Palmerston North mare Manzor Blue will carry the hopes of a nation at Flemington on Saturday as the sole New Zealand-trained entry for next month’s Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) bids to secure one of the last two golden tickets into the coveted race.
Trainer Lisa Latta and New Zealand-based syndicator Go Racing are having one throw at the stumps, with the six-year-old mare having to win the Gr.2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m) this weekend in order to qualify for the Melbourne Cup.
Manzor Blue’s connections had the option of lining her up in another Melbourne Cup ballot-exempt race, the Gr.3 Geelong Cup (2400m) on Wednesday, however, they elected to opt for the added distance and roomier track at Flemington.
“She drew wide in the Geelong Cup, and we were hoping for a better draw (14) at Flemington,” Latta said. “We just thought the big, roomier track (of Flemington) would probably suit her better, and the extra 100m.”
Manzor Blue, who won the Gr.3 Wellington Cup (3200m) at Trentham in January before finishing runner-up in the Gr.2 Auckland Cup (3200m) in March, arrived in Melbourne on Sunday, and Latta said she has settled in well.
With it being her first run in Australia, Latta is unsure how she will measure up against her rivals, but she is hopeful of a bold showing.
“She has travelled well and you just don’t know until you get in amongst these horses and line up,” she said. “It is a strong field.”
Manzor Blue is currently an $81 outsider with TAB bookmakers, in a market headed by Aethelwulf at $4.80.
Go Racing currently have one likely runner in the Melbourne Cup in the Chris Waller-trained Soul Of Spain, while their other hopeful, Omni Man, just missed out on an automatic spot after running home well to finish third in the Geelong Cup.
Latta could have a second runner at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day, with the Awapuni conditioner contemplating heading south from Sydney with Platinum Pantheon following his unplaced run in last Saturday’s A$1 million Listed Silver Eagle (1300m) at Randwick.
“It was a bit of a disappointing run, but the track dried out during the day and there was real on-speed bias in that race,” Latta said. “He got home well enough, but like Zac (Lloyd, jockey) said, he was no chance turning in, just drawing that wide and having to go that far back.
“We may look at a rating race on Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington with him.”
Back in New Zealand, Latta will be hunting stakes success at Riccarton on Saturday with Platinum La Danse in the Gr.3 War Decree Stakes (1400m).
The three-year-old daughter of Noverre was runner-up at the track in last month’s Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes (1200m), and Latta said that trip puts her in good stead for this weekend.
“She left in the early hours of this (Thursday) morning,” Latta said. “She has had a trip down there, so that will help her a lot, but there is a question mark on a Good track.”
Closer to home at Trentham on Sunday, Latta will be represented by a handful of runners, including Gr.3 TAB Mile (1600m) aspirant Coulthard, who will contest the Upper Hutt Sales Handicap (1400m) after missing out on a spot in the Gr.3 Gee & Hickton Thompson Handicap (1600m).
“I really wanted to run Coulthard in the Thompson but ended up two on the ballot and drawn the very outside,” Latta said. “He will possibly have to run anyway because he holds a nom for the TAB Mile, and that is the race we have targeted when he came back into work.
“We don’t really want to wait a week and go down there 10 days later and line up. It (this weekend) just fits in perfectly. But he is going to have to carry 62kg in that, and he has drawn the outside in that as well.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
