Results from overseas nominees:
3600m Magners Rose Doncaster Cup Stakes
(Group 2) (British Champions Series) (3yo+) @ Doncaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drBjsssBgkU
Stradivarius unsurprisingly won this race, jumping at $1.10 following the withdrawal of Dee Ex Bee due to the firm track. Cup nominee Barasanti at $11 was actually second favourite in what became a slowly run race due to small field of five. Finishing in 3rd was two-time Melbourne Cup placegetter, Max Dynamite. Barsanti ran towards the rear, looked to get the distance easily, but struggled to close ground on the three ahead of him. He crossed the line 6.75L behind Stradivarius, carrying 2kg less. Consequently it wasn't a terrible run, given their respective ratings and how the race was not run to suit a backmarker. I'm not sure he showed enough to warrant the journey here - forgetting for the moment that his rating would mean he was in doubt of fitting into Werribee in any case...
2920m William Hill St Leger Stakes
(Group 1) (British Champions Series) (3yo) @ Doncaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAy70lZxwvk
Another odds-on favourite took out this race with the undefeated Logician a very impressive $1.80 winner. Four Melbourne Cup nominees featured here - with them finishing in the final four positions in the 8-horse field.
Western Australia, the $51 outsider, was sacrificed as pace maker for Aidan O'Brien's runners, hoping to shake the race up. The early speed helped Logician break the track record, now set at 3'00.27s, edging out Masked Marvel's 2011 performance (which in turn broke an 85 year-old mark). In that 2011 race the placegetters were Brown Panther and Sea Moon who would go on to place 8th and 13th in the 2013 Melbourne Cup respectively.
Going into the race Logician had a 115 rating. This was only his fifth start and his first at Group 1 level. It'll be hard to judge the performance of the other runners until his official handicap is updated. I wouldn't be surprised if he went up to 118+.
Of the Melbourne Cup nominees, Il Paradiso finished highest in 5th position, 5.25L adrift of the winner. He was also rated at 115 - the same as Logician - more or less solely due to his last race over 3270m where he was just 1.35L behind Stradivarius. He was looking great in this race at one point, taking the lead in the straight when his jockey pushed the button. Ultimately it looked like this move came far too early, with him weakening with plenty to go. It looked like he expected more fuel to be in the tank, so I'm not sure if Il Paradiso had a bad day, was impacted by leading the bunch that was tracking Western Australia or - optimistically thinking - he was run to not gain Greg Carpenter's attention. Ultimately he finished 3-4 lengths further back than one would have hoped, but he gets something like 7 lengths back in The Cup due to his favourable handicap.
2400m Paddy Power Betting Shop Stakes
(Group 3) (3yo+) @ Leopardstown
I couldn't find any vision so here's a blurb from Coolmore regarding Norway (1st), Buckhurst (2nd 1.25L) and Mount Everest (4th 1.75L):
Quote:
Coolmore Stud sires dominated Saturday’s Group 3 Paddy Power Betting Shop Stakes at Leopardstown, which saw Norway land the spoils under Seamie Heffernan for Aidan O’Brien and Coolmore partners.
Group 2 placed last time out and third in the Irish Derby earlier in the season, Norway was sent off joint-favourite with Buckhurst (Australia), who had won his last two starts at Group 3 level. Racing towards the back of the field for much of the mile and a half contest, he was asked to quicken from two furlongs out and progressed to take second entering the final furlong. Staying on strongly, he led 100 yards from the line and won by a length and a quarter, as Buckhurst ran on to beat Blenheim Palace (Galileo) for second.
Norway may now go globetrotting, according to his trainer, who said, “He's a horse that is probably going to get better, he's going to be better next year. He's a lovely horse to have, fast ground, a mile-and-a-half and he can travel and quicken. There are going to be a lot of places to suit him. He could travel a little bit at the end. He could go to Hong Kong or America.”
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Seemingly no talk of the Melbourne Cup for any of them. The other nominee in the field, Stivers, was a long last.
2000m QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes
(Group 1) (3yo+) @ Leopardstown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqdcNvXb1po
Magic Wand and Hunting Horn contested this race which won't effect their current ranking or attract any penalties: a good thing too as they're currently at #21 and #22 in the Order. Hunting Horn was the sacrificial pacemaker and finished as badly as his $67 odds would suggest. Magic Wand's $21 price didn't suggest he would be at the pointy end but he finished in the front of a bunch that was chasing winner Magical, 2.25L ahead.
This was a really good run. Magical has been running at a consistent 122 rating, chasing Enable for much of the past year. Magic Wand has a 111 rating and ran admirably here at equal weights.
After the race her trainer Aidan O'Brien was looking abroad: "She can do the likes of Hong Kong and all those places. She loves fast ground and anywhere from a mile to a mile and a half. She's very versatile." That doesn't sound very encouraging for a Cup tilt, but earlier this month he also said: "She’s in the Cox Plate, the Caulfield Cup and the Melbourne Cup. I always thought 1m4f was far enough over here in Group 1s but, it’s funny, that type of race can often suit that type of horse. Flemington is a very flat track and you need a horse who is tactically quick enough. It’s a daft thing but it might just suit her".
2600m Irish Stallion Farms EBF "Petingo" Handicap
(Premier Handicap) (3yo+) @ Leopardstown
Eminence was second favourite in the 17-horse field, starting at $6 and finishing in 8th position and 4 lengths back in this non-qualifying race. Can't find vision but the race notes say: "Chased leaders, 3rd 5f out, ridden 2f out but no extra under pressure from over 1f out and gradually weakened".
2400m 135th Deutsches St Leger
(Group 3) (3yo+) (Turf) @ Dortmund
https://youtu.be/3LDDt8xDqoQ
Ispolini is back on track after a poor run in his last, the Yorkshire Cup against Stradivarius and Southern France. He was towards the top of Melbourne Cup futures betting for a fair while on account of his 2nd to Cross Counter in the Dubai Gold Cup earlier this year.
He was the odds-on favourite in the 13-strong Deutsches St Leger, winning in a very tight finish. He was 20th in the Order of Entry last week and his trainer Charlie Appleby appears buoyed by his run here: "Ispolini probably got to the front a bit too soon but he has stuck to his guns well. It was a pleasing performance and he has hopefully now booked his ticket to Australia for the Melbourne Cup."
2400m Comer Group International Irish St. Leger
(Group 1) (3yo+) @ Curragh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUgzyvSbDrA
Starting odds: Cross Counter @ $2.50, Kew Gardens @ $4.50, Southern France @ $10, Master of Reality @ $15, Latrobe $8, Twilight Payment @ $15
The winner was Search For A Song in only her 5th race. She was also weighed 5kg lighter than every other runner. When she took the lead and put on a couple of lengths at the mile marker she just couldn't be run down. Some strong rain before and during the race but it doesn't appear to have largely effected the surface: it was rated Good-to-Firm for this contest and only downgraded to Good in the next (it dried out and was back to a Good-to-Firm by the last race).
Kew Gardens ran on for a 2.25L 2nd with the remaining Cup nominees finishing in the next few positions. Southern France, Cross Counter and Master of Reality all finished within 0.25L of each other (1.5 lengths behind Kew Gardens). Latrobe and Twilight Payment were within a further couple of lengths.
There seems little hope of Kew Gardens travelling. According to Lloyd Williams there was very little between the other five candidates in the field though: "They finished within two [and a half] lengths of each other, and there is nothing between them in the future. The rides [they got] and the conditions [were] the difference," he said. "Southern France [was] a very good run, a positive [for his Cup chances]. Master of Reality did most of the work [in front] and was a good run. Twilight Payment needed the run and has changed stables. He hadn't started since June." "Latrobe was disappointing to the eye but not the jockey. Improvement is possible."
Cross Counter didn't show the blazing finishing speed that attracted me to him last year. He's older and higher in the weights now. He'll certainly need a different change of tactics than those he used in last year's race... On the positive side he was 3-wide for a fair hunk of the race, which wouldn't have helped.