The Spring Carnival hits Melbourne

Published: 09 Oct 2014

For those looking ahead to this weekend’s Caulfield carnival, one can see from Saturday’s acceptances that the spring carnival in Melbourne is truly alive and ready to take off! With both footy codes winding down, the attention turns to ‘The Sport of Kings’ in what many call ‘The Sporting Capital of the World’.

With a number of small fields in Sydney over the last few weeks, only two races on the bumper Caulfield card have attracted under 10 runners. Much has been made in the media about the NSW and VIC race clubs colluding with race dates in the future to gain more solidarity in the programming, and it will be interesting to see what is made of the industry feedback, especially via social media which is where so many are venting their thoughts, both positive and negative.

At Caulfield, Earthquake steps out a dominant favourite looking to get back to winning ways after defeats to the likes of First Seal and Winx which has proved to be the dominant form line for the 3YO fillies. The Schillachi Stakes with only 7 acceptors presents a cracking field of sprinters with Not Listenin’tome, Rubick and Overreach all looking to strike with a first up win. Protectionist is the early favourite for the Herbert Power Stakes over 2400m which will give a sense of intrigue and insight into the plight of a few international raiders as they head towards the Cups.

The meeting then accelerates into Group 1 mode with the  Caulfield Stakes which has accumulated a quality field of talent as many Cox Plate contenders have their last hit out before the WFA championship of Australasia in a fortnight’s time with Dissident out to proclaim his tag as Australia’s ‘toughest’ horse. The Toorak Handicap looks an intriguing affair with Arabian Gold plotting her path to the Cox Plate whilst the likes of Trust in a Gust, Atlante, Speediness and Bull Point all come through the Sir Rupert Clarke lead up. Then it is time for the 3YO features with the Thousand Guineas with Lumosty attracting solid betting support after a maiden win at Sale. The boys then step out in the Caulfield Guineas in a race that has changed shape dramatically over the past weeks with the likes of Rich Enuff continuing to impress and improve at each run this time in.