Champion Irish trainer Dermot Weld will put off a Melbourne Cup campaign for Irish St Leger winner Voleuse De Coeurs until next year to the give the filly a chance to develop into a world class stayer.
Last year's winning jockey Brett Prebble shows off the coveted Melbourne Cup.
Voleuse De Coeurs made it an one act affair with a six lengths runaway win in the Group 1 €200,000 Gain Irish St Leger (1 mile, 6 furlongs) at the Curragh in Ireland on the weekend, but Weld will resist rushing her to Australia for the Group 1 $6.2m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 5.
“Voleuse De Coueurs is a tough, genuine and consistent filly. It was beautiful good ground today and she handled it well although she is a filly who appreciates ease,” Weld told the Racing Post.
“It’s unlikely that she will go for the Melbourne Cup and I very much see her as a contender for the Cup races next year.”
Weld has tasted Melbourne Cup success in the post with Vintage Crop in 1993 and Media Puzzle in 2002 and certainly knows what is needed to bring the Cup back to Ireland.
“When I go there, I want to go and win with her,” Weld told RSN.
“She is quite capable of doing it and probably will do it next year.
“Voleuse De Coeurs is a very high class filly. Why don’t I want to go this year? Because I believe the best is yet to come.
“She is still a big, immature filly. I can see her filling into her frame and next year as a five-year-old, she should be reaching her peak.
“It’s hard to walk away when you have a filly of this calibre, but we are doing it because I know it is the right thing to do.”
Weld also has a great record in the Irish St Leger with back to back wins with Vintage Crop in 1993 and 1994 as well as Vinnie Roe winning four years in succession from 2001 to 2004.
Winning rider Chris Hayes celebrated his second Group 1 win on Voleuse De Coeurs following on from his win on La Coliina the previous week in the Group 1 €200,000 Coolmore Fusaichi Pegasus Matron Stakes (1 mile) at Leapardstown in Ireland.
Other Melbourne Cup hopefuls Red Cadeaux (Gerald Mosse), Royal Diamond (Johnny Murtagh) and Ernest Hemmingway (Joseph O’Brien) were no match for the placegetters and finished fourth, fifth and sixth.
