As every week moves by, more and more horses go on trial for the Melbourne Cup.
Mark Twain landed a golden ticket by winning last week’s Roy Higgins Quality at Flemington. Now, the three-year-olds take in the Australian Derby perhaps on route to the Caulfield Cup and/or the Melbourne Cup, as First Immortal looks to fulfil his destiny.
Second Chance for Immortal
First Immortal, trained by Mark and Levi Kavanagh, was meant to head for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup in 2023.
Without the required rating, the team went for a ballot exemption but that attempt failed. First Immortal also banged his head before running in the Geelong Cup as the bad luck continued. Having had a break however, things are different now.
The galloper has now won his first proper stakes race after taking the Anniversary Vase. His 1600-metre Caulfield Listed success means he can take the next step now in terms of distance and class.
The late bloomer runs in the Easter Cup this weekend at Caulfield, running over 2000 metres at Group 3 level. He was considered not ready for races such as the South Australian Derby in the past. He has been getting better with time however.
The team has watched his improvement and are using the autumn to get his rating up. Their collective eyes are firmly on major spring targets.
Ideally, they will go for the Easter Cup in advance of the Mornington over 2400 metres on April 20. From there, the Andrew Ramsden is chalked in on May 18 as ballot exemptions are sought once again to put First Immortal firmly among the 2024 Melbourne Cup runners.
Australian Derby Could Offer Further Clues
We have plenty of fine, late-maturing older gallopers in Australia. They can win the Melbourne Cup at almost any age.
But we cannot afford to forget the younger horses. Some will come over from England and Ireland after having successful summers in the northern hemisphere, but here at home the Australian Derby offers our next set of Cup clues.
Race 9 at Randwick on Saturday is just one of many top-class events on the day. The Country Championships Final, the Inglis Sires’, the TJ Smith Stakes and the Doncaster Mile are all on show.
Bandi’s Boy, Storm Boy, Imperatriz and Another Will may all star. It’s those in the Australian Derby over 2400 metres that are of particular interest to us.
Though Zardozi is much shorter in the betting, Godolphin/James Cummings stablemate Tom Kitten has already been spoken about as a potential Cup horse and is very much worth watching.
Chris Waller’s Riff Rocket heads the market, fresh from winning the Rosehill Guineas. Zardozi is a Kennedy Oaks winner, while Tom Kitten has some very interesting form.
Though beaten by Riff Rocket last time, the margin at the line was only 1½ lengths and he did win the Spring Champion Stakes last October in fine style.
