Vauban's Melbourne Cup credentials put to the test
Vauban’s Melbourne Cup credentials will be put to the test when he contests the Group 3 Ballyroan Stakes at Naas in Ireland in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Australian time.
The William Haggas-trained gelding is an odds-on favourite for the 2398-metre Group 3 event, which is a crucial stepping stone in his Melbourne Cup quest.
The five-year-old rocketed to Melbourne Cup favouritism with a 7-1/2-length win in the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot, but has not yet passed the first Melbourne Cup ballot clause and needs a top-three finish to be qualified for the race.
Racing And Sports head of handicapping Adam Blencowe said talented three-year-olds Peking Opera and Valiant King could offer some resistance to Vauban, but a repeat of his Royal Ascot performance would see him safely pass the Melbourne Cup ballot.
“Vauban became the shortest-priced handicap winner at Royal Ascot this century and only missed winning by the widest margin in that time with a performance that clearly established him as a strong Melbourne Cup chance,” Blencowe said.
“Unlike so many long-range Melbourne Cup favourites, who are clearly there marking time until the real chances emerge, Vauban will be towards the head of betting if he pitches up at Flemington – provided he doesn’t slip up between now and then.
“Naas gives him a chance to slip, a couple of quickly improving three-year-olds with big profiles oppose, but they would be unlikely to match Vauban at or near his Ascot form and he should take care of matters without too much fuss.”
The Royal Ascot win was the sixth of a 13-start career for Vauban, a son of Galiway, who has also registered four placings.
The four placings have all come in hurdle events along with three of the wins – all of them at Grade 1 level.
Just hours after the Ballyroan Stakes is run, at 1.35am AEST, entries close for two of the Spring Carnival’s majors – the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate – with Melbourne Cup first acceptances to be taken four weeks later on September 5.
More Racing News
Dan Morton keeps faith with 2024 Railway Stakes mare
Trainer Dan Morton has shrugged aside Super Smink’s horror barrier draw and still thinks she can win the Group 1 Swan Draught-Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot on Saturday. A layer of complexity was added to Super Smink’s Railway Stakes bid after she was handed barrier 18, but Dan Morton is keeping the...
Timing right for Port Lockroy in G1 Railway Stakes bid
He’s one of five interstate raiders and the outsider of the quintet, but co-trainer, Rob Archibald believes there is a sense of timing about Port Lockroy in Saturday’s Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot. Rob Archibald, who shares training duties with Annabel Neasham, says Port Lockroy put himself into Railway Stakes...
Royal task for Gilded Water at local debut
A benchmark race on The Gong undercard will add some Royal flavour to the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting when a horse owned by His Majesty King Charles III makes his local debut. Four-year-old Gilded Water has been sent to Australia to continue his racing career, having started just four times in the...
Jason Collett hoping to find Express lane in The Gong
Jason Collett is resigned to the fact that he will be more reliant on luck than good management as he tries to coax another win out of Territory Express in the $1 million The Gong at Kembla Grange. The Provincial-Midway Championships Final victor in the autumn, Territory Express has a get-back racing pattern...
Improving trio to fly flag for Godolphin at Kembla Grange
Godolphin doesn’t have a representative in The Gong, but James Cummings is content to rely on a trio of up-and-coming sprinters to carry the stable’s hopes at the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting. Fleetwood will headline the leading yard’s squad when he resumes in the Group 3 The Warra (1000m), while Pisanello and Restonica contest benchmark...
Mark Walker aims for ‘new’ hometown Cranbourne Cup
Trainer Mark Walker has a good record when in form New Zealand gallopers land in Australia. Walker’s latest ‘import’ is It’s A Wild Night who will have his first Australian outing in the Listed Cranbourne Cup (1600m) on Saturday. It’s A Wild Night arrived at Walker’s Cranbourne base just over a week ago...
Trainer Gavin Bedggood chasing Fortune in The Meteorite
Gavin Bedggood hopes the decision to take Oscar’s Fortune to Cranbourne for a midweek gallop will pay off handsomely on Saturday. Oscar’s Fortune runs in the $1 million The Meteorite (1200m), a new ‘slot race’ that Southside Racing, a merged entity of the Cranbourne and Pakenham Clubs, runs for the first time. The former...
Railway Stakes 2024 timing perfect for Baker’s Bel
In-form mare Belclare will need to overcome a wide alley to land her first Australian Group One win in the Railway Stakes at Ascot, and connections believe Nash Rawiller is the perfect man for the job. A two-time victor at the highest level in New Zealand, Belclare joined the Sydney stable of Bjorn...
John Stewart eyes Melbourne with 2024 Japan Cup fancy
Goliath faces one of the toughest tasks in racing this weekend, beating the Japanese at home in their biggest race, but John Stewart is already planning his next moves with his star recruit and Australia is on the itinerary. The ambitious American has quickly become a powerful investor in Australian racing and...
Hedged poised to give The Warra rivals a trim-up
The Magic Millions carnival is the campaign focal point for promising sprinter Hedged, but trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr are hoping he can knock off a feature race along the way. The gelding will resume in the Group 3 The Warra (1000m) at Kembla Grange on Saturday, his first start...
