The final group of international contenders scheduled to contest spring carnival features are bound for Melbourne. A group of eight horses, all nominated for the 2018 Melbourne Cup, departed London on Friday morning (AEDT) and are scheduled to arrive in Victoria on Saturday to begin two weeks of post-arrival quarantine at Werribee. Among the horses […]

Avilius has won a start in the Melbourne Cup after surviving a protest to claim The Bart Cummings at Flemington. Success in Saturday’s 2500m handicap gave the winner a ballot exemption into the $7 million Melbourne Cup 2018 on November 6. A protest was lodged by Michael Walker, rider of the runner-up Jaameh, for alleged […]

Classy European stayer Torcedor is out of Melbourne Cup contention after spiking a temperature. Nine horses entered quarantine in England and Ireland overnight but the Andreas Wohler-trained Torcedor did not enter quarantine in Europe, meaning he will not be travelling to Melbourne for this year’s Cup. The Willie Mullins-trained Max Dynamite, who finished second in […]

In a year in which he has ticked off the Epsom Derby with Masar, UK-based trainer Charlie Appleby is striving to claim a Melbourne Cup for Godolphin. Appleby arrived in Melbourne on Friday morning to watch Jungle Cat and Folkswood run in feature races at Caulfield on Saturday. The two are the first of Appleby’s […]

Trainer Mike Moroney has Caulfield Cup ambitions for Vengeur Masque but fears the stayer may fail to make the final field. A poor draw in Saturday’s Naturalism Stakes at Caulfield hasn’t made the task to win a ballot exemption into the 2018 Caulfield Cup any easier. The winner of Saturday’s race gets a free pass into the 2400m-handicap on […]

Progressive imported stayer Avilius will not run in the Metropolitan Handicap at Randwick with Godolphin to instead aim him at the Melbourne Cup via the Bart Cummings. Avilius, who has won all three of his Australian starts including Saturday’s Group Three Kingston Town Stakes (2000m), was the 2.80 favourite for the Metropolitan (2400m) on September 29. […]

After discussions with jockey Damien Oliver and Grunt’s owners, trainer Mick Price plans to keep the Makybe Diva Stakes winner to a weight-for-age program this spring. Price had considered aiming Grunt at the Cups after Saturday’s Group One win at Flemington but the trainer confirmed on RSN927 on Monday the intention to head towards the […]

Kings Will Dream is assured a Caulfield Cup start but the import still has work to do if his connections want to run him in the Melbourne Cup as well. The order of entries for both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups were released on Wednesday with Kings Will Dream exempt from the Caulfield Cup ballot, […]

The Darren Weir-trained triple Group One winner Humidor is the topweight with 58kg in both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups. Humidor ran in both races last year, finishing fifth in the Caulfield Cup and 19th in the Melbourne Cup and will defend the Makybe Diva Stakes on Saturday. European contenders, Best Solution from Godolphin and […]

The Victoria Racing Club is keen to push for more local representation in the Melbourne Cup which could one day lead to it offering an incentive for a locally bred winner. It comes on top of a record 50 international entries, up from 31, for this year’s $7 million Melbourne Cup at Flemington in November. Leigh […]