Melbourne Cup 2008 Blog

About Bart Cummings and Mike Moroney

Michael Manley writing in the Melbourne Herald Sun onOctober 31, 2008 wrote: 

TRAINER Bart Cummings hopes to double his Melbourne Cup assault from one to two runners by winning tomorrow's Saab Quality (2500m).

Viewed is guaranteed a Cup start, but Cummings says either Moatize or Book Of Kells can win the Saab and qualify as well.

He is keener on the prospects of Moatize.

"He's a dour type. He's only had 11 runs and has been around the placings," said Cummings, who is pursuing a 12th Melbourne Cup win.

"He has a good turn of foot and the last 200m of his races are always his best. The indications are he will run out a strong 3200m if he gets in."

Cummings said he liked Moatize as a horse.

"The Saab's the right race for him to get in. He has a great constitution, he never stops eating," he said.

Moatize finished second behind Bauer in the Geelong Cup at his last start.

Cummings said the rain would suit his other runner trying to qualify for the Melbourne Cup, Book Of Kells.

TAB Sportsbet has Moatize a $4 third favourite in the Saab Quality, while Book Of Kells is $26.

Viewed will run later in the afternoon in the Mackinnon Stakes, following the traditional Cummings Melbourne Cup formula of running on Derby Day.

The only one of his 11 Melbourne Cup winners not to run on Derby Day was Saintly in 1996.

Flemington trainer Mike Moroney is trying to do something he has done four times -- win his way into the Melbourne Cup via the Saab Quality.

Tomorrow he is trying to get imported stallion Glistening into the race.

He has placed blinkers on Glistening in an attempt to fire him up after a disappointing effort in the Geelong Cup.

"When he won at Flemington three starts ago, he went forward, and hopefully with the blinkers on it will sharpen him up," Moroney said.

In 2000 Moroney's Melbourne Cup winner Brew scraped into the field by winning the Saab Quality.

Three other times he has managed to get runners into the Melbourne Cup via the Saab.

In 2001 Maythehorsebewithu won the Saab before finishing fifth in the Melbourne Cup.

In 2004 Catchmeifyoucan finished second in the Saab, which then earned an automatic start in the Melbourne Cup - a race in which he finished eighth.

Septimus and friends

Tony Bourke writing in "The Age' on October 24th

AIDAN O'Brien, the Irish maestro of horse racing, yesterday outlined the game plan for his three-horse team in the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on November 4.

Speaking by phone to TVN's Bruce Clark from Santa Anita in California, where he is preparing runners for the Breeders' Cup meeting tomorrow and Sunday, Melbourne time, O'Brien said his horses would ensure the Cup was truly run.

"All three horses get the trip and we won't be afraid to let them gallop," he said, adding that the stable had learned from two previous attempts on the Melbourne Cup.

He said the pace tended to go out of the race after the horses left the straight, while his horses were better suited if the pace was "consistent and strong throughout the whole race. We hope to make it a true test".

On the merits of his three runners this year, O'Brien said he was not too worried about Septimus having to carry topweight of 58.5 kilograms.

"Yes, he obviously has a big weight, but he's a good horse," he said.

O'Brien said Septimus had been brought back to racing later this preparation to have him in top form for the Irish St Leger, which he won last month, "with one eye on the Melbourne Cup".

He was also enthusiastic about Honolulu, last-start winner of the Doncaster Cup on September 12. "We stepped him up in distance and he won very easily," O'Brien said. "We think the Melbourne Cup will suit him because he's a strong galloper on fast tracks."

He said the four-year-old Alessandro Volta also liked fast tracks and rated him a better prospect than stablemate Mahler, who, at the same age, finished third in the Cup last year.

O'Brien did not come to Melbourne when Yeats ran in the 2006 Melbourne Cup, finishing seventh behind Delta Blues. His first visit was last year and he thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

This year he is bringing his wife and children because they will "never really understand the Melbourne Cup until they come and see it".

All the Good...is good

ADRIAN DUNN...writing in the Melbourne herald Sun on October 23, 2008

CAULFIELD Cup winner All The Good returned to the track yesterday as he builds towards the Melbourne Cup.

But his Godolphin stable is mindful of the lurking presence of Septimus.

Godolphin travelling foreman Tommy Strang said he felt All The Good was too close to Septimus at the weights even before he was penalised 2kg for winning the Caulfield Cup.

All The Good will carry 55kg in the Melbourne Cup, 3.5kg less than star Irish stayer Septimus.

"If you go basically on European form, Septimus is above all the other horses, but the Melbourne Cup seems to bring them all together," Strang said.

"Our horse is in form. He goes there with a fighting chance."

Strang said he was unable to calculate what weight All The Good would receive from Septimus in Europe.

"He would not run against Septimus. All The Good has gone from a handicap to a Group 1. Septimus runs in Group races all the time," Strang said.

Francesca Cumani, daughter of English-based trainer Luca, who prepares Mad Rush and Bauer, agreed. She said the stable had enormous respect for Septimus.

"Septimus is obviously a Group 1 horse, whereas our horse (Mad Rush) had only one run in a Group 2 race in France before he ran in the Caulfield Cup," Cumani said.

"At level weights you would be very worried about taking on Septimus, but the Melbourne Cup is different and our horse is always improving. I don't think we have got to the bottom of him yet."

Strang said All The Good had performed above his European form, and he had acclimatised well.

"Actually, he's thrived since he's been here, especially the last 10 days. We were hoping rather than confident," he said.

"We were the underdogs, so there was less pressure than being hot favourite."

Strang said All The Good had been a little stiff on Sunday morning but was back to his best.

He said the six-year-old would have one more fast gallop before the Cup.

Mad Rush has recovered well from his luckless fourth in the Caulfield Cup.

"He's feeling fresh and happy. It's all good," Cumani said.

"He's a light-framed horse and doesn't need that much work. We won't need to do much with him between now and the Cup."