The Lloyd Williams owned Melbourne Cup winners Almandin and Rekindling are among the fifty-three nominations for the 2018 Group 1 $1.5m Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington on March 10.
Last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Rekindling, above, is among the nominations for the 2018 Australian Cup at Flemington. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Almandin carried Williams’ famous navy blue and white colours to victory in the 2016 Group 1 $6m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington but then finished well down the track last year when twelfth to Rekindling with Corey Brown donning the blue and white.
Rekindling was scheduled to return to Melbourne Cup winning trainer Joseph O’Brien’s stables in Ireland but will now stay under the care of William’s new trainer Liam Howley at Macedon Lodge for his Autumn Carnival campaign.
As well as Almandin and Rekindling, the Williams – Howley combination have also entered Aloft, Homesman, The Taj Mahal and Johannes Vermeer who finished second in the 2017 Melbourne Cup for legendary Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien.
Leading Victorian trainer Darren Weir will be looking for back to back wins in the Australian Cup with last year’s winner Humidor heading the stables three entries which include his Group 1 winning imports Gailo Chop and Tosen Stardom.
Humidor was a popular winner in last year’s Australian Cup but turned villain when he pushed Australian’s Queen Of The Turf Winx to the limit when half a length second to her in the Group 1 $3m Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley during the 2017 Melbourne Spring Carnival.
Sydney’s premiership winning trainer Chris Waller will be aiming for another Australian Cup win after gaining the trophy in 2016 with Preferment on protest and has nominated Calculated, Comin’ Through, D’Argento, Kaonic and Merovee.
The Lindsay Park Team of David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig are strong in numbers again with thirteen contenders among the Australian Cup nominations with the in-form ten year old Jacquinot Bay included with them.
First acceptances for the 2018 Australian Cup will be on February 20th with the final field to be declared on March 6th.
Nominations for the 2018 Australian Cup (2000m)
| # | Last 10 | Horse | Sex | Age | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 400x72586x | ABBEY MARIE | M | 5 | Michael Kent |
| 2 | 111x21402x | ALMANDIN (GER) | G | 8 | Liam Howley |
| 3 | 9x12x1397x | ALOFT (IRE) | G | 6 | Liam Howley |
| 4 | 0x24x45x0x | AMBITIOUS (JPN) | H | 6 | Anthony Freedman |
| 5 | 1111x1160x | BONNEVAL (NZ) | M | 4 | Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman |
| 6 | 6x129x233 | CALCULATED | C | 3 | Chris Waller |
| 7 | 5338x1160x | COMIN’ THROUGH | G | 4 | Chris Waller |
| 8 | 11×1 | D’ARGENTO | C | 3 | Chris Waller |
| 9 | 23328×1342 | DEVISE (NZ) | M | 4 | Shaune Ritchie |
| 10 | 17x425659x | ESHTIRAAK | G | 3 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig |
| 11 | 7x0143150x | GAILO CHOP (FR) | G | 7 | Darren Weir |
| 12 | 6754×05133 | GOLDEN MANE | G | 7 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig |
| 13 | 86x515867x | HARLEM (GB) | G | 6 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig |
| 14 | 4340x4687x | HARLOW GOLD (NZ) | M | 4 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig |
| 15 | 822x12290x | HARTNELL (GB) | G | 7 | James Cummings |
| 16 | 747x46880x | HE’S OUR ROKKII (NZ) | G | 5 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig |
| 17 | 2x412153x | HOMESMAN (USA) | G | 4 | Liam Howley |
| 18 | 2x6813520x | HUMIDOR (NZ) | G | 5 | Darren Weir |
| 19 | 126x69650x | INFERENCE | H | 4 | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes |
| 20 | 4339332215 | JACQUINOT BAY | G | 10 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig |
| 21 | 45712x232x | JOHANNES VERMEER (IRE) | H | 5 | Liam Howley |
| 22 | 311x | KAONIC (NZ) | C | 3 | Chris Waller |
| 23 | 11x | KENTUCKY BREEZE | G | 3 | Levi Kavanagh |
| 24 | 1x1661x | LEVENDI | C | 3 | Peter Gelagotis |
| 25 | x515x2114x | LORD FANDANGO (GER) | H | 5 | Archie Alexander |
| 26 | 3x212135x | MAIN STAGE (NZ) | G | 3 | Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young |
| 27 | 6x122x5 | MEROVEE | C | 3 | Chris Waller |
| 28 | 133x9152x | MURAAQEB | C | 3 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig |
| 29 | 213x00118x | ODEON (NZ) | G | 4 | Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra |
| 30 | 6×32122 | PERSIAN EMPIRE (NZ) | C | 3 | Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young |
| 31 | 21983839×8 | PETROLOGY | G | 6 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig |
| 32 | x6202720x2 | PRIZED ICON | H | 4 | Kris Lees |
| 33 | 0x1401241x | REKINDLING (GB) | H | 4 | Liam Howley |
| 34 | 12x2273x | SALSAMOR (NZ) | C | 3 | Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young |
| 35 | 423040×314 | SAVVY DREAMS (NZ) | M | 4 | Guy Lowry & Grant Cullen |
| 36 | 060x0057x7 | SEABURGE | H | 4 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig |
| 37 | 11x322114x | SIN TO WIN (NZ) | G | 5 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig |
| 38 | x090x56111 | SINGING (FR) | H | 8 | Kris Lees |
| 39 | 12x054420x | SINGLE GAZE | M | 5 | Nick Olive |
| 40 | 1106x7354x | SPECTROSCOPE (USA) | G | 5 | James Cummings |
| 41 | 204x77x52x | SPIRITJIM (FR) | H | 8 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig |
| 42 | 212411x13x | STAMPEDE | H | 5 | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott |
| 43 | 23x11432x | SULLY (NZ) | G | 3 | Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young |
| 44 | 1111×22034 | SUPPLY AND DEMAND | G | 5 | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott |
| 45 | 446925041x | THE TAJ MAHAL (IRE) | H | 4 | Liam Howley |
| 46 | 22x536181x | TOSEN STARDOM (JPN) | H | 7 | Darren Weir |
| 47 | 49x431x16x | VALIANT SPIRIT | G | 3 | Daniel Williams |
| 48 | 41x00x0479 | VELOX (GB) | G | 8 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig |
| 49 | 1x5x76200x | VENTURA STORM (IRE) | G | 5 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig |
| 50 | 11x13118x1 | WAIT A SEC (NZ) | G | 7 | Guy Lowry & Grant Cullen |
| 51 | 4x3x1 | WEAPON | C | 3 | Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young |
| 52 | 3059x1153x | WHEAL LEISURE | M | 4 | Archie Alexander |
| 53 | x6822063x3 | WYNDSPELLE (NZ) | H | 4 | Michael Kent |
