TUESDAY RACING NEWS

The Orr Stakes is always one of the highlights of the autumn as many of the best weight for age gallopers in the land resume, and this year is no different.

 The highest profile galloper kicking off their autumn is Shocking, seeking to become the first Melbourne Cup winner since Saintly in 1997 to take out the Orr first up, although Elvstroem ran a gutsy fourth in the Cup prior to his 2005 win. He is joined by fellow Cup winner Viewed, who historically has always taken a couple of runs to find his best form.

Racegoers will also be looking forward to the return of Typhoon Tracy, although there is a cautionary tale in that she was beaten first up at the track and distance last spring, and, for that matter, she is yet to win any race against anything other than fillies and mare. However, the dominant nature of her last start win at Flemington on Derby Day, where she scored by more than five lengths, as well as her easy win over the smart mare Hot Danish the start before, demonstrate just how smart she is.

The market will likely be dominated by Typhoon Tracy, and, if he shows up, Denman. Peter Snowden’s boom three year old colt has been nominated for two 1400m races on the card, one being the Orr, and the other for three year olds. Considering his potential value as a stallion, it is to be hoped he takes on the Orr. Historically it has been a good race for three year olds, with six in a row winning between 1998 and 2003, although none have won since then.

Others nominated for the race include Heart Of Dreams, Littorio, Master O’Reilly, O’Lonhro, Sirmione, Sniper’s Bullet, and Zipping. A full list of nominations is below.

Japanese horses will likely run in this year’s Melbourne Cup after the federal Department of Agriculture lifted the extra quarantine restriction placed on horses coming from the Land of the Rising Sun following an Equine Influenza outbreak in that country in 2007.

The last two Japanese gallopers to run in Australia, Delta Blues and Pop Rock, finished 1-2 in the 2006 Melbourne Cup, while Eye Popper ran a great race in the Caulfield Cup the year before, so it will be good to see the come back and likely be more than competitive in the great race this year.

Trainer Leon Corstens will today face the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board over charge involving his Caulfield Guineas winner Starspangledbanner. He tested positive to Altrenogest, a reproductive hormone used to prevent mares coming into season.

According a research paper, produced by the Texas A&M University and supported by the Texas Racing Commission, the usage of Alatrenogest on stallions only had “minor effects on stallion behaviour”, however given Corstens’ extensive history with similar offences, the RAD Board are likely to view any transgression in the dimmest possible light.

Starspangledbanner was sold to the Coolmore conglomerate prior to finishing fourth in the Lightning Stakes, and will go straight to the Newmarket Handicap before a Northern Hemisphere campaign later this year.