European Group winners could bolster Macedon Lodge Cup defence

Darryl Sherer - Sunday August 27

The Macedon Lodge team were delighted with the return of Almandin on Saturday and have signalled they are likely to add to its 2017 Melbourne Cup team with Group winners from Europe.

Advertisement
Order Of St George. Photo: Ascot Racecourse

Lloyd Williams is part-owner of Order Of St George and owns Rekindling outright and after watching last year's Melbourne Cup winner Almandin finish second to Pacodali at Moonee Valley his son Nick indicated both could be possible travellers.

Williams said while Rekindling was an easier decision, there is a good chance the 2016 winner of the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot could make the trip this year.

"He's some chance but I would have thought Order Of St George is more of a chance," Williams said.

"Our partners and Aidan seem to be warming to the idea of bringing him here. Aidan didn't think the horse was ready last year and he would have had topweight.

"You could argue he hasn't been in quite as good form this year so he should get a bit less weight. He's rated a couple of pounds below what he was last year so you'd think he'd get a little bit less."

Order Of St George shared the original topweight with Protectionist for last year's Melbourne Cup with 58kg but remained in Europe and finished third behind stablemates Found and Highland Reel in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe over 2400m at Chantilly after wining The Gold Cup

Order Of St George had Rekindling 4 3/4-lengths behind last time out in the Group III Irish St Leger Trial (1m6f) last time out on August 19 and Williams said the younger horse is still improving.

A three-year-old son of High Chaparral, Rekindling defeated Wicklow Brave by half a length in the Group II Curragh Cup after beating two home in the Epsom Derby.

Williams said plans for the Joseph O'Brien-trained colt are fluid.

"He'll either go to the Irish St Leger or the English St Leger or the race in France (Arc de Triomphe) or he might come here," Williams said.

"Order Of St George will probably go to the Irish St Leger but we'll see. There's a long way to go (Melbourne Cup) but we've got a great hand - at the moment we couldn't be happier."

Advertisment
More Reading...
First Stakes Success For Cafe Millenium
While having just turned 5, former Sydneysider Cafe Millenium (Not A Single Doubt), who now calls Lindsay Park home, broke through for his first black type victory on Saturday, winning the Listed SAJC Leon Macdonald Stakes (1400m) at Morphettville in impressive fashion.
Sires With Winners - Sunday August 24
Here is the full list of 67 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Idyllic Prince Stakes - Phanta Leads a Sweet Trifecta for Gingerbread Man
Yarradale Stud's senior stallion Gingerbread Man achieved a rare career high for any sire when the son of Shamardal provided the trifecta in Saturday's Listed Idyllic Prince Stakes over 1300m at Belmont Park.
Merchant Navy 3YO Primed for Spring Stakes Campaign
Cody Cole is happy to play a waiting game with Landlock before confirming the three-year-old’s main goals for the season.
Top Filly Beats Top Colt in G1 Prix Morny
The Group I Prix Morny (1200m) at Deauville overnight produced a mightly clash between unbeaten Starspangled banner colt Gstaad and unbeaten filly Venetian Sun with the filly prevailing, although Starspangledbanner got some consolation with a new G3 winning 2YO at Goodwood.
Narrow Miss for Hellbent Gelding in G2 Foxbridge
Lhasa proved he is more than a synthetic track specialist when he nearly caused an upset when finishing runner-up in Saturday’s Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa.
Inglis Ready2Race Sale Now Online
The strongest collection of sire power ever assembled for an Australian 2YO Sale will be offered at the Inglis Ready2Race Sale, for which the catalogue is now available online.
Commemorative Retired to Stud
Watching the progress of Godolphin horses as they start stepping our for their new trainers has been interesting to say the least and will get more so this weekend when we see Tom Kitten go around in the Group I MRC Memsie Stakes at Caulfield, but one horse we won’t be seeing again is Commemorative.
First Southern Hemisphere foals for Paddington
A four-time Group I winner by champion French sire Siyouni, European superstar, PADDINGTON, has had his first Southern Hemisphere foals arrive on the ground at Windsor Park.
Spring Trial Watch – Hawkesbury
There was an interesting set of trials at Hawkesbury on Monday that featured heat winners including Golden Slipper winner Marhoona, Randwick Guineas winner Linebacker as well as the Waterhouse Bott stable Cups contenders Sir Delius (GB) and Vauban (FR), plus we may have seen an Everest horse.