Caulfield Cup

[Lord Treat]

One of Australia's biggest horse races is to be run this Saturday - The Caulfield Cup. It is run over 2400m on turf and carries a purse of over $2m AUS. It is a major lead-up race to the Melbpourne Cup run over 3,200m. The favourite for the Caulfield Cup is is El Segundo. I'm from Western Australia (4,000km away) and our representative from over this side of the country is Plastered for the CC. He is on the 3rd line of betting for this race and is the provisional favourite for the Melbourne Cup. Watch out for our horse Starcraft in the Breeders Cup as well.

[Bill from WA]

Hello

I'm leaning toward Leica Falcon. Sir Dex, Natural Blitz, Plastered, and Lachlan River also interest me. Oaks winner Vouvray might be in the mix.

Bill

[Inyureye]

I don't think I have ever seen austrailian racing on our tv, although I don't have sattelite, just cable....

[madelyn]

I have seen racing from Australia on TVG and/or HRTV... the deterrent is the hour of the day at which it comes on (very wee hours of the morning). Sort of thing to keep one awake during foal watch...

[Lord Treat]

Winner of the richest 2,400 metre race in the world today was Railings, trained by John Hawkes. Second was the Japanese horse Eye Popper and third was another Aussie Mummify (by Jeune - a Melbourne Cup Winner). Most of these horses will now go on to the $3 million+ AUS Melbourne Cup run over 3,200 metres on November 1. Pre post favourite is Makybe Diva.

[Elusive City]

Winner of the richest 2,400 metre race in the world today was Railings, trained by John Hawkes. Second was the Japanese horse Eye Popper and third was another Aussie Mummify (by Jeune - a Melbourne Cup Winner). Most of these horses will now go on to the $3 million+ AUS Melbourne Cup run over 3,200 metres on November 1. Pre post favourite is Makybe Diva.

Railings!!!!!, he's out of a palace music Mare.

I have been following him ever since he finished 3rd in the Derby.

[ZiaLand]

I first heard of some of the Australian races like the Caulfield Cup and the AJC "Darby" (is that still run?) in the wonderful movie about Phar Lap. I am becoming more and more interested in what's happening down under and in Hong Kong and Japan, too (as well as Europe). It's a small world these days and chances are that what's happening overseas will sooner or later impact my little corner of the Thoroughbred industry.

Laurie

[Bill from WA]

Look at the stamina in Railings Conduit Mare profile.
2-6-6-7-7 (0.59) (8/14) Triads (14-19-20). He could be dangerous in the Melbourne Cup at 16 furlongs.

Bill

[Bettina]

Hallo,
Just out of ionterest I had a look at Railings ped, win of the Caulfield Cup.
It was the first time I spot Gunsynds name in a Group winner in Austarlia.

Several years ago was a lond article about this racehorse in the Germanbreeder magazine "Vollblut". According their report he was something of a folk hero downunder.

regards, Bettina

[Lord Treat]

Yeah they called Gunsynd the Gundawindi Grey (from the town in Aust that he hailed from). Beautiful grey horse with a powerful turn of foot.

Those looking at the pedigree of Railings will note his sire Zabeel. He is truly a world class sire indeed. His horses shine anywhere from a mile upwards. Zabeel is a son of the immortal Sir Tristram (by Sir Ivor). They both hail from New Zealand, however Zabeel did his racing here in Aus.

I think that it's worth keeping an eye on Australian racing and breeding. It is very etched in our country's history and folk lore. In particulr look out for a horse set to race in the Breeders Cup called Starcraft. He's an amazing horse.

Phart Lap is the most renowned horse to ever run in Australia. It's a great movie about him and well worth watching. He is our equivalent of Seabiscuit.

If you want to know why horses are so important to the Australian psychie also watch the movie "The Man from Snowy River". The association with horses goes back to the pioneer days and the two World Wars - where Aussie soldiers (ANZAC's) took their horses (mainly wild horses crossed with pure breeds) oversees with them to battle and fought so bravely with them...........and then had to leave them behind.

We love our horses and our horse racing here. The standard is very high and improving all the time with shuttle stallions helping equalise the breed.

[Shergar]

Lord Treat;

I am a bit of a night owl and occasionally watch some Australian racing on HRTV.

A few weeks ago on HRTV they had a great interview with Glenn Boss. I got a little lost when they refered to certain tracks or locations.

Is there any good websites that one can get information on different tracks in Australia?

Regards, Shergar

[Heidilady]

Just a quick RIP for Mummify. Shattered both sesamoids in his left foreleg and the blood flow to the area was compromised too much so they had to euthanize him.

[Lord Treat]

Heidilady - Some really good Aus racing sites include:

racenet.com.au (good racing info and stats)
aapracingandsports.com.au (field info and free form analysis)
ozeform.com.au (form history)
tvn.com.au (simulcast)
progroupracing.com.au (link via "tips & features" to racecourses in Aus)
nvo.com/racing (great forum site - really well informed horse lovers)

Basically our major tracks in Aus are located in the capital cities. They are:

Melbourne: Flemington, Caulfield, Mooney Valley, Sandown
Sydney: Randwick, Rosehill, Warwick Farm
Perth: Belmont, Ascot
Brisbane: Eagle Farm, Doomben
Adelaide: Morphetville, Cheltenham, Victoria Park

Shergar: It was a tragedy having to lose Mummify. He was a $5million+ winner and previous winner of the Caulfield Cup. He was buried standing up I understand at the Freedman training complex. He was by a sire called Jeune who was brought to Aus to run in the Melbourne Cup - a race he ended up winning. He is now a top 10 sire in Aus and his best son (to date) was Mummify. RIP to a really tough and talented horse.

Attention in Aus racing now goes to the $2million+ WS Cox Plate run this Saturday over 2,040 metres under set weight conditions (wfa). This is a great world-class racing event. Unfortunately the Godolphin camp has already gone home after another poor performance in the Caulfield Cup and some very unfortunate luck with a couple of their other horses sent over here. They will now not be nominating a horse for the Cox Plate or Melbourne Cup.

The Cox Plate is limited to 14 runners and has seen some real champions of Aus racing win it over the years, including Northerly (who beat Grandera in an epic race in one of his two wins in the Cox Plate), Sunline (another two time Cox winner), and Better Loosen Up (also a Japan Cup winner). This year the great Makybe Diva will be competing in the race (also trained by the Freedmans). She has already won two Melbourne Cups.

The week after the Cox Plate we go on to the Melbourne Cup - the race that stops a nation. It's run on the first Tuesday in November and is a public holiday in most states throughout Aus. It is watched by 20 million+ people in this country and many millions more overseas. They get 120,000 people on track to watch the race and it's a party day throughout the country. The Cup is run over the classic 2 miles distance and is run under handicap conditions. Railings (the Caulfield Cup winner) is now very close to favouritism.

I'll post more about this marvelous race in the weeks to come.[/url]

[Shergar]

Lord Treat:

A big thank you for directions to some good websites.

Another thanks for the geographical information on Aussie tracks.

Regards, Shergar.

[ZiaLand]

If you want to know why horses are so important to the Australian psychie also watch the movie "The Man from Snowy River".

Snowy River is a classic here. In fact, both I and II (Return to Snowy River) are excellent movies. I have both on DVD and must have watched them a hundred times.

Laurie