Exciting prospects feature among Cox Plate and Caulfield Cup nominations
Matt Laurie’s dual Group 1 winner Treasurethe Moment (Alabama Express) featured among the nominations for the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) on October 18 and the Cox Plate (Gr1, 2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 25 after they closed on Tuesday.
A winner of both the VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) and ATC Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) last season, the filly will likely kick off her preparation in the Memsie Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Caulfield on August 30, before a likely crack at the Makybe Diva Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) at Flemington on September 13 and then the Turnbull Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) on October 4.
Laurie said of the Group 1 winner: “Ultimately it will be the Yulong team’s decision, but I think whichever we go will be suitable.
“I think she would be happier on a bigger track, so that may come into it, but obviously, the Cox Plate is going to attract a crack field which may leave the Caulfield Cup as a better target for her ultimately, but we’ll just have to see how the preparation unfolds.”
Meanwhile, Laurie has also entered last year’s unbeaten two-year-old Vinrock (I Am Invincible) in the Cox Plate. The son of I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) is being aimed at the Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m) at Rosehill in September.
Multiple champion trainer Chris Waller made a total of 32 nominations for the Caulfield Cup – more than 20 per cent of the total nominations for the race – as he attempts to score his third victory in the past six years.
Waller had Buckaroo (Fastnet Rock) run second and Land Legend (Galileo) third behind Ciaron Maher’s winner Duke De Sessa (Lope De Vega) in the 2024 renewal. All three are entered again this time around.
Maher himself has 25 entries as he searches for a third Caulfield Cup this spring and a second in a row following Duke De Sessa’s on-pace heroics last year.
The 146 nominations received by the Melbourne Racing Club for the Caulfield Cup was down on the 173 nominations last year, with international numbers also down on the 2024 figures.
Meanwhile, last year’s runaway winner Via Sistina (Fastnet Rock) heads up the Cox Plate entries for Waller, while Maher’s Cox Plate runners are headlined by Gringotts (Per Incanto) and Light Infantry Man (Fast Company).
A total of 11 overseas-trained horses were among the Cox Plate entries after the race drew just one international runner last year.
Horses from the yards of Aidan O’Brien, Joseph O’Brien and Jessica Harrington featured for the time-honoured contest – the last to be run on the current Moonee Valley layout.
O’Brien, who won the contest in 2014 with Adelaide (Galileo), has four entries in Bedtime Story (Frankel), Whirl (Wootton Bassett), Diego Velazquez (Frankel) and Mount Kilimanjaro (Siyouni), while his son Joseph has two potential runners in Al Riffa (Wootton Bassett) and Galen (Gleneagles).
The former Ballydoyle-trained Trinity College (Dubawi) is an intriguing entry, having been bought by Yulong after his second-placed effort in last month’s Grand Prix de Paris (Gr 1, 2400m) at Longchamp. The Royal Ascot winner will now be trained by Chris Waller.
Speaking to the Racing Post, O’Brien said: “Trinity College is a very high class horse and hopefully he will do well for Chris and Mr Zhang.”
Other notable entries include the Harrington-trained Group 1-winning juvenile and Irish 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) third Hotazhell (Too Darn Hot), in addition to Richard Hannon’s dual Royal Ascot scorer and 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m)-placed Haatem (Phoenix Of Spain) and his three-time stakes-winning stablemate Persica (New Bay) also holds an early entry, while Brian Meehan’s 2024 Coventry Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) winner Rashabar (Holy Roman Emperor) was also among the entries.
Moonee Valley Racing Club head of racing, Charlotte Mills, said: “I think the quality of nominations is good and I think there’s also a really strong awareness this year of the quality and depth of our Australian runners in that middle-distance category.
“I think the Cox Plate itself is certainly still very much on the international radar and I’d like to think that the $1 million [prize-money] increase directly to the winner has also had an impact.”