StableTalk

Just had a look at the Magic Millions Raceday card at Eagle Farm and A$ 12 million of prize money is nothing to sniff at.

There doesn't look to be an outstanding horse in the big field and the draw hasn't done some of the potential stars too many favours.

HOUTSEN has been drawn in the car park at 21, CHAMP ELECT isn't much better off at 17 and INVINCIBLE STAR has been done no favours by 16.

MADEEANTY and OURS TO KEEP look the two to be honest.

The Autumn racing season gets underway at Randwick (please don't put the Royal in front).

The first Group 1 is for the juveniles over 1400m. FROLIC has an obvious chance but I marginally favour TULIP from the lower draw.

The Australian Derby is at least run over the correct distance. Can GINGERNUTS follow up from the NZ Derby - he must have a serious chance. He beat JON SNOW that day but the latter won the Tulloch last time. I quite like INFERENCE who will appreciate the step up in trip and has course form having won the Guineas on this track.

The TJ Smith over 1200m looks wide open, RUSSIAN REVOLUTION looks the new kid on the sprinting block and has perhaps ASTERN under james Doyle as his main rival.

The Doncaster Mile is an Australian classic race. SPECTROSCOPE was third in last year's Prix Eugene Adam, a French Group 2 over 2000m. He didn't really show consistent form and was beaten in ordinary races as a 3-y-o. He's clearly taken well to Australia and running back over 1400m and must have a big chance. ENDLESS DRAMA was a better horse in Europe but the barrier draw has done no favours at all while AROD hasn't really improved for running in Australia in all honesty though he did run well on slow ground in Britain.

Another Saturday, another slow ground slog at Randwick.

The Queen Elizabeth Stakes is a serious race with a winning purse of A$2.34 million. Is it more than an exercise gallop for WINX, who annihilated the opposition in the George Ryder and the Chipping Norton ? For a mare who doesn't apparently like heavy ground, she seems to cope pretty well. I was delighted to see Chris Waller keep the Ascot option open for 2018 - she'd be hugely welcomed and watching her taking on the best Europeans would be one for us all to savour.

THE UNITED STATES and HARTNELL are no mugs but are fighting for second money unless something dramatic happens.

The Sydney Cup is, I suppose, the autumn equivalent of the Melbourne Cup. BIG DUKE won at Wetherby last May and POLARISATION jumped hurdles at Sandown so it's hard to think they would fetch up in this field. The former has a big chance. WHOSHOTTHEBARMAN and ALMOONQITH were fifth and sixth at Flemington last November and the former ticks a lot of the boxes though has plenty of weight. LIBRAN was runner up in this last year but has more weight and recent form hasn't been inspiring.

Calling the Sydney Cup a no race was I think the best thing for safety. It was very sad to see ALMOONQITH break down just past the post on the first round and take out WHOSHOTTHEBARMAN.

I've seen some coverage of the race from a Japanese channel on You Tube.

A few points - it was a dreadful incident of course and in Britain the horse would have been placed behind screens with flagmen down the course to warn the jockeys but I appreciate given the position on the course and the fact the poor horse was running round injured that might not have been possible.

How did the word get to the jockeys that the race had been voided ? It looked to me as though those at the rear saw the loose WHOSHOTHEBARMAN and pulled up immediately but the loose horse never reached the front six who basically raced as though nothing had happened until the straight when presumably on seeing something was amiss they pulled up.

Were there vehicles behind with megaphones saying the race had been stopped ? I saw no equivalent of a red flag (which is what we have here for a void race) or is it that under Australian rules, if a horse is loose, the race is stopped automatically ?

It looked more than a little shambolic but it happened in the worst possible place - had it happened 600m further down the back, I suppose the race could have continued.

Stodge in a replay you can see 2 clerks of the course riding along side the field obviously telling them to pull up. Those at the back heard and pulled up. Those up front didn't hear and kept going. They called the race off because ALMOONQITH was down on the track and not moving. I think they need to improve there warning system.

So the guy on the horse is a clerk of the course who shouts at the riders to pull up ?

We don't have that system at all in the UK or Ireland - there are no outriders (save for decorative purposes) and no shouting. We use flags - had that happened at Sandown or Ascot, the procedure would be to quickly alert course staff at the entrance to the home straight and get them to wave red flags which the jockeys know is the signal the race has been stopped and get everyone waving flags.

The evidence is the system works well in jump races but a Sydney Cup type incident is highly unusual because of its location. I thought the jockeys saw the loose horse and those who had been closest to the incident and had lost ground as a result might have been able to notify a few others as to what had happened but those up the front seemed quite oblivious.

I assume the rest of the runners did pull up somewhere though that wasn't shown on the Japanese channel feed which cut away to the crowd.

I'm sure the Stewards and others will review what happened and see what improvements can be made and lessons learned. It is thankfully rare but it's a contingency which needs proper planning and consideration.

140 entries have been made for the 2017 Melbourne Cup at Flemington and I've had a look at the entries which are here:

https://www.racenet.com.au/form/horse-r ... ace=7&rn=0

The European contenders look to be as follows (with trainer):

BARSANTI (Roger Varian)
BONDI BEACH (Aidan O'Brien)
DAL HARRAILD (William Haggas)
DYLAN MOUTH (Marco Botti)
FRANCIS OF ASSISI (Charlie Appleby)
HARRISON (Mick Channon)
JOHANNES VERMEER (Aidan O'Brien)
MARMELO (Hughie Morrison)
MAX DYNAMITE (Willie Mullins)
NAKEETA (Iain Jardine) - the winner of the Ebor on Saturday
NATURAL SCENERY (Saeed Bin Suroor)
ORDER OF ST GEORGE (Aidan O'Brien)
PENGLAI PAVILION (Charlie Appleby)
PRIZE MONEY (Saeed Bin Suroor)
QEWY (Charlie Appleby)
RED CARDINAL (Andreas Wohler)
RED GALILEO (Saeed Bin Suroor)
RED VERDON (Ed Dunlop)
REKINDLING (Joseph O'Brien)
SIXTIES GROOVE (Andreas Wohler)
ST MICHEL (Sir Mark Prescott)
SWEET SELECTION (Hughie Morrison)
THOMAS HOBSON (Willie Mullins)
TIBERIAN (Alain Couetil)
TRAVELLING MAN (Freddy Head)
US ARMY RANGER (Aidan O'Brien)
WALL OF FIRE (Hugo Palmer)
WICKLOW BRAVE (Willie Mullins)
WINNING STORY (Saeed Bin Suroor)

Apologies if I've omitted any.

The weights for the Melbourne Cup were released earlier in the week:

Those that seem most likely to travel at this stage include ST MICHEL (54 kg) and JOHANNES VERMEER (54.5 kg) along with Ebor winner NAKEETA (53 kg). The participation of BARSANTI (55 kg) and MARMELO (55 kg) will have an impact on those further down the weights and their chances of getting a run.

Elsewhere, I see WINX is going for her 20th win at Randwick on Saturday - I'm surprised they've swerved the Makybe Diva at Flemington and one or two over here are saying her connections are more concerned about keeping her unbeaten record than pitching her against the very best. Harsh perhaps given she's beaten the likes of HARTNELL plenty of times.

It's disappointing Aidan O'Brien isn't willing to take her on with HIGHLAND REEL at Moonee Valley. If WINX comes to Ascot next year, she could face ENABLE, ULYSSES and BARNEY ROY at 2000m which would be tough. At 1600m she'd have to take on RIBCHESTER and if she tried 1400m LIMATO and perhaps HARRY'S ANGEL if they keep him in training.

Winx - they may be looking to keep her unbeaten but the $287,000 winner's stake is not exactly peanuts.