NEWMARKET HANDICAP ATTRACTS YOUTH AND EXPERIENCE IN ENTRIES

AUSTRALIA’S premier sprint race, the $1 million Newmarket Handicap at Flemington on 6 March, has attracted an impressive blend of youth and experience amongst its 63 entries.

Despite the absence of the first seven placegetters from last year’s race, the quality of nominations is arguably better for the 1200-metre dash up the Flemington straight track.

Seven-time Group 1 champion and 2008 Newmarket winner Weekend Hussler headlines the nominations as he embarks on a much awaited comeback.

The nomination of All Silent, unbeaten in four Flemington starts, including a leg of the Global Sprint Challenge last November, is another coup for the Group 1 race.

The crack Sydneysider will be aimed for a first-up tilt at the Super Saturday feature en route to a planned appearance at the Dubai World Cup meeting.

Cannonball, who will become the first USA-trained horse when to compete in Australia when he lines up in the 2010 Melbourne Festival of Racing, adds an international flavour to the nominations.

Other high profile open age entries are Australia’s highest rated mare Typhoon Tracy, along with Nicconi, Danleigh, Light Fantastic, Eagle Falls, Turffontein and El Segundo.

The nomination of Western Australian sprint sensation Hay List (nine starts, eight wins) and emerging Sydney sprinter Swift Alliance (eight starts, six wins) add an intriguing dimension, as does Lee Freedman’s highly rated UK staying import Doctor Fremantle.

Whilst the open age ranks are impressive, so too is the list of three-year-old nominees, many of whom have also been entered for the Australian Guineas on the same program.

Dual entries include boom colt We’re Gonna Rock, Tatts Cox Plate runner-up Manhattan Rain, The Age Caulfield Guineas winner Starspangledbanner, star Sydneysider Denman, unbeaten filly Black Caviar and Schweppes Thousand Guineas winner Irish Lights.

Amongst the three-year-old crop targeting the Newmarket only are three of the first four placegetters from this season’s Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington in Headway, King Pulse and Tickets.

Three-year-old Wanted, who filled the runners-up stall behind All Silent in the Group 1 Patinack Farm Classic over the same track and distance a week later, is another key entry.

Late nominations for the Newmarket Handicap close at 12 noon on Tuesday, 19 January, with first declarations on Tuesday, 16 February at 12 noon.

Handicaps will be released on Monday, 22 February – following the running of the Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield, before final declarations are taken on Wednesday, 3 March at 9am.

 

PAST TWO MELBOURNE CUP WINNERS ENTERED FOR AUSTRALIAN CUP

THE past two Emirates Melbourne Cup winners, Shocking and Viewed, headline the nominations for the $1m Darley Australian Cup at Flemington on 6 March.

The pair, who have not graced a racetrack since Shocking’s Cup win on 3 November last year, are amongst 46 entries for the coveted Group 1 event.

The 2000-metre weight-for-age showdown, which features during the 2010 Melbourne Festival of Racing, attracted an intriguing line-up when entries closed today with Racing Victoria Limited (RVL).

Included amongst the nominations are imported gallopers Changingoftheguard, Speed Gifted and Our Aqaleem, along with comeback horses Sirmione and Rebel Raider.

Changingoftheguard and Our Aqaleem are amongst a race high eight entries from trainer David Hayes who is chasing successive cups after the win of Niconero 12 months ago.

Both imports are yet to make their Australian debuts after Ebor Handicap runner-up Changingoftheguard was scratched on the morning of last year’s Melbourne Cup.

Six-year-old Our Aqaleem, who was placed in the 2007 Epsom Derby, is a veteran of just five starts and has not started since finishing second at Goodwood in July 2007.

AAMI Victoria Derby runner-up Extra Zero and last year’s third placegetter Zagreb are among the other entries from the Hayes stable.

UK import Speed Gifted heralded his arrival in Australia with a dominant win in the Metropolitan Handicap before running below his best in the Tatts Cox Plate.

Sirmione, who won the 2008 Australian Cup but has not raced in the past 11 months, joins Viewed amongst four entries from master trainer Bart Cummings.

Cummings, who has won a record 13 Australian Cups since 1968, also has his BMW Caulfield Cup runner-up Roman Emperor and another comeback horse, Moatize, entered.

Rebel Raider, the 2008 AAMI Victoria Derby runner-up, went amiss at the start of the spring, but connections are also hopeful of reigniting his career through the Cup.

Other high profile entries include former Cox Plate winner El Segundo, Caulfield Cup third placegetter Vigor and Sniper’s Bullet, who took the recent Perth racing carnival by storm.

Late nominations for the Australian Cup close at 12 noon on Tuesday, 19 January, with first declarations on Tuesday, 16 February at 12 noon and final declarations on Wednesday, 3 March at 9am.

 

AUSTRALIAN GUINEAS SHAPES AS HIGHLIGHT OF FESTIVAL OF RACING

THE Australian Guineas shapes as a highlight of the 2010 Melbourne Festival of Racing following the closure of nominations with Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) today.

A total of 97 horses, including the sport’s brightest young stars, have been entered for the Group 1 mile which showcases the nation’s best three-year-olds on 6 March at Flemington.

Heading the nominations for the $750,000 feature are Tatts Cox Plate winner So You Think and runner-up Manhattan Rain who both look well placed returning to their own age group.

Free-running colt Starspangledbanner, who emerged as a genuine star when accounting for the pair in last year’s The Age Caulfield Guineas, is another standout entry.

Others nominated to return from the Caulfield Guineas are runner-up Carrara, fourth placegetter Extra Zero – who subsequently finished second in the AAMI Victoria Derby – and star Sydney colt Denman who finished seventh.

Trainer Peter Snowden will be seeking redemption with the highly rated Denman whose bubble burst when beaten as a heavily backed favourite in the Caulfield Guineas.

Emerging staying talents Shamoline Warrior, Rockferry and Hanks add considerable depth to the nominations which are down on numbers, but up on quality from recent years.

Representing the fairer sex amongst the nominations are unbeaten filly Black Caviar and Schweppes Thousand Guineas winner Irish Lights.

Despite the array of talent targeting the Australian Guineas, a veteran of just one start is one of those creating the most interest amongst the entries for the Super Saturday feature.

The Mark Kavanagh-trained We’re Gonna Rock smashed the clock winning on debut over 1000 metres at Flemington last month and is now vying for early Guineas favouritism.

Interestingly, the colt is one of several high profile three-year-olds who have also been nominated for the $1m Newmarket Handicap (1200m) on the same day at Flemington.

Others include Manhattan Rain, Denman, Black Caviar, Irish Lights and Shellscrape. Late nominations for the Australian Guineas, a set weights race, close at 12 noon on Tuesday, 19 January, with first declarations on Tuesday, 16 February at 12 noon and final declarations on Wednesday, 3 March at 9am.

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