As we pointed out recently, there should be a focus on the major Cup lead-up races. It seems as though the domestic ones are the way to go however, after a surprising lack of British-trained runners featured in last week’s published nominations.
In the meantime, Hollie Doyle has put her name forward to ride while Nine moves closer to gaining TV rights.
Gosden Foresaw Dearth of British Travelers
The brilliant John Gosden has been speaking lately about the excellent prize money on offer in Australia. He also mentioned that having a runner in the Melbourne Cup was an experience like no other.
Despite this, he and other top British trainers continue to ignore the Melbourne Cup. Despite its undoubtedly great draw, there are plenty of other opportunities around the world and those top handlers simply will not put their horses through Victoria’s stringent and intrusive veterinary checks.
Gosden predicted this recently and, sadly, he is right. Last week’s nominations drew only three horses from Britain out of a total list of 132. They are William Haggas’ Desert Hero, Milton Harris’ Scriptwriter and Simon & Ed Crisford’s West Wind Blows.
The list of Melbourne Cup horses is arguably depleted by the lack of British action. There are Irish entries, though it remains to be seen who turns up on November 7. Agree or disagree with the British trainers, but most of them and their prominent owners are dead against the vet checks and something will have to change soon.
The nominations reflect badly on VRC. They have been courting the best horses around, and also offered a golden ticket to the winner of the Ebor Handicap. The nominations do not reflect well on VRC as a whole.
Hollie Doyle Offers Riding Services for Soulcombe
Jockey Hollie Doyle has been doing great things in the UK over the past couple of years. Doyle rode top Cup contender Soulcombe on his final British start for William Haggas.
Now with Chris Waller, Soulcombe has a major chance in this year’s Cup. It seems Doyle has reached out to owners including Ozzie Kheir to offer herself for the ride.
Fully on track for the big one, the Roy Higgins runner-up was a winner at Caulfield recently at Listed level. Doyle was speaking in England, saying she knows the horse well. She admitted she isn’t overly hopeful of getting the mount, but she does know the horse very well and it’ll be interesting to see which way Waller goes.
Nine Leading the Way for Melbourne Cup Coverage
The protracted process for gaining domestic media rights for the Melbourne Cup in the future could be reaching a conclusion.
Nine Entertainment is now leading the way for the domestic free-to-air rights. Main rival Seven West Media was a leading fancy, though they have now withdrawn from the process. It seems Nine, the obvious shout, will continue to broadcast the races in years to come.
