Horse Racing

Record International Contingent Nominated for 2012 Caulfield Cup

A record 26 international horses have been nominated for the 2012 Caulfield Cup.

The Caulfield Cup is the world’s richest 12 furlongs race run at Caulfield Racecourse,  every October as part of the  Australian Spring Racing Carnival.

It is run under the same handicap conditions as the Melbourne Cup and because of this is considered the most important lead-up race to the Melbourne Cup.

International trainers:  Alain de Royer Dupre, Luca Cumani, John Gosden, Mikel Delzangles, Ed Dunlop and Andre Fabre have all nominated horses for this year’s race.

Royer Dupre has nominated 2010 Melbourne Cup winner Americain and Shahwardi. Americain has returned to Royer Dupre after a disappointing Australian Autumn campaign, with David Hayes, in which he failed to win a race. Shahwardi is yet to have success in a group or listed race and hasn’t won since 2009. He will have to win a group or listed race at some stage before the Caulfield Cup to qualify for the field.

Luca Cumani is no stranger to Australia and is setting three horses for a cups campaign this spring. Mount Athos is easily the pick of his horses. The gelding is undefeated since joining the Cumani stable and has been well backed in pre-post betting for both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups. Quest for Peace is a promising four-year-old who won the Group 3 Coutts Glorious Stakes at Goodwood last week. He is considered on the second tier of European stayers but it the type of horse that could be suited by Australian conditions. Cumani’s final entrant is Ibicenco. The German horse has only one career victory but showed good form in group races last year.

John Gosden has nominated Gatewood, the equal Melbourne Cup favorite at Bet365, and Camborne. Gatewood has all the qualities of a Melbourne Cup winner with staying ability, quick acceleration and a strong finishing burst. While in Australia he will be trained by leading Sydney trainer Chris Waller. Camborne is a lightly raced gelding who has won four of his six starts. He will have to win a group race to qualify for the Caulfield Cup and at this stage is at long odds just to make the field.

Last year’s Melbourne Cup winning trainer Mikel Delzangles has entered Dunaden, Vadamar and Zach Hall. 2012 Melbourne Cup winner Dunaden is an unlikely starter in the Caulfield Cup with connections likely to run the mare in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe instead. Vadamar is a French horse who won the 2011 Group 2 Prix Du Conseil De Paris. It is unknown whether Delzangles will actually run him in the Caulfield Cup as he preferred the Geelong Cup as the lead-in race for Dunaden last year.

Ed Dunlop has nominated 2012 Melbourne Cup runner-up Red Cadeaux for the Caulfield Cup with the trainer likely to bring the horse to Australia a lot earlier than he did last year. According to his stable Red Cadeaux has improved since last year’s Cup and will come to Australia a fitter and faster horse.

All these horses will be attempting to become just the 3^rd international winner of the Caulfield Cup after Taufan’s Melody in 1998 and All the Good in 2008.

All the Good was trained by Saeed Bin Suroor who, surprisingly, has not nominated any runners for the Caulfield Cup this year.

You can bet on the 2012 Caulfield Cup at Bet365