Queen's Vase

Dashing Willoughby takes out the 2800m Queen's Vase, beating Barbados and Nayef Road in wet conditions after a betting plunge saw his starting odds halve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bGrZSmpXDE. Winner Dashing Willoughby is heading to the St Leger, as will the majority of this field given that they're all colts.


The Gold Cup

Stradivarius goes back-to-back, jumping at evens. He was always in the front group, alongside placegetters Dee Ex Bee and Master of Reality. Looked to be in a little danger after being boxed-in until well down the home straight, but Frankie Dettori managed to get him out. Cross Counter was the only challenger to run on from the rear and finished in 4th; this lead bunch putting 5 lengths on the rest of the field. The track condition was Soft, the race time nearly 10 seconds slower than what Stradivarius achieved last year.

Watch the race here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOKDLEyQPms

No chance of Stradivarius coming out for the Melbourne Cup: the handicapper would have him towing a caravan.

Dee Ex Bee's racing manager seems to think they could turn the tables if things went a little differently. Apparently Dee Ex Bee's a battler who was focused on the tussle with Master of Reality on his immediate outside, rather than the lead horse who was wider. I think he's just proud of his horse.

The Lloyd Williams Group owns Master of Reality and Nick Williams confirmed after the race that he'll be heading to Melbourne. Followers might recall that Master of Reality was meant to come to Australia last season (as companion to Latrobe), but there was no space for him in quarantine. I think he's a bit on the dour side if he makes the final field of the Melbourne Cup, but he should ensure that the race goes at a genuine clip, hoping to outlast the rest.

Cross Counter would have lost very few fans with his performance. As noted above, he was the only horse to run on. At 2.5 miles it's a little longer than he'd like and perhaps reason enough that he didn't have quite the speedy, sustained finish as shown in the past - though the 57.5kg might have had something to with it also, along with the soft surface. Trainer Charlie Appleby stated after the race that a return for the Melbourne Cup would likely depend on the weight he was allotted - but it's certainly not off the table.