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Australia: Reigning Horses Of The Year Melody Belle and Nature Strip At Flemington

Two reigning Horses of the Year headline a pair of excellent Group 1 races in Melbourne, while early season 2-year-olds are “gifted” a million-dollar purse in Sydney this Friday night. The fourth and final day of the “Melbourne Cup Carnival” at Flemington coincides with Rosehill's $1,000,000 Golden Gift, as both cards wedge neatly between the Breeders' Cup programs in the U.S. With some large Trifecta and Pick 4 pay outs on Melbourne Cup Day, handicappers will be looking to build their bank in Australia on Friday night.

Melody Belle, recently crowned New Zealand Horse of the Year for the second straight season, has taken her incredible tally of G1 wins to 12 with victories in the same pair of races that preceded her successful mission to Australia last November. In 2019, Melody Belle won a G1 for fillies and mares on the opening day of the “Melbourne Cup Carnival,” before a gallant runner-up effort a week later. This year, connections skipped the first of those races and have specifically targeted this Friday night's Mackinnon Stakes.

The 6-year-old brings a superb 17-for-34 career record back to Melbourne, as she seeks redemption for an unlucky second place finish to Aidan O'Brien's globetrotting filly, Magic Wand. Melody Belle (4-1) will be ridden for the first time by 25-year-old Jye McNeil, fresh off his career-defining win for Joseph O'Brien in Monday night's Melbourne Cup (at odds that matched his age). The Mackinnon Stakes (Race 8) is a weight-for-age contest at 1 1/4 miles, almost identical conditions to the prestigious W.S. Cox Plate. Thus, it is not surprising that Melody Belle's stiffest opposition is expected from Mugatoo (4-1) and Arcadia Queen (3-1 favorite), based on their respective fourth and fifth-place finishes in the Cox Plate two weeks ago.

Two races prior to the Mackinnon, Australia's Horse of the Year for the 2019-20 season will be in action in the G1 Darley Classic. Nature Strip returns to Flemington's iconic “straight six” furlongs course, and will try to replicate the most exhilarating performance of a career punctuated by perplexing losses. Australian racing's biggest enigma has now lost three straight races for the first time, yet nobody who witnessed his scintillating performance in this event last year will be brave enough to write him off. As in 2019, Nature Strip finished off the board (his usual modus operandi if not getting his picture taken) in The Everest, before returning from Sydney for the Darley Classic. If his career record of 26,14-3-0 leaves one flummoxed as to which version will appear next, it is worth bearing in mind that the 6-year-old's record down the Flemington straight course is four-for-five (and two-for-two at six furlongs).

Nature Strip shares favoritism at 3-1 with another G1 winner down Flemington's straight course, Bivouac, who comes off a terrific second in The Everest. Further opposition exiting the world's richest turf race is expected from the mare, Libertini, who was heavily bet (8-1 into 5-1) in The Everest but had no luck from the extreme outside gate. Both Bivouac and Libertini contested The Everest second up and are still fresh into their current campaigns. Coincidentally, they finished in the minor placings in the same G1 race (for 3-year-olds) down the Flemington straight during last year's Melbourne Cup Carnival.

While Melbourne holds the Friday night spotlight, Sydney's Rosehill Racecourse will be the scene of an exciting addition to Australia's rich program of juvenile races. The Southern Hemisphere racing season began on Aug. 1 and the first 2-year-old races were run only a month ago, yet an early carrot is being dangled for connections of the most precocious juveniles. The Golden Gift, at 5 1/2 furlongs, carries a purse of $1,000,000. The China Horse Club owns a pair of debut stakes winners, Captivant (3-1 favorite) and Tiger of Malay (7-1). Last year's inaugural Golden Gift winner, Dame Giselle (a subsequent multiple stakes winner), is part-owned by the China Horse Club and came through the same debut race as Tiger of Malay. It's unusual to see 2-year-olds traveling interstate this early in the season, but the lucrative purse sees both Sneaky Five (9-2) and Ghostwriter (10-1) being whisked to Sydney after scoring debut wins in Melbourne and Brisbane, respectively. The race includes three first-time starters, and North American fans will be intrigued by a Chris Waller-trained son of American Pharoah named Head of State (14-1), who has won both of his trials (“training races”). A G2 event for fillies and mares follows the Golden Gift on the Rosehill card.

The Flemington and Rosehill cards will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (First Post: 10:25 p.m. ET / 7:25 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Doomben and Gold Coast. All races will also be live-streamed in HD with past performances available for free at skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms. Wagering is available via all the major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, AmWager, and BetAmerica. The Pick 7 wager is available on the Flemington (AUS-A) card.

A native of Brisbane, Australia, Michael Wrona has called races in six countries. Michael's vast U.S. experience includes; race calling at Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park, Arlington and Santa Anita, calling the 2000 Preakness on a national radio network and the 2016 Breeders' Cup on the International simulcast network. Michael also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.

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In The Wake Of Controversial Drug Positives, Baffert Issues Pledge To ‘Raise The Bar’

The following statement from trainer Bob Baffert was released through his attorney on Wednesday morning:

2020 has been a difficult year for everyone. It has been no exception for my family, my barn, and me. I am very aware of the several incidents this year concerning my horses and the impact it has had on my family, horse racing, and me.

I want to have a positive influence on the sport of horse racing. Horses have been my life and I owe everything to them and the tremendous sport in which I have been so fortunate to be involved.

We can always do better and that is my goal. Given what has transpired this year, I intend to do everything possible to ensure I receive no further medication complaints. As such, I want to announce that, beginning immediately, I plan to implement the following procedures in an effort to make my barn one of the leaders in best practices and rule compliance:

I am retaining Dr. Michael Hore of the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute to add an additional layer of protection to ensure the well-being of horses in my care and rule compliance.
I am increasing the training and awareness of all my employees when it comes to proper protocols.
I am personally increasing my oversight and commitment to running a tight ship and being careful that protective measures are in place.

I want to raise the bar and set the standard for equine safety and rule compliance going forward. For those of you that have been upset over the incidents of this past year, I share in your disappointment. I humbly vow to do everything within my power to do better. I want my legacy to be one of making every effort to do right by the horse and the sport.

Baffert has been the subject of public criticism following a series of positive post-race tests for therapeutic drugs in his barn this year. The most recent came when the California Horse Racing Board reported a finding for dextrorphan in a Baffert trainee post race. Previously, news broke that initial testing after the G1 Kentucky Oaks found a positive for betamethasone in Gamine after her third-place finish. Stewards have not yet ruled on the dextroprhan overage in California, and a split sample test has not yet been completed for the betamethasone. Earlier this year, Gamine and Charlatan tested positive post-race for lidocaine in Arkansas, for which Baffert was suspended for 15 days. He is appealing that suspension. Last week, CHRB stewards held a hearing to determine whether Justify should be disqualified from his 2018 Santa Anita Derby win due to the presence of scopolamine in a post-race test.

Hore is a surgeon at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, which is based in Lexington, Ky. According to Hagyard's website, he specializes in digital radiographs, sales work, lameness, and angular limb deformities and practices in Kentucky, Florida, Maryland, New York, and Europe. Hore is credited with being part of the team that shortlisted Charlatan, Authentic, and Justify for SF Bloodstock. He was also among the veterinarians who signed a settlement agreement with the Kentucky Board of Veterinary Examiners last year after self-reporting for misdating radiographs ahead of public auction.

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Australia: Melbourne Cup, The Race That Restarts A Nation

The Melbourne Cup, one of the great horse races on the planet – and probably the greatest cultural event in global racing – will be staged this Monday night (Post Time: 11:00 p.m. ET / 8:00 p.m. PT). Long referred to as “the race that stops a nation,” the Cup has famously brought sessions of parliament to a halt. However, as its host city emerges from one of the world's strictest lockdowns, this year's renewal might be more accurately referred to as “the race that restarts a nation.”

Melbourne has been the country's coronavirus hotspot, with a stringent lockdown of almost four months being eased just in the past week. While still unable to attend the races, the public is simply rejoicing in the newly found freedom to visit a pub or enter a TAB (the vast network of off-track wagering facilities, many of which are now contained within pubs – allowing the confluence of two great Aussie pastimes!).

While Flemington Racecourse won't play host to fans, it will welcome eight European horses as part of the 24-strong field competing for an $8 million purse. In a wide-open betting market – even by Melbourne Cup standards – wagering is headed by a trio of Euros. When rain delivered his preferred soft going, Irish import Sir Dragonet landed a betting plunge (12-1 into 6-1) winning the W.S. Cox Plate in his Australian debut. The Cox Plate is a highly prestigious weight-for-age race at 1 1/4 miles, in stark contrast to the two-mile Melbourne Cup under handicap conditions. Jockey Glen Boss, who became part of Melbourne Cup folklore aboard the race's only three-time winner, Makybe Diva, declared that Sir Dragonet (9-1) can capture the Cox Plate – Melbourne Cup double (last achieved, coincidentally, by Makybe Diva in 2005). However, Monday night's firmer footing might be a bigger issue than the race's conditions.

The other Europeans vying for favoritism share two impressive common denominators: the blood of Galileo and the conditioning of Aiden O'Brien. Tiger Moth (8-1) was narrowly beaten in this year's Irish Derby and will be making just his fifth career start. The race's 129-pound highweight is Anthony Van Dyck (7-1), who won the 2019 English Derby and finished third in the Breeders' Cup Turf. Anthony Van Dyck was an excellent second in his Australian debut and could provide a first Melbourne Cup win for Hugh Bowman, regular rider of the great Winx. Similarly, the Cup has eluded Winx's trainer, Chris Waller. Another mare would become Waller's second most famous horse, if Verry Elleegant (12-1) can replicate her victory over Anthony Van Dyck in the traditional prep race, the Caulfield Cup. Waller is also represented by a son of Frankel named Finche (17-1), who has performed consistently at the highest level in Australia since being imported two years ago. Finche has finished on the heels of the placegetters in the past two Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

As racing has become globalized, Australian horses have struggled to withstand the avalanche of international runners. Vow and Declare bucked the trend last year, becoming the first Aussie winner since 2009. Vow and Declare has lost form and is a 60-1 shot to repeat, but last year's winning rider, Craig Williams, has partnered with another Australian horse in Surprise Baby – whose sire happens to be that 2009 Australian-bred winner, Shocking. Surprise Baby was fifth in last year's Melbourne Cup, beaten just a length in a blanket finish, and has strong claims again at 9-1. While Vow and Declare is unlikely to repeat, his trainer Danny O'Brien also has Russian Camelot (12-1) coming off a third-place finish in the Cox Plate (he and Cox Plate winner, Sir Dragonet, are both sired by 2012 English and Irish Derby winner, Camelot).

Three jockeys – Glen Boss (Sir Dragonet), Kerrin McEvoy (Tiger Moth) and Damien Oliver (Russian Camelot) – have three wins in the great race and would equal the all-time record with one more triumph. Also of interest in the riding ranks is Jamie Kah, who currently leads the Melbourne jockey standings. Kah will have her first mount in the Cup and first ride on Prince of Arran (11-1). Her Melbourne Cup inexperience is balanced by the hardy 8-year-old gelding, who has finished second and thirdin the past two Melbourne Cups. Kah seeks to emulate Michelle Payne, who rode through the gender barrier in 2015 on 100-1 winner Prince of Penzance. Longshots abound throughout Melbourne Cup history and the strike rate of favorites is a meager 21%, so play your fancy and enjoy the spectacular spectacle.

The Flemington card will be broadcast on TVG this Monday night (First Post: 6:45 p.m. ET / 3:45 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Randwick, Doomben and Ascot. All races will also be live-streamed in HD with past performances available for free at skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms. The new Pick 7 wager is available on the Flemington (AUS-A) card across races 4-10. Wagering is available via all the major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, AmWager, and BetAmerica.

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On-Site Health Screenings, Vaccines Now Available To Farm Staff In Central Kentucky

Blue Grass Farms Charities announced this week it will partner with Blue Grass Community Health Center to offer free health clinics and on-site health screenings to staff at farms, training centers, or racetracks in the Central Kentucky area.

Screenings consist of flu and tetanus shots, weight, height and blood pressure readings, and glucose level and HIV testing. Clinic participants may also receive dental varnish.

Clinics will be staffed with doctors and nurse practitioners who can diagnose illnesses and prescribe medications if necessary.

Managers or organizers on the farm or Thoroughbred facility are asked to visit https://www.bgfcky.org/health-clinics-and-screenings.html to sign up for a time. Medical staff will bring the necessary equipment and set up the clinic during the scheduled time block.

Two off-site physical locations will also be made available for farm/training staff who are interested in these services but won't have access to an on-site clinic. One location is at 1306 Versailles Road in Lexington and is staffed Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The other at 151 North Eagle Creek Drive, Suite 22 in Lexington is staffed Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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