It was like old home week at the Werribee International Horse Centre on Sat when reigning Melbourne Cup hero Americain arrived back in Australia to defend his crown. Showing no effects of his 38 hour journey to Melbourne from the UK - along with nine other international Cup hopes - Americain had a quick pick of grass before returning to the box he occupied last year. Those to touch down were Luca Cumani's quartet Drunken Sailor, Bauer, Manighar and Sahara Sun, as well as Brian Ellison's pair Sap
It was like old home week at the Werribee International Horse Centre on Sat when reigning Melbourne Cup hero Americain arrived back in Australia to defend his crown. Showing no effects of his 38 hour journey to Melbourne from the UK - along with nine other international Cup hopes - Americain had a quick pick of grass before returning to the box he occupied last year. Those to touch down were Luca Cumani's quartet Drunken Sailor, Bauer, Manighar and Sahara Sun, as well as Brian Ellison's pair Saptapadi and Moyenne Corniche, Americain and Dunaden, and the German hopefuls Illo and Lucas Cranach.
Brett Prebble is keen to ride Smart Missile in the 1600m Grp 1 Caulfield Guineas despite the colt's 10th in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stks 1400m at Caulfield. Prebble, currently #2 jockey in Hong Kong, says: 'The Guineas trip will be absolutely ideal for him now and I'm definitely coming back to ride him...The race didn't turn out as we'd hoped. He was back to the tail of the field after missing the jump and I wanted him in the first five or six. He had nowhere to go in the straight ... but the last 100 metres was the best part of his race.''
The tough win of King Lionheart in the Shannon 1500m at Rosehill has shot him into contention for next week's Epsom Handicap. Starting the day at $101 for the Epsom, the Gai Waterhouse-trained 5YO is now a $21 with TAB Sportsbet. In other Epsom betting news, Secret Admirer, a big disappointment in the Shannon, has drifted from $4.00 to $5.50 but is still second pick behind $3.70 fav Sincero.