FIRST declarations were taken today by Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) for three of the marquee races during the 2010 Melbourne Festival of Racing.

The connections of many of Australia’s best thoroughbreds kept their hopes alive for success on Super Saturday (6 March at Flemington) by paying up for the trio of Group 1 horses.

A total of 23 horses remain eligible for the $1m Darley Australian Cup (2000m) with the only notable omissions from the original entries being Roman Emperor, Vigor and Rebel Raider.

This season’s Emirates Melbourne Cup winner Shocking and BMW Caulfield Cup winner Viewed headlines those horses that remain on the Australian Cup path.

Other notables still in contention include the UK imports Changingoftheguard, Speed Gifted and Our Aqaleem, 2008 Australian Cup winner Sirmione, Master O’Reilly, Zipping, Sniper’s Bullet and the mares Zarita and Daffodil.

Premier trainer David Hayes has five remaining Cup entries with last year’s placegetter Zagreb, recent Hobart Cup winner Growl and three-year-old Extra Zero joining Changingoftheguard and Our Aqaleem in the stable’s pursuit of back-to-back victories.

Interestingly, 15 of the horses declared for the Cup have been entered for this Saturday’sGroup 2 $200,000 St George Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield.

Australia’s premier sprint race, the $1 million Newmarket Handicap (1200m), has 34 horses still in contention following the first declarations.

The notable omissions are Black Caviar, We’re Gonna Rock and Burdekin Blues, who have all suffered varying setbacks since nominations closed on 12 January.

Headlining the horses that were paid up for today are All Silent, Nicconi, Weekend Hussler, Starspangledbanner, Turffontein, Headway, Wanted, Shellscrape and Trusting.

Cannonball, who became the first USA-trained horse to compete in Australia in last month’s Coolmore Lightning Stakes, features for his new trainer Gai Waterhouse, while grand veteran El Segundo and Western Australian star Hay List are other intriguing entries.

The third Group 1 event on Super Saturday is the $750,000 Crown Australian Guineas (1600m) for which 22 horses were declared today.

Boom Sydney colts Denman and Manhattan Rain head the list of entries for the coveted mile following the withdrawals of So You Think, We’re Gonna Rock and Shamoline Warrior.

Spearheading the Victorian assault are Hanks, Rockferry, Extra Zero, Carrara and the fillies Irish Lights and Set For Fame.

The deadline for late entries in all three events is 12 noon on 1 March with the fee being $55,000 for the Australian Cup and Newmarket Handicap and $41,250 for the Guineas.

Final declarations for all three events will be taken at 9am on Wednesday, 3 March.

 

FIRST DECLARATIONS FOR THE ‘BIG THREE’ TAKEN TODAY:

$755,000 G1 CROWN GUINEAS 1600m

3YO, Set Weights, No Claims

1 Aloha (Mick Price)

2 At the Heads (NZ) (Danny O'Brien)

3 Buzzwin (Nigel Blackiston)

4 Carrara (Tony Vasil)

5 Chief of Staff (Mark Minervini)

6 Cross Street (David Hayes)

7 Denman (Peter Snowden)

8 Extra Zero (David Hayes)

9 Free Spirited (David Hayes)

10 Guru Bob (NZ) ( Lee & Shannon Hope)

11 Hanks (Peter G Moody)

12 Irish Lights (David Hayes)

13 Italian Machine (Leon Corstens)

14 Manhattan Rain (Gai Waterhouse)

15 Most Immediate ( Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes)

16 Rock Classic (Bart Cummings)

17 Rockferry (NZ) (Danny O'Brien)

18‡ Searing Heights (NZ) (Danny O'Brien)

19 Set for Fame (Peter G Moody)

20 Spacecraft (Danny O'Brien)

21 Trounce (Peter G Moody)

22 Voile Rouge (NZ) (David Hayes)

 

$1,005,000 G1 DARLEY AUSTRALIAN CUP 2000m

Weight for Age, No Claims

1 Barbaricus (Danny O'Brien)

2 Changingoftheguard (IRE) (David Hayes)

3‡ Daffodil (NZ) (Kevin Gray)

4 Divine Rebel (NZ) (Michael Moroney)

5 Extra Zero (David Hayes)

6 Growl (NZ) (David Hayes)

7 Heart of Dreams (Mick Price)

8 Joku (Gai Waterhouse)

9‡ La Rocket (Dale Sutton)

10 Littorio (Nigel Blackiston)

11 Master O'Reilly (NZ) (Danny O'Brien)

12 Miss Maren (NZ) (Mick Price)

13 Moatize (Bart Cummings)

14 Our Aqaleem (GB) (David Hayes)

15 Shocking (Mark Kavanagh)

16 Sirmione (Bart Cummings)

17 Sniper's Bullet (Tracey Bartley)

18 Speed Gifted (GB) (Lee Freedman)

19 Tobique (Allan Denham)

20 Viewed (Bart Cummings)

21 Zagreb (David Hayes)

22‡ Zarita (NZ) (Pat Hyland)

23 Zipping (Robert Hickmott)

 

$1,005,000 G1 NEWMARKET HANDICAP 1200m

No Claims

1 All Silent (Grahame Begg)

2 Arinos (David Jolly)

3 Avenue (Peter G Moody)

4 Cannonball (USA) (Gai Waterhouse)

5 Captain Coltish (Peter G Moody)

6 Common Interest (Lee Freedman)

7 Danleigh (Chris Waller)

8 Demerit (Peter Snowden)

9 Dreamscape (Gai Waterhouse)

10 Duporth (Peter G Moody)

11 Eagle Falls (David Hayes)

12 El Segundo (NZ) (Colin Little)

13 Five Car Stud (Anthony Cummings)

14 Gold in Dubai (Mark Riley)

15 Gran Sasso (Mick Price)

16‡ Grand Duels (Byron Cozamanis)

17 Hay List (Jim P Taylor)

18 Headway (Peter G Moody)

19 Irish Lights (David Hayes)

20 King Pulse (Michael Moroney)

21 Light Fantastic (Mick Price)

22 Nicconi (David Hayes)

23 Royal Ida (Luke Oliver)

24 Shellscrape (Chris Waller)

25 Sister Madly (Anthony Cummings)

26 Starspangledbanner (Leon Corstens)

27 Swift Alliance (Gai Waterhouse)

28 Tarzi (Neville Parnham)

29 Tickets (Peter G Moody)

30‡ Tollesprit (Shane Fliedner)

31‡ Trusting (John P Thompson)

32 Turffontein (Anthony Cummings)

33 Wanted (Peter G Moody)

34 Weekend Hussler (Ross McDonald)

 

RACING VICTORIA MEDIA RELEASE

CONTACT:Shaun Kelly – RVL Communications Manager M: 0417 145 796 P: (03) 9258 4252 E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.