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Invitations have been issued to 20 overseas horses in the hope of attracting them to the $3 million WS Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in October.
Photo by Racing and Sports
Prime targets for the Moonee Valley Racing Club are the Hong Kong stars Military Attack and Dan Excel, trained by John Moore.
Military Attack is a last start winner of the G1 Singapore Airlines International Cup at Kranji with Australian jockey Zac Purton in the saddle, with stablemate Dan Excel finishing second.
Military Attack has won his last four races, including the G1 Hong Kong Gold Cup, G3 Premier Plate and the G1 HK QEII Cup at Sha Tin.
Other Hong Kong stars Akeed Mofeed (Richard Gibson) and California Memory (Tony Cruz) are also on the Cox Plate short list.
Akeed Mofeed was an impressive winner of the G1 Hong Kong Derby over 2000m in March while California Memory ran second to Military Attack in G1 QEII Cup.
A surprise target is the 2011 Melbourne Cup and 2012 Caulfield Cup winner Dunaden although his trainer Mikel Delzangles has indicated he has the Prix De L’Ard De Triomphe in October as his prime goal this year.
Recently placed in the G1 Prix Ganay and G1 Coronation Cup at Epsom, Dunaden is one of four French horses to receive Cox Plate invitations.
Stablemnates Giofra and Mandour, trained by Melbourne Cup winning trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre, and Maxios, trained by Jonathan Pease, are also on the list.
Also on the Moonee Valley wish list is the 2012 English and Irish Derby winner Camelot, trained in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien, and his stablemate Magician.
Camelot finished second on his season return in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh in May. The winner of that race, the Roger Charlton-trained Al Kazeem has also been invited.
The Godolphin stable is also a target with invitations issued to Saeed Bin Suroor’s devastating G1 Lockinge Stakes winner Farhh and G1 Dubai Duty Free and Jebel Hatta winner Sajjhaa.
Also invited from the UK are The Fugue, owned by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and trained by John Gosden, and Planteur for Marco Botti, Trade Storm for David Simcock and Side Glance for Andrew Balding.
Japan’s Eishin Flash has been selected after his impressive victory in last year’s G1 Tenno Sho in Tokyo. Trained by Hideaki Fujiwara, Eishin Flash finished third in the G1 QEII Cup in Hong Kong at his most recent outing.
Renowned UK trainer Ed Dunlop has signalled his intentions to set G1 Hollywood Derby winner Unbridled Command for the Cox Plate while South African trainer Mike De Kock has been sent an invitation for his six-year-old The Apache, who finished second in the Dubai Duty Free behind Sajjhaa.
Moonee Valley Racing Club Chief Executive, Michael Browell, believes that the Club has identified the leading horses from each of the major racing jurisdictions that are worthy of taking their place in the 2013 Cox Plate.
“The Moonee Valley team has evaluated the international form over the past 12 months and we have agreed on the 20 leading contenders that we believe could win the 2013 Cox Plate,” he said.
The overseas invitations to compete in the Cox Plate offer include all travel expenses to Melbourne.
Entries for the Cox Plate close on August 6.
2013 Sportingbet Cox Plate Invitees
Horse Trainer Owner/s
1 AKEED MOFEED HK Richard Gibson Pan Sutong
2 AL KAZEEM GB Roger Charlton Mr D.J. Deer
3 CALIFORNIA MEMORY HK Tony Cruz Howard Liang Yum Shing
4 CAMELOT IRE Aidan O'Brien Mr D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier and Mr M. Tabor
5 DAN EXCEL HK John Moore Mr David Boehm
6 DUNADEN FR Mikel Delzangles Pearl Bloodstock – Sheikh Fahad Al Tahni
7 EISHIN FLASH JPN Hideaki Fujiwara
Katsuhiko Hirai and Teruya Yoshida
8 FARHH GB Saeed Bin Suroor Godolphin - Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum
9 GIOFRA FR Alain de Royer-Dupre Mr Juergen Winter
10 MAGICIAN IRE Aidan O'Brien Mr M. Tabor, D.Smith and Mrs John Magnier
11 MANDOUR FR Alain de Royer-Dupre Princess Zahra Aga Khan
12 MAXIOS FR Jonathon Pease Niarchos Family
13 MILITARY ATTACK HK John Moore Steven Lo Kit Sing
14 PLANTEUR GB Marco Botti HE Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani
15 SAJJHAA GB Saeed Bin Suroor Godolphin - Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum
16 SIDE GLANCE GB Andrew Balding Pearl Bloodstock – Sheikh Fahad Al Tahni
17 THE APACHE SAF Mike De Kock Sheikh Mohd Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum & Mr Winston Chow
18 THE FUGUE GB John Gosden Lord Lloyd Webber
19 TRADE STORM GB David Simcock Qatar Racing Limited - Sheikh Fahad Al Thani
20 UNBRIDLED COMMAND USA Ed Dunlop Mr and Mrs Kevin Bamford, Mr Lakin and Mr Bernson
