Mostly Cloudy chasing a Melbourne Cup start
The Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young-trained Mostly Cloudy is making a last-ditched effort to find a start in the Melbourne Cup.
A place is up for grabs in the Group 1 race over 3200m on Tuesday for the winner of Saturday’s Group 3 Archer Stakes (2500m) at Flemington.
Just seven horses have accepted for Saturday’s race of which five are racing for a ballot exemption into the Melbourne Cup.
The field limit for Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup is 24, but 32 horses remain in contention for a start.
At this stage Ladies Man is the highest of Saturday’s runners in the Cup Order of Entry, sitting 25th and is followed by Athapascan (26), United Nations (27), Kalapour (30) and Mostly Cloudy (32).
The remaining two horses in the Archer – Gan Teorainn and Speak – are not entered for the Cup.
Mostly Cloudy won over Saturday’s course and distance on September 16 before finishing fourth in the Group 3 The Bart Cummings (2520m) on October 7.
Busutiin said the small field and a liking for Flemington gives Mostly Cloudy his chance of gaining a last-minute start in the Melbourne Cup.
“He likes Flemington, he likes the distance and he’s going very well,” Busuttin told RSN.
“We were looking at the easiest way to try and slot in.
“We looked at the Moonee Valley Cup, but we thought that would be strong enough, and then even the Bendigo Cup, but then we thought The Archer might be weaker than that and it looks that way.
“We know he stays.
“Is he classy enough to win a Melbourne Cup, probably no, but he’s won over two miles a couple of times in Europe, and I think if he got into the Cup he would run well and be in that bracket where you think you could run in the top ten.”
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...
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...
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...
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...
