However, I also know that we came pretty close last year and that we have the right ammunition to have another attempt this year. You are probably wondering why Purple Moon, aka George, is not returning to try to turn the tables on Efficient. After a well-earned long spell over the winter he started galloping in May, but a minor injury has meant that he missed most of our summer and will not be ready to run until October. As a horse who loves fast ground we might be forced to wait until the carnival in Dubai where he would be very unlucky to find soft ground.
His performance leaves a lot to live up to for our horses this year but there is no reason why they could not perform just as well, if not better. I will start with Bauer, a five-year-old grey horse by Halling. Although he is officially qualified for the Melbourne Cup he has been given a low weight of 51 kilograms so to try to ensure a start he will be aimed at the Geelong Cup first.
He is owned in partnership by his breeder Spencer Chapman and by Terry Henderson and Simon O'Donnell of OTI Racing, which bought 50% of him last November. He was unlucky to finish second to his stablemate, Sanbuch, in a competitive handicap at Goodwood in August and then was badly hampered in the rescheduled Ebor at Newbury where he finished seventh on ground that was against him. He is only small but has a huge heart and tends to do his best racing later on in the year.
Mad Rush, on the other hand, is doubly qualified after winning a very valuable handicap at Haydock in July and finishing a close second in a group 2 in France at the end of August. In eight career starts over distances from 2000 to 3000 metres he has never finished out of the first three and I think we are yet to see the best of him. The English bookies have him at 12-1 to lift the Cup while in Australia he is at $27. He will follow the same path as "George" and line up in the Caulfield Cup ahead of the Melbourne Cup. Perhaps the most interesting thing about him is that he will be running with the same weight — 53.5 — as his predecessor yet he is four pounds higher in the English ratings than Purple Moon was this time last year.
Quarantine starts next week, and no doubt I will be the cleanest person in England after the multitude of daily showers I will have to take. In fact, the restrictions are so tight that they are enough to put off most foreign trainers (that wouldn't be the intention would it?).
After Septimus' St Leger romp on the weekend, we all await to see what his trainer, Aidan O'Brien, will decide to do. Septimus is, of course, his leading stayer and will be a force to contend with at Flemington if he makes the trip.
With just under two months to go, the Melbourne Cup picture is bound to transform and develop in ways that would make even the best artists look like amateurs. We will see if we can add a colourful brushstroke or two.
Who can forget Bauer missing out on the glory by a nostril back in the 2008 Melbourne Cup.
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