Last time out we checked over First Immortal who is improving nicely into Melbourne Cup contention. As we look to profile more Melbourne Cup horses, we’re taking a closer look at an overseas runner.
Major owners Godolphin already have a very strong base in Australia with James Cummings training the talent. As far as their overseas runners are concerned, they’ve been reaching new heights in recent years.
Ideally, we’d see another Charlie Appleby-trained runner heading to Melbourne. Many call the Newmarket man the best trainer in the world and, to be honest, we can’t disagree too much. He was the first British-based trainer to win the Melbourne Cup too with Cross Counter in 2018.
Appleby however definitely has issues with the intrusive vet checks imposed on overseas runners by VRC. Hopefully, that can be resolved in the future and Appleby and others will return.
Maybe however it’s a different Godolphin recruit we’ll see gracing the turf at Flemington as we look over Chesspiece, trained by the Crisfords.
About Chesspiece
Chesspiece has only just begun his journey. A northern hemisphere three-year-old, he was foaled in February 2020.
In terms of his pedigree, has looks great on the page. He is by Nathaniel, an outstanding middle-distance performer who is really injecting plenty of stamina into his progeny. They aren’t short of class either.
Chesspiece was owned by Rabbah Racing and trained by Simon and Ed Crisford. They were the duo responsible for Cup winner Without A Fight before his permanent move to Australia.
From his debut at Newcastle in November ’22 to June of this hear, he represented Rabbah Racing but was bought by Godolphin. They kept him in training with the Crisfords, though we’ll have to wait and see over the British winter whether that remains the case for next year or whether he moves to Appleby.
Chesspiece’s Form and Expectations
The stamina in Chesspiece’s pedigree shone immediately when he won on his debut at Newcastle. That was over 2000m on the Tapeta surface and on a steep, uphill finish.
A third behind the subsequent Derby favourite followed, before Chesspiece won at York’s prestigious Dante meeting in May.
Having been purchased by Godolphin, Chesspiece was sent to Royal Ascot. On only his fourth career start, he was a very creditable third at Group 2 level over 2800m.
He won a Listed race at Hamilton next time out and was then second to Desert Hero at Glorious Goodwood, the horse who was up to that point seen as a major Melbourne Cup contender.
Chesspiece had likely already done too much too soon when he was 6th in the St Leger. He did race again though, finishing a very fine second to Middle Earth.
Middle Earth, as you’ll see from his odds, is now fancied to come to Melbourne and run well himself. All the top staying racing will be on the cards in Britain before a decision is made on Flemington.
