Moonee Valley behind the Mick Price trained Red Dazzler.

While Boss has jumped off the Stratum bandwagon, trainer Paul Perry remains confident despite being beaten on Friday night.

Perry said on Friday, “I thought his run was good. He had to do a bit of work.”

“If he had the winner’s run tonight he would have won. And it was his first go at the mile.”

Eleven time Melbourne Cup winning trainer Bart Cummings was dealt a severe blow to his chances of claiming yet another Melbourne Cup after promising stayers High Cee and Accumulate suffered leg injuries.

High Cee, who dead-heated for first in the Newcastle Cup with Carael Boy, was one of the fancied runners to take out next weeks Metropolitan Handicap.

Last year’s VRC St Leger winner Accumulate was already competing competitively in Melbourne, with the Cup his spring target before the weekend setback.

Cummings will now have to rely on outsiders Frightening or Strasbourg to bring up win number 12.