WA-born jockey Mark Zahra has recovered from a nasty fall in the Caulfield Cup and will ride in Saturday’s Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) at Flemington.
Zahra, who was dislodged from Half Yours in a cup tumble, will take the mount on the Ciaron Maher-trained $101 outsider Middle Earth.
Maher will also prepare Light Infantry Man ($18) and Land Legend ($23) for the race with 10 runners already named.
Other confirmed starters are Aeliana ($4.40f), Sir Delius ($4.60), Warwoven ($5), Ceolwulf ($5), Birdman ($10), Blind Raise ($13) and Attrition ($51).
Cosmic Crusader ($9.50) and Autumn Boy ($26) remain in the mix, and a decision is expected to be made on Tuesday.
Autumn Boy is also in contention for a Golden Eagle (1500m) start in Sydney the following week for which he is an $11 chance.
Star New Zealand mare Well Written, one of the Golden Eagle favourites prior to arriving in Australia, was announced as a shock withdrawal from the race on Monday after a “spike in temperature”.
+ So You Are has been given a second half-kilo handicapping penalty for the Melbourne Cup, now bearing 53kg and sitting 35th in order of entry.
The gelding has won two 2400m and 2600m races at Randwick in the past month, earning the new weight allocation.
‘’So You Are is in a rich vein of form and was very strong over the concluding stages of the ATC St Leger, suggesting the two miles of the Lexus Melbourne Cup will be to his liking if he secures a start,’’ Racing Victoria’s head of handicapping, David Hegan, said.
Caulfield Cup winner Kingswood is not entered for the Melbourne Cup, meaning no other horses were eligible for penalties.
However, that race’s runner-up Saint George moved from 50th to 22nd in the order of entry and trainer Ciaron Maher now has five horses in the top 24 for the Melbourne Cup.
Fellow Maher-prepared gallopers Kings Valley and Zahrann moved to 46th and 26th respectively after finished fifth and sixth in the cup.
Klondike, third in the St Leger behind So You are, was upgraded from 54th to 33rd.
+ Top sprinter Asfoora, who last year became the first Aussie-trained winner of an elite French race, will be covered this breeding season by Switzerland.
+ Western Australian pacer Mad Monday has been proposed to target next month’s TAB Eureka (2300m) at NSW’s Menangle track by trainers Greg and Skye Bond.
“We’ve got a really good opinion of the horse and he’s Australian-bred and Eureka eligible, so we’d love to have a crack at it,” Greg Bond said.
“On his work at home and what he did the other night, he’s right up with the best four-year-olds over here and we think he’ll measure up anywhere.”