For the bulk of the year, horse racing is a constant on the Australian wagering landscape and it only comes to the fore in the public arena for a handful of weeks. That list doesn’t include Sandown Cup/Zipping Classic Day but this is a meeting that firmly belongs as part of Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival.
Situated in the heart of the city’s ever-expanding south-eastern suburbs, Sandown consists of two courses (Lakeside and Hillside) with the latter hosting this marquee meeting. Unlike its three ‘big brothers’ closer to the city, barriers aren’t a major issue and history shows that the track exhibits few signs of bias. But fitness is a major factor as the home straight features an uphill stretch that tests the mettle of both horses and jockeys. The big x-factor this year is the weather – thunderstorms and rain are forecast late on Friday evening before fine conditions return on Saturday afternoon.
Race against time for trainers
The day’s feature is the AUD $300,000 weight-for-age Quayclean Zipping Classic (2400m). It’s a race that pre-dates the track (which opened in 1965) by almost 80 years. Formerly known as the Williamstown Cup, it was shifted to Sandown and renamed the Zipping Classic in 2011 in honour of the horse that won the race in four successive years (2007-2010) for Lloyd Williams.
The owner of Melbourne Cup winner Almandin had planned to start up to four horses but will be without a runner in the eight-horse field. Five of those are backing up from the Melbourne Cup including surprise favourite Who Shot Thebarman. It’s an intriguing race as the bulk of the field are stepping back in distance to the mile-and-a-half, so it’s a challenge for trainers to freshen-up their charges less than a fortnight after the Melbourne Cup.
Orange looks the sweetest
One of the formlines that has again been franked throughout the Melbourne spring is the remarkable success of the internationals second-up. Three Zipping Classic entrants tick that box but the one that appeals is Big Orange. The six-year-old gelding is on his second trip Down Under, and he has a pair of impressive Melbourne Cup runs under his belt – fifth in 2015 and 10th this year.
However, those races were starkly different, with this year’s Cup run a staggering 18 lengths faster than last year’s relative dawdle. Jockey Jamie Spencer was caught out by that surprise pace this year but Damian Lane, who takes the ride here won’t hesitate to go forward in this field. The other two Cup runners rise sharply in weight, but Big Orange carries only 3kg extra. His run in the G2 Princess of Wales Stakes at Newmarket in July showed he can run a very sharp and quick 2400m.
Cup at Qewy’s mercy
There are only two 3200-metre races on the Melbourne Spring Carnival calendar – the Melbourne Cup and the Listed $150,000 Ladbrokes Sandown Cup. A field of 10 has accepted for the Sandown Cup with Melbourne Cup winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy again linking with Godolphin’s English trainer Charlie Appleby aboard Qewy.
McEvoy has already won the Bendigo Cup and Lexus Stakes on Appleby-trained horses this spring and reunites with Qewy on which he won the Geelong Cup last month. The stayer went on to finish fourth in the Melbourne Cup when ridden by Craig Williams. Appleby’s assistant James Ferguson said Qewy had come through the Melbourne Cup well and was in fantastic shape for Saturday, where he’ll start a $2.20 favourite with Ladbrokes. He’ll be up on the speed and looks the best bet on the card.
