Co-owner Lloyd Williams has confirmed that Amralah will not run in the 2015 Caulfield Cup that will be held at the home of the Melbourne Racing Club on Saturday.
Amralah will recieve a penalty for the Melbourne Cup after he recorded an impressive victory in the 2015 Herbert Power Stakes on Saturday. Photo by: Ultimate Racing Photos
Amralah was purchased by Macedon Lodge after he took out the Group 3 Lancaster Stakes (2100m) at Haydock in August of last year, but the imported stayer finished at the tail of the field in the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) at Flemington and he took a while to acclimatize to Australian racing conditions.
The Teofilo entire showed the Australian racing public what he was capable of when he recorded an impressive victory in the Group 3 Tokyo City Stakes (1800m) at Morphettville on September 19 and he started the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on October 4 as favourite, but he was blocked for a run and he could finish no better than seventh.
Team Williams elected to back Amralah up in the Group 2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) at Caulfield on October 10 and the talented stayer looked as though he had cost himself any chance of victory when he missed the start, but jockey Hugh Bowman took the initiative at the 1200 metre mark and it proved to be a winning move when Amralah outstayed his rivals to record a dominant three lengths victory.
The winner of the Herbert Power Stakes receives a ballot-exempt entry into the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m), but Williams told Racing.com yesterday that Amralah will not back up in the Caulfield Cup this weekend and he will have his next race start in either the Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington on October 31 or the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at the same venue on November 3.
“He’s pulled up well, but he’s not running in the Caulfield Cup,” Williams said.
Amralah was allocated 51.5 kilograms when the 2015 Melbourne Cup weights were released last month, but before he won the Herbert Power Stakes on Saturday he was yet to pass the Melbourne Cup first ballot clause.
The Herbert Power Stakes winner currently sits outside the top 24 in the Melbourne Cup order of entry, but Racing Victoria’s Chief Handicapper Greg Carpenter is set to award him a penalty for his impressive victory that will see him move closer to a start in ‘the race that stops a nation’.
Amralah is currently available at 2015 Melbourne Cup odds of $21 with Ladbrokes, while Fame Game ($8) remains a clear favourite from Preferment ($11), Hokko Brave ($15), Max Dynamite ($15), Mongolian Khan ($15) and Snow Sky ($15).
