Champions fields Flemington Saturday….

[Ohokaman]

2024 Champions Stakes Field:

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
1	20x11x611x	WITHOUT A FIGHT (IRE)	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Mark Zahra	10	59kg
2	33×7552441	DUKE DE SESSA (IRE)	Ciaron Maher	Harry Coffey	5	59kg
3	14x0x75x04	ARAPAHO (FR)	Bjorn Baker	Ben Melham	11	59kg
4	x73407x803	NUGGET (GB)	Ciaron Maher	Michael Dee	8	59kg
5	x0656x3201	FUTURE HISTORY (GB)	Ciaron Maher	Dylan Browne McMonagle	6	59kg
6	211x1x1137	ELIYASS (FR)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Nash Rawiller	2	59kg
7	x3x222x7x5	DOCKLANDS (GB)	Harry Eustace	Declan Bates	7	59kg
8	9x513x2x62	ROYAL CHAMPION (IRE)	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Craig Williams	9	59kg
9	5x24x95x11	KINGSWOOD (GB)	Gavin Bedggood	John Allen	3	59kg
10	x2x12x1511	VIA SISTINA (IRE)	Chris Waller	James McDonald	4	57kg
11	8132×96631	ATISHU (NZ)	Chris Waller	Jye McNeil	1	57kg
12	034021×515	DENY KNOWLEDGE (IRE)	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Damian Lane	12	57kg

2024 Champions Mile Field:

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
1	1253×21224	MR BRIGHTSIDE (NZ)	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	Craig Williams	4	59kg
2	64730×0263	MY OBERON (IRE)	Annabel Neasham & Rob Archibald	Nash Rawiller	6	59kg
3	500x0x2173	PINSTRIPED	Enver Jusufovic	Ben Allen	8	59kg
4	0x160x4331	ANTINO (NZ)	Tony Gollan	Mark Zahra	12	59kg
5	131139×314	DESERT LIGHTNING (NZ)	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	Luke Nolen	11	59kg
6	11117×1171	ANOTHER WIL	Ciaron Maher		2	59kg
7	43x209x658	NEW ENERGY (IRE)	Ciaron Maher		3	59kg
8	32x715x894	VON HAUKE (NZ)	Cliff Brown	Joshua Parr	1	59kg
9	2121×52128	PRIDE OF JENNI	Ciaron Maher	Ben Melham	7	57kg
10	174x12x316	FANGIRL	Chris Waller	James McDonald	9	57kg
11	0x220x2252	AMELIA'S JEWEL	Annabel Neasham & Rob Archibald	Damian Lane	10	57kg
12	42x531x295	STEFI MAGNETICA	Bjorn Baker	Chad Schofield	5	57kg
13	331111×143	BROADSIDING	James Cummings	Michael Dee	13	52kg

2024 Champions Sprint Field:

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
1	3211x3x542	GIGA KICK	Clayton Douglas	Mark Zahra	7	58.5kg
2	12x201x1x1	OVERPASS	Bjorn Baker	Joshua Parr	2	58.5kg
3	3222x89x22	I AM UNSTOPPABLE	Ciaron Maher		11	58.5kg
4	11113311	BARAQIEL	Leon & Troy Corstens & Will Larkin	Ben Allen	1	58.5kg
5	41221×2311	BELLA NIPOTINA	Ciaron Maher	Craig Williams	12	56.5kg
6	x1x254x152	SUNSHINE IN PARIS	Annabel Neasham & Rob Archibald	James McDonald	9	56.5kg
7	112120×763	LADY LAGUNA	Annabel Neasham & Rob Archibald	Nash Rawiller	6	56.5kg
8	6x1115x471	ESTRIELLA	Ciaron Maher	Ben Melham	4	56.5kg
9	453×211141	RIGHT TO PARTY	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Jye McNeil	3	56.5kg
10	7x4262x638	STRETAN ANGEL	Phillip Stokes	Luke Nolen	5	56.5kg
11	41×141	PRIVATE LIFE	Chris Waller	Damian Lane	8	53.5kg
12	3214×51112	BELLATRIX STAR	Mark Walker	Michael Dee	10	51.5kg

 

[Pak Star]

Gee there is some quality in those fields.

[Ohokaman]

Declan Bates getting the heave ho from Pride of Jenni was a surprise. Can’t see he has done much wrong to warrant that.

Ungrateful bastards sometimes these owners. Ottobre a prime example.

[Pak Star]

17 minutes ago, Ohokaman said:

Declan Bates getting the heave ho from Pride of Jenni was a surprise. Can’t see he has done much wrong to warrant that.

Ungrateful bastards sometimes these owners. Ottobre a prime example.

Unless hes chosen to ride Rosehill, im guessing Zac has been handed the same treatment with Stefi

[Blaird]

7 minutes ago, Pak Star said:

Declan Bates getting the heave ho from Pride of Jenni was a surprise. Can’t see he has done much wrong to warrant that.

Quoted from Race Net - "The decision has been made that maybe we need a jockey change," Pride Of Jenni's owner Tony Ottobre said.

[nomates]

12 minutes ago, Blaird said:

Quoted from Race Net - "The decision has been made that maybe we need a jockey change," Pride Of Jenni's owner Tony Ottobre said.

Nothing wrong with the ride , tough back up from the previous weeks hard race IMO ? . Maybe they'll sack the trainer if she fails this week .

They're not bloody machines .

[chiknsmack]

18 minutes ago, Pak Star said:

Unless hes chosen to ride Rosehill, im guessing Zac has been handed the same treatment with Stefi

Bates is on Docklands in the MacKinnon (who is also nommed for Sydney but with no jockey listed there).

Lloyd is riding at Rosehill, where they have two million-dollar-plus races for some reason.

[scooby3051]

17 hours ago, Blaird said:

Quoted from Race Net - "The decision has been made that maybe we need a jockey change," Pride Of Jenni's owner Tony Ottobre said.

Sounds like he overuled Maher on spelling her too...greedy bastard I say...horse welfare should come first.

[nomates]

53 minutes ago, scooby3051 said:

Sounds like he overused Maher on spelling her too...greedy bastard I say...horse welfare should come first.

If true he will get what he deserves , raced like a tired horse in the CP .

[Insider]

3 hours ago, Blaird said:

Quoted from Race Net - "The decision has been made that maybe we need a jockey change," Pride Of Jenni's owner Tony Ottobre said.

Say's it all. She's been to the well too often and too close together this time around in my opinion.

I wouldn't be backing her on Saturday even if they offered me a boost of 100% on the odds offered. 

[Ohokaman]

Classy response from Declan…..doubt I would have been so gracious ( 15 rides later)……

 

[richie]

The word is that Maher wanted to spell but owner overruled him.Feel sorry for Declan as by all accounts had been riding to owners Instructions 

[Ohokaman]

4 minutes ago, richie said:

The word is that Maher wanted to spell but owner overruled him.Feel sorry for Declan as by all accounts had been riding to owners Instructions 

As he says, she normally has 5 runs, now they are going again. Tough field might stuff her completely. Surprised Maher agreed.

[scooby3051]

13 hours ago, Ohokaman said:

As he says, she normally has 5 runs, now they are going again. Tough field might stuff her completely. Surprised Maher agreed.

Sounds like he had not much say....karma comes to mind...

[Ohokaman]

Great ride by Declan on Kettle Hill today at $19……for the Maher stable of course…..

[say no more]

Bates gets the ride on Another Wil. I reckon on Saturday at least he might be better off on this one. 

I love Pride of Jenni but like many of you on here i reckon she's had her final and Another Wil is on the way up. 

ps. this is a brilliant field.  Broadsiding and Fangirl also both favourites of mine.

[Pak Star]

27 minutes ago, say no more said:

ps. this is a brilliant field.  Broadsiding and Fangirl also both favourites of mine.

Resisting the urge to chase my money left on the table by Stefi last start.  It would go against my #1 rule which is to never bet against a star whether that be horse/human/team - and there are at least 5 of them in this field alone.  Will be a great race to watch.

[Alf Riston]

2 hours ago, say no more said:

I love Pride of Jenni

Maybe the Hyperbaric chamber therapy she has been undergoing suggests she has some issues 

[stodge]

Perhaps someone on here will know but looking at the Champions Stakes field (the MacKinnon as it used to be called I believe) there are three or four who I'm surprised weren't in the Melbourne Cup itself - WITHOUT A FIGHT, DUKE OF SESSA and a couple of others.

Has the MacKinnon had an upgrade in terms of value and status so it now draws potential runners from the Cup and doesn't that explain why this year's Cup field, to my eye, looked quite weak?

I don't understand what VRC are doing - they are making the same mistake Cheltenham have made. Creating more niche Grade or Group 1 races doesn't raise the bar overall as there is a finite pool of horses and you end up devaluing everything. Is this because they are competing with New South Wales?

Fine if you have a top 2000m horse like VIA SISTINA but not so long ago the only option was to go for the Cup - SO YOU THINK being one example so you end up running your champions over the extended distance to see how good they really are - VERRY ELLEGGANT being another example. 

I thought in the old days the progression was from the Cox Plate to the Cup - the MacKinnon wasn't the big race it now seems to be but I may have that wrong.

[Alf Riston]

Hoping Via Sistina has had a rousing 3 lap workout this week too.

Really hoping she goes to the Japan Cup but lining up here suggests otherwise 

 

[stodge]

4 minutes ago, Alf Riston said:

The Mackinnon used to be the Saturday before the Cup Stodge and was used by some as a lead up to that race.

 

Am I right in thinking then this is a "new" race so is anyone surprised it has drawn horses who might otherwise have gone for the Cup itself? Has there always been a 2000m Group 1 just after the Cup?

[Alf Riston]

3 minutes ago, stodge said:

Am I right in thinking then this is a "new" race so is anyone surprised it has drawn horses who might otherwise have gone for the Cup itself? Has there always been a 2000m Group 1 just after the Cup?

Not that I recall Stodge - certainly not one that attracted the quality of field it does now.

The last day always seemed like a poor cousin so their move was probably to level the strength and allure to be on track over the 3 days, rather than the usual Derby and Cup Day dominance, 

[Alf Riston]

As a quick tally up The Champion Stakes earnings for the field are in the range of $55 million - possibly an Australasian record ??? 

The Champion Stakes actually looks similar, again as a quick add up, so either one may be the largest assembly of stakes earners ..

[stodge]

8 minutes ago, Alf Riston said:

Not that I recall Stodge - certainly not one that attracted the quality of field it does now.

The last day always seemed like a poor cousin so their move was probably to level the strength and allure to be on track over the 3 days, rather than the usual Derby and Cup Day dominance, 

Yet when they created this new race, didn't VRC think it would impact the Cup itself? Yes, the Cup has three times the winning prize money but it isn't always all about the money.

It simply creates a niche race for 2000m or 2400m types and will in time devalue the Cup. 

[Shad]

On 11/6/2024 at 6:52 PM, Ohokaman said:

Classy response from Declan…..doubt I would have been so gracious ( 15 rides later)……

 

Good on him, obviously very professional, and a mature response, one can't afford to burn bridges.