European runners left with fewer options following shipping timetable change

There will be no European runners on Caulfield Guineas Day in Australia following a change in the quarantine timetable for international challengers.

Instead of the usual two, only one shipment from Europe will head to Australia this season, and the earlier of those, which arrives a fortnight before Caulfield Guineas Day on Saturday, October 10, has been cancelled.

This is to accommodate horses running on Irish Champions Weekend or at the St Leger meeting before heading to Australia. The shipment will leave after that action-packed weekend of racing.

The shipment can carry 32 horses to Australia. Half of the horses will be transferred to local stables with the remainder to stay with their original stables – permission is still required for grooms to travel because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Caulfield Stakes – won by Godolphin's Benbatl in 2018 – has been used as a key stepping stone for the Cox Plate in recent seasons while Melbourne Cup horses have emerged from the Herbert Power Stakes, another race no longer available for European challengers.

Prince Of Arran (right) second to The Chosen One in the Herbert Power last yearCredit: Racing Photos

The Group 2 event, run over 1m4f, has been popular with British and Irish raiders in the last few seasons. Prince Of Arran has finished third (2018) and second (2019) in the race, while Simenon and Raheen House have also run in the Herbert Power in recent years.

Paul Bloodworth, Racing Victoria's general manager of international operations, told Racing.com: "We normally would have two shipments – one to arrive on Grand Final Day in late September and one to arrive on Caulfield Guineas Day two weeks later.

"In the past they [first shipment] have come out of quarantine on Guineas Day and they've had quite a few runners on the day over the past few years but, with just the one shipment this year, we've taken the decision to allow horses to race in the Irish and English St Legers as well as the Irish Champion Stakes that weekend too.

"A lot of the horses that came last year and ended up in the Cups ran on that day, including Magic Wand, who ran in the Irish Champion and came for the Cox Plate and then for Flemington.

"So, with only one shipment, we made the decision that it would be silly not to allow horses that ran on that day to come."

Nine international runners featured on the card on Guineas Day in 2019.

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