AMANDA PULLS OUT HER TRUMPS CARD FOR DERBY TIME

Reichenbach Falls and Sectum Sempra have been pencilled in as possible triple crown runners for master trainer Amanda O'Brien. When asked about how she thinks Reichenbach Falls will go in the Derby she responded "I think that Falls will be a strong contender for the TC given his pedigree being out of the top sire Troll Tower and a G1 winning World Record holding dam, so he has the potential on paper to be speedy enough for the 10f races whilst having the lungs to get the Belmont distances." Reichenbach Falls will have his lead up runs in the Florida and Santa Anita's Derbies. Sectum Sempra will race in all the same lead up races as Fallsy except for the Kentucky Derby, unless he improves his form over the shorter distances.


Reichenbach's main rivals seem to be Autharky and Believer, both top class colts who have dominated the 2yo dirt races. Beauty Queen is also one not to be ignored especially if she runs against the colts. When I asked what races she had in mind for Fallsy if he wins or races very well in the triple crown races she responded "the breeders cup classic will be his ultimate aim but we'll take it race by race and if he did manage to do well in the TC races he would earn a rest for a while before maybe going for a few races against the older horses". She has also mentioned the Breeders Cup Endurance as a possible goal for Sectum Sempra as he is a dyed in the wool stayer. But be warned punters, Amanda has said that if her horses don't perform in lead up races they won't race in the main event".


O'Brien will also have runners in the English classics, with the big Johar colt Moriaty and perhaps Sign Of Four lining up in the Derby and Perfecta in the Oaks. Moriaty was a promising second in the G3 Pilgrim Stakes over 1800m at Belmont as a 2yo and should handle the extra distance. Perfecta and Sign Of Four have both shown promise and will appreciate the extra ground.


Meanwhile, the Group 2 winning colt New Moon On Monday while resume in the G2 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on week 5. He should be hard to beat while in this class.
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Honest stayer WinWinWin will start off his preparation for the Melbourne Cup this week with a run in a $30,000 Open Handicap over a mile at Victoria Park. Kayll said he was happy with his preparation say he had filled out nicely since his last run when he won the Group 3 WA St Leger in Perth. "He's coming along nicely and he well and truly gets the two miles so I'd like to give him a go at the Melbourne Cup" he said. "He'll go onto the G3 Kingston Town (2000m) on the 11th of Feb and then either the G1 Metropolitan Handicap (2600m) or the G2 Winning Edge Handicap (2400m) at Caulfield before the Melbourne Cup."

COULD SWAIN'S GOLD FINISH THE HEATS BUSINESS?

Swain's Gold has been among the 34 3rd acceptances overnight for the Kentucky Derby. The half brother to Heat Seeker is trained by newcomer Tia of Circle F Farms and she is quietly optimistic about her horses chances.


"I picked up Swain's Gold at the auction from Huttons. I thought $25,500 was a very good price and he has more than earnt that back, more than all of that in one go with his second in the G2 KY Jockey Club. He prefers turf but he is more then capable on dirt and he seems to like the Downs so we might be going to the Derby. We'll see. We will probably be starting him off in Japan in Feb." Swain's Gold is currently $51 for the Derby.


Another possible runner is Tia's original horse Copablanca. "His Dam of Sire is Winning Colors and his mother's no slouch either so I figured he'd be a decent runner. Being that Rev was "older" I needed someone younger to balance and being 2 he fit the bill perfectly. He's got a 2-3 peak and wants distance even though he can't quite hold it yet; his stamina IS improving, though, so there's hope. He pulled an 85 PSR back in November which knocked my socks off. Yeah, there's hope alright. His first start of 2012 will be in the Holy Bull at Gulfstream." Copablanca is currently $151 for the Derby.



Tia also has a very promising sprinter in Enigma, another purchase from Hutton's Horse Haven. "Enigma is our Super Sprinter. Another Hutton Hotty, he ran very nicely last season and it's hoped that he will continue that momentum. He'll be starting in a very low level at Shenandoah in late January - mostly as he finished his last start injured and I want to play it safe. Part of that "safe" includes avoiding Heat Seeker at all costs." Enigma was very good last season when third in the G2 Moir Stakes on Cox Plate day and his last run fourth in the Missle Stakes beating Handsome Bane and Duo Power was very awesome. He'll surely win races this season and possible Tia's first win.


She has made a few purchases at the end of the season, picking up Roll Of Thunder and Our Maiden. Roll Of Thunder was a very good horse for my mate Steve and that will win races. "Roll of Thunder was picked up at the late stable auctions for a song. With bloodlines and PSR's like his (Thunder Arctic and multiple TR's) I would have been a fool to walk away from such a low reserve. He'll be going in an ungraded stakes at Caulfield in late January and probably stay at the lower level, though I do hope he's still Graded-competitive", is Tia's opinion of Roll Of Thunder. This is her comment about Our Maiden, "Our Maiden was purchased from EV to replace Rev in the Filly/Mare runs. She's been cooling her heels for the last year-and-a-half and I only hope she still remembers what a track is for. Strangely enough her first start for us was also Rev's: the Truly Bound HDCP at Fair Grounds. She's another that's slated for the shed, though if she does well she may run again in '13." Our Maiden's name doesn't help out too much but she is a G3 winner who could surprise fresh in mares grade if she comes back as good.


She is very happy with her breeding and is seeing results in the paddock with Unforgiv'n beating Prince Stephen home. Perfect Goer has had 5 foals and Revotic is coming along good. Asking her about horses she's scared off this season are not surprisingly Heat Seeker and the big Otsego colt Shatterstar.
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Meanwhile, Moonee Valley staff are disappointed with only four entires in the Manikato so far. People's Champ will run after his barnstorming win in Hong Kong and so will the star 3yo Count Kane whom I understand Fin is very keen about this week. This morning he told me about Count Kane's chances "My frank assessment is that I'm so confident about Count Kane winning is that I don't need two horses in there". The other horse to whom he is referring to is the star mare Life On Mars who is slated down to run in the G2 Premiere Stakes (1200m) in Sydney this week. Other acceptances are the stayer Trigun, who is most likely to run in Japan or wait for the Heatherlie Handicap (1700m) next week and the improving filly Spider Naevi.

Early Market= Manikato Stakes

$2.00 People's Champ, Count Kane

$9.00 Spider Naevi, Kostya (not nominated), Flawless Tower (not nominated)

$13.00 Trigun

$101.00 Little Miss Pump (not nominated)

CORNISH LOOKING TO THE STARS FOR HIS 2 MILER

Prodigal Son, a 5yo bay colt by Majestic Son and Wild Spirit, is among the 3rd acceptances for the Emirates Melbourne Cup. Currently quoted at $81 for the Melbourne Cup, he has been the target of many small long odds bets in the past week reports bookmaker Bruce McNamara. "People have backed him because of his ability to run 2 miles and fairly honest, but amazingly there haven't been any win bets placed". That would probably be due to the appearance of the legend Heat Seeker, who won a hard fought horse of the year vote last year over Regal Son. "Heat Seeker is quoted at $2.20 and no one seems to want to bet against him, Fin LaFleur thinks he'll get 2 miles no worry and that's good enough for me" said McNamara at the Manikato Stakes barrier draw at Moonee Valley yesterday.

Ben Cornish was in an exclusive interview yesterday with Joshua Kayll on the popular racing show Spring Stayers on TVN. "He (Prodigal Son) will be ultimately aimed at the Melbourne Cup but we're not ruling anything out. We are planing to start him first up in a mile handicap in Adelaide, and we might go onto the Feehan and Metropolitan Handicap before that". He is not going to run in the Caulfield Cup saying that the class is too hard for him shorter then 2 miles. "At 2 miles he could probably run into a place at his absolute best but he's never been at great competition and hes failed at times but I reckon he could be a late peaker" commented Cornish. "I think if he hits a front in a Melbourne Cup he'll be hard to run down but really we're all running for second with the emergence of Heat Seeker and all".

Prodigal Son hasn't been bred to get the two miles with his father being Majestic Son who struggled to get 10 furlongs, but one of his daughters is the Melbourne Cup winner Ride The Sun who is one of the best around over 2 miles. His mother is Wild Spirit who was very effective around the 2000m mark.

Other runners that Cornish is looking forward to running is Makybe Power and Dancin In The Dark. Makybe Power amazingly is a sprinter on his AR despite both parents being champion 2 milers but Cornish said he didn't care as long as he had the heart and power of both of them when he finally races in 2014. Dancin In The Dark is his most consistent horse who will be aimed at races around 1200m to 1400m. Amazingly, Cornish reckons he doesn't make the 1400m despite being placed at Group 1 level at the distance and several good runs at the distance. Still, the "old warhorse" will bring in the money for his lucky connections every start it seems.

Meanwhile, the champion Heat Seeker will have a light campaign coming into the cups with a possible overseas campaign early in the spring for the rescheduled Japan Cup in September. The race is after weights are released so Heat Seeker won't receive a penalty. He may run in the Turnbull along the way.

TRAINER LOWERS SIGHTS FIRST UP IN THE LONG CUP BUILDUP

Trigun son of Revenge, will start next week in the Heatherlie Handicap (1700m) at Caulfield according to J Kayll owner of JD Kayll Race Club.. Thanks to a great deal from Crystal, Kayll procured the valuable stallion on the conditions that-

1) Should JD Kayll Race Club go bankrupt, unexpectedly leave the game, or want to sell the horse, Trigun will be offered to return to Rivendell at the orginal purchase price of the horse first.

2) Rivendell reserves breeding rights of one breed every season when he retires, as long as JD Kayll Race Club still owns him.

A great deal, and Crystal should be highly commended for her sale to help out an emerging trainer in Australian Racing. Kayll, 15 has bought several imports in the past, and these are those horses..

• Kasthari Lass, an dirt filly with whom he campaigned over there for reasonable success, beating G1-placed filly Record High in her solitary win.
• Handsome Bane, a Group 2 placegetter in America, to win the Group 3 Irwin Stakes in Adelaide.
• Volcan, a well bred colt from Great Britain with two second placings, to win a maiden and a placing in the listed Kensington Stakes against the older horses.

He has acquired a few over the off season, but all bar one has been unraced..

Anyway, Kayll would like to start Trigun out in the lowly rated Heatherlie. "There isn't much around that week and I'd like to be a bit realistic and step up his distances gradually you know, like starting off at 1700m is a good start off point and gives me options of whether I'd like to go weight-for-age with him or stay to handicaps". His path may include a hit run trip to Sydney for the G2 Hill Stakes (1900m) at Randwick. "He is pretty versatile but I'm not sure about him backing up quickly say if I give him a months break into the Turnbull Stakes or even the Yalumba so this will fit the bill perfectly as it will give him nearly a months break into the Caulfield Cup and a month into the Plate". Likely rivals in these races are unknown, but Heat Seeker is rumoured to be a late entry in the $2.5mil Caulfield Cup (2400m), and star 2yo Tony Montana will run in the $3 mil Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley. "I don't really care about the opposition but if there's an option of skipping Heat Seeker you'd be mental to miss it, but if I'm going to run him in the Melbourne Cup I'd have to race him in the Caulfield Cup so I'm just going to see how the entries stack up and if I think my fella is up to it then full steam ahead I say".

Trigun may struggle to run 3200m on his pedigree, but there is enough stoutness if there's a slowish pace. His dad is Revenge, who is arguably the best horse this game has ever seen and he never ventured out of middle distance territory, but many of his foals have gotten distance, including the versatile two miler Islegetrevenge. His mum is Seek The Gold, who raced up to the 2400 metres with modest success, with a Group 2 placing.

Trigun came to Kayll's stable as a rising star, but disappointed for Kayll at his first run in the All-Aged Stakes. On reflection though, it was a nice run as he led and got ran down only late on a distance lower then his best. Next run he got narrowly beaten in America by the top Italian Faldo at Group 1 level before getting beaten at his next start in Canada by a fellow Italian Sinking Fear, again at G1 level. Kayll sensed his first Group 1 win was coming, and dropped him down in class in the Caribbean. It was a nice enough field, with a champion in Union Jack fronting up. Mar De Hielo, a mutliple Group 1 winner, a stable mate to Faldo and Sinking Fear. Another stable mate Anonmino Veneziano, a last start G2 winner and Radioactive a subsequent winner. Trigun won as easy as he liked, breaking the track record and winning by four lengths.

Next start Trigun had a huge jump in class, heading to Hong Kong for the Vase (2400m) against Color Of Fame and Heat Seeker and Narsil among others.. Acquitting himself well, he passed former stablemate Narsil, who Crystal had always rated better then Trigun.

Trigun is currently at $21 and $15 for the Caulfield Cups and Cox Plates, and is at $61 for the Melbourne Cup. I'm hoping he goes well for connections :).