O'shea Has Northern Flyer In His Sights

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday October 27, 2008

JOHN SCHELL

JOHN O'SHEA has unbeaten colt Fist Of Fury primed for a showdown with the Gai Waterhouse-trained boom horse Northern Meteor in Saturday's group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington.

"I think it is a two-horse race, my bloke and Northern Meteor," the Randwick-based trainer O'Shea said yesterday.

Hugh Bowman will travel to Flemington tomorrow morning to partner Fist Of Fury in a straight-track gallop and the jockey will ride the horse in the Coolmore Stud Stakes.

"The horse has settled into Melbourne very well and Hughie is coming in to ride him on Tuesday so they get a feel for the straight track which they face on Saturday," O'Shea said.

Northern Meteor has had two starts for Waterhouse since being transferred from the stable of John Hawkes and the colt has won both in course record times at Canterbury and Randwick. "He looks to be very good, the times he can carve out are sensational," O'Shea said. "But in saying that my bloke is well above average, too."

While admitting he is "not a fan of Von Costa De Hero as a horse", O'Shea thinks the colt "has the right form-lines to play a part". "Traditionally the horses that come out of the Caulfield Guineas, in which he placed third, are very hard to beat in this race," he said. "The circumstances are that there is enough form from previous runnings to suggest those that run well in the Caulfield Guineas are the hardest to beat in this week's race."

Bowman's other rides at Flemington on Saturday include Bernicia (Myer Classic), Kimillsy (Wakeful Stakes) and Fighting Fund (Salinger Stakes).

AICHI DECISION: The Peter Snowden-trained Aichi is a possible starter in the Salinger Stakes at Flemington on Saturday, with its owner Darley running Von Costa De Hero, to be ridden by Damien Oliver, in the Coolmore Stud Stakes.

Snowden said Aichi would either run in the Salinger or a three-year-olds' race on Melbourne Cup day but not both. Kerrin McEvoy will ride Aichi as well as Snowden's El Cambio in a 1400-metre group 3 race on Saturday in which Hugh Bowman partners stablemate Falaise.

McEvoy sticks with Drumbeats for Snowden in the Carbine Club Stakes, in which stablemate Caymans will be ridden by Corey Brown.

McEvoy links with 2007 Golden Slipper winner Forensics in the group 1 Myer Classic, and Snowden's team is rounded out by Freedom March, which is likely to be ridden by Brown in the Wakeful Stakes.

DERBY ROLE With the ride on the Luca Cumani-trained Geelong Cup winner Bauer secured for Corey Brown in the Melbourne Cup, the jockey will also partner Wookah for David Hayes in Saturday's Victoria Derby at Flemington.

Bauer's owners Terry Henderson and Simon O'Donnell confirmed Brown as its Melbourne Cup rider but Derby Day comes around first.

"Hayesey asked me to ride Wookah in the Victoria Derby for him and I'm happy enough to be on," Brown said yesterday. "He got strung up a bit behind them in his last run. Obviously Whobegotyou is going to be hard to beat but you just never know what can happen."

Sydney trainer Tim Martin is set to start Kiloton in Saturday's Salinger Stakes and said he was hopeful Brown would take that ride. MARATHON EFFORT: Australian thoroughbred owner Richard Pegum was a winner at the Breeders' Cup meeting at Santa Anita at the weekend.

Pegum's Muhannak, specifically purchased to be set for the event if it measured up, scored an upset win in the $US565,000 ($913,200) Breeders' Cup Marathon.

The London-based Pegum is the owner of the Gai Waterhouse-trained filly Amelia's Dream, which stunned when winning her only two starts last season by huge margins, including a record-breaking Silver Slipper success, before breaking down and missing the Golden Slipper. Amelia's Dream is in light work and is expected to return to racing some time next year.

Star jockey Frankie Dettori won the $US4.58m Breeders' Cup Classic on Raven's Pass over the Aidan O'Brien-trained Henrythenavigator. US champion Curlin ran unplaced in the event, as did O'Brien's Duke Of Marmalade.

SHINN KICK: Blake Shinn has appealed against the severity of a careless-riding suspension incurred aboard Rockwood at Moonee Valley at the weekend when he was found to have caused interference to Pillar Of Hercules in the Jayco Crystal Mile.

Shinn was outed until Melbourne Cup eve but is hoping to have the suspension cut in order for him to ride Waterhouse's exciting Gooree Stud-owned sprinter Northern Meteor on Saturday.

MELBOURNE CUP

Flemington, November 4

$4.60 Septimus

$6.50 Mad Rush

$9 Efficient

$12 Nom Du Jeu

$13 All The Good, Profound Beauty, Zipping

$17 Littorio,

Master O'Reilly

$21 Bauer, Honolulu, Viewed

*Supplied by Betchoice.com

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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