85 Horses Aiming for the 2009 Melbourne Cup

Second declarations for the 2009 Melbourne Cup were due by noon on Tuesday 6 October and 85 horses had the fee of $1450 paid up. Of those 85 horses, 57 have passed the 2009 Emirates Melbourne Cup first ballot clause as at 6 October, meaning 28 have not. Less than 24 hours after second declarations Dermot Weld decided to keep Profound Beauty, who ran fifth last year, at home.

There are six other international horses remaining in the field, plus two that were originally international but have become Australian owned in recent weeks. The six internationals are Kirklees and Crime Scene from the Godolphin stable, Basaltico and Cima De Triomphe trained by Luca Cumani, Mourilyan prepared by Herman Brown, and Munsef trained by Ian Williams. Four of the internationals are already in quarantine at Sandown while Mourilyan and Munsef are both due to arrive on Saturday 10 October along with Changingoftheguard and Warringah.

Changingoftheguard was originally nominated for the Cup by Aidan O’Brien but he was bought by David Hayes in mid-September. Hayes may set the young horse for other races and he may not run in the 2009 Melbourne Cup. O’Brien will have no runner this year after having to face stewards over the front-running tactics of his three runners last year. English stayer Warringah has been sold to Australian interests and the five-year old will be trained by Chris Waller.

The 2007 and 2008 winners of the Melbourne Cup, Efficient and Viewed, are still both in contention but Maldivian who was allocated equal topweight of 58kg with Efficient has still not passed the first ballot clause, which means he might not get a start. Viewed has 57kg but the Godolphin horses Eastern Anthem and Schiaparelli who were also given this weight are no longer in the running.

Tuesday Joy who had the highest weight of the mares with 54.5kg did not go through the second declaration, and now that Profound Beauty is out the AJC Oaks winner Daffodil has the highest weight for the mares with 51.5kg. Speed Gifted has been given a 2kg penalty for his magnificent win in the Metropolitan Handicap on 3 October which means he should survive the ballot conditions to get a run.

Jo Jackson

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