Simon and Ed Crisford bandwagon rolls on to Australia - but British runners absent in Melbourne Cup
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What a weekend for trainers Simon and Ed Crisford. The Newmarket-based father-and-son team had the sort of Saturday afternoon that could have easily featured on a Carlsberg advert, with stable star Vandeek scorching away with the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes at their local track before Poker Face won the Group 2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein at Longchamp.
Since Ed joined his father on the training licence in 2020, the stable has been consistently operating around a 20 per cent strike-rate and, after a record prize-money haul of £1.37 million in Britain last year, Saturday's strike in the Middle Park took them to £1.21 million for 2023 with two months still remaining.
Rather than pounds it will be Australian dollars they will be hoping to see transferred into their bank accounts next Saturday, with West Wind Blows ready to run in the A$1m (£527,000) Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington.
Front Runner readers may have seen footage of the likes of Lexus Melbourne Cup favourite Vauban, Ebor winner Absurde and Royal Ascot scorer Okita Soushi arriving in Australia on Saturday ready for Melbourne's spring carnival but West Wind Blows has been on the other side of the world for the past few weeks and has now completed his time in quarantine at Werribee racecourse.
He does hold an entry in the Melbourne Cup but that is not one of the races being considered by the Crisfords during his time in Australia.
"At the moment he's going to the Turnbull next weekend, then you've either got the Cox Plate or the Caulfield Cup," said Ed Crisford.
"We'll see how he gets on next weekend before we decide but at the moment we're leaning towards the Caulfield Cup.
"A mile and a half around Caulfield is probably more his sort of race than a mile and a quarter at Moonee Valley. He's got 54 kilos (8st 5lb) for the Caulfield Cup, which is a pretty fair weight for him. He's doing really well down there and is the type of horse who could be very competitive."
Asked if the Melbourne Cup was ever under serious consideration, Crisford added: "To be honest, I don't think he's a Melbourne Cup horse. Two miles just might not suit him. After Australia you've got Dubai, Saudi and Hong Kong potentially, so he's going to go travelling this winter."
With William Haggas ruling royal runner Desert Hero out of a possible tilt at the Cup, and West Wind Blows also missing the big one on November 7, by my reckoning this year will be the first time since 1992 that no British trainer will be represented in Australia's most famous race.
The only other British-based trainer who made an initial entry was Milton Harris, but he revealed to the Front Runner that Scriptwriter has now joined Chris Waller, with perhaps the Sydney Cup in April a more realistic target for his new trainer considering the horse's position towards the bottom of the order of entries for the Melbourne Cup.
"The owners have chosen to send him to Chris Waller," said Harris. "It's disappointing but I hope the horse does really well. I think he'll win a big pot over there. If you look at his runs at Royal Ascot and in the Ebor he had no luck.
"I don't know exact plans but I think he's more likely to go for the Sydney Cup. We've sold them a nice, sound horse who will give them a lot of fun and I hope he does well for them."
Ireland will of course be represented in the Melbourne Cup and the market suggests Vauban can bring the Cup home for Willie Mullins, but what a shame no horse trained in Britain is even in the reckoning for the race that stops a nation.
When Charlie Appleby won with Cross Counter in 2018, many predicted the floodgates to British-trained winners were about to open but due to a combination of stricter veterinary checks and more stayers being exported to join Australian trainers, we have reached the position where we cannot muster a single challenger. That's a sad place to be.
Monday's picks, by Richard Birch
Ground conditions at all three British turf meetings are likely to be testing, so it makes sense to focus on horses who act well with significant cut underfoot.
Roundabout Silver, who tackles division two of the Download The Vickers.Bet App Handicap (3.32) at Bath, fits the bill.
The gelding ran his best race as a three-year-old when a neck runner-up to Promoting at Windsor last October on going officially described as soft.
After some respectable placed efforts on faster terrain this term, Roundabout Silver opened his 2023 account with a length-and-a-half success over Lilandra at Bath on good to soft ground in August.
That form received a boost when Lilandra returned to the Somerset track last month to slam Galactic Glow by four lengths.
Roundabout Silver renews rivalry with Lilandra on 2lb better terms, and is much better drawn in stall four.
My selection has since run a blinder in stronger company at Epsom, finishing third to New Heights on good to firm ground, and represents a stable which is in terrific form.
Two of Simon Dow’s last nine runners have visited the winner’s enclosure, including Ectocross, who landed a £30,000 Nottingham handicap last Tuesday at 28-1.
A peak-form Roundabout Silver remains fairly treated off a mark of 62 and has an outstanding chance of a second course-and-distance success.
'He has an outstanding chance' - our Monday tipster bids to follow up last week's 9-2 winner
Three things to look out for today
1. Recent rain has left the going soft, heavy in places at Newton Abbot, which has tempted Paul Nicholls, Evan Williams and Dan Skelton out to play with three decent prospects in the 2m½f novices' limited handicap chase (2.15). Nicholls runs Imperial Cup winner Iceo, Williams saddles former Nicholls inmate Timeforatune for the first time and Skelton runs the lightly raced Mount Tempest. All three make their first starts of the season as well as running over fences for the first time. According to Nicholls, Iceo is "crying out for a fence" and he is confident the best is still to come with some cut in the ground this season.
2. Veteran sprinter Corinthia Knight makes his ninth start of the year and the 88th of his career in the 6f handicap (2.40) for amateur riders at Hamilton, and must have a decent chance of making it lifetime win number 18 in the hands of Brodie Hampson. A fabulous money-spinner for the Ontoawinner syndicate, Corinthia Knight has earned £376,080 in his career and we shouldn't forget he was fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint back in 2017. He now operates at a more modest level, with his official rating down to 64 from a peak 105, but he's been knocking on the door of late and runs from a rating which is a stone below his last winning mark.
3. Concorde made it four wins from six runs this year when scoring comfortably at Newbury last time and a further 5lb hike in the handicap might not be enough to ground him in the 1m4½f handicap (6.00) at Newcastle. He started the year having been gelded and on an official rating of 55 but runs off 91 at Newcastle, with trainer George Boughey doing his best impression of Sir Mark Prescott by pinpointing the right targets. But for a serious misjudgement by Pat Cosgrave at Chelmsford in April, Concorde would have had five wins from six starts this season and the only time he disappointed was on good to firm ground.
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The Front Runner is our unmissable email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content.
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