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Saturday October 17

Sat 17 October 2015

Trip To Paris: second in the Caulfield Cup!

Overcast and miserable but little can dampen the mood around here!

What a morning! The vibes had been positive from Robin, Steve and Darkie about Trip To Paris in the build up to the Caulfield Cup, but for him to finish second in a mile and a half Group 1 is more than we could have expected. He travelled particularly well for him and Tommy Berry gave him a super ride. Admittedly the gaps opened when we needed them to, but he was momentarily checked around the home bend and he picked up with the turn of foot we have always been certain he has.

This was the ideal preparation before the big one on November 3. You can never be sure a horse will take to the Australian style of racing, but we were confident his laid-back attitude would stand him in good stead for the hustle and bustle that comes with the top races down under. We now know he won’t be fazed by the task ahead of him at Flemington and that is a major positive.

Also, we were beaten by a dual Derby-winning favourite who is clearly a very high-class horse. Mongolian Khan will now be reassessed before the Cup but we remain on 55kgs, which looked a favourable mark when the weights were published but looks even better in light of his performance this morning.

Obviously we need everything to go smoothly over the next 17 days and the barrier draw will, of course, be crucial. This was, mind you, the perfect start to his campaign and the hopes of crossing the final frontier have certainly been bolstered. We are also fortunate enough to saddle a certain horse who has been there and done it on plenty of occasions, so to be double handed with live chances in the Melbourne Cup is an incredibly exciting position to be in.

I know I have said it many times before, but I can't stress how vital the contribution of the team in Australia is to the success of our horses travelling abroad. Robin, Steve and Darkie have done a tremendous job in the past and they continue to do so now. We are very proud of our horses but we are very proud of our human team as well. They are sensational. 

Back home, we don’t run anything this afternoon but the Champions Day card is an exciting one. If Gleneagles defects it will be disappointing, but you can’t blame his connections if they deem the ground to be too soft, and bar Arc winner Golden Horn there aren’t many horses missing from this afternoon.

We do run two at Bath tomorrow. We were scheduled to send three down but have had to withdraw Kitten’s Red.

Manjaam makes his third start in the mile and a quarter maiden and Beverley didn’t really suit him last time. He missed the break and was further back than ideal while he met a bit of trouble coming up the hill. We wouldn’t have beaten the winner with a clear run but probably would have finished a bit closer and both his run style and pedigree suggests the extra couple of furlongs tomorrow will be spot on.

Pyla also endured a troubled passage at Beverley last time and she returns to the scene of her last success on a good mark and with the ground in her favour. She is nicely drawn and Oisin Murphy won on her at Lingfield, so while this is an open-looking fillies’ handicap, she ticks plenty of boxes and ought to be right in the thick of things.

Have a superb weekend.

Back Monday.

Ed. 



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