The international countdown to the 2012 Spring Racing Carnival moves to the 3-day Chester Carnival in England from this evening.
The Chester Cup, Huxley Stakes and Ormonde Stakes are the three races that will deliver possible contenders for the Emirates Melbourne Cup, BMW Caulfield Cup and/or Sportingbet Tatts Cox Plate.
“Dr Marwan Koukash, who is one of the premier owners in the UK, has multiple runners in tonight's Chester Cup including the highly fancied Never Can Tell who is trained by Jamie Osborne of Geordieland fame,” Racing Victoria's (RV) International Recruitment Officer, Leigh Jordon, said.
“Dr Koukash campaigned Munsef (12th) in the 2009 Melbourne Cup and would love to return here,” Jordon explained. “Never Can Tell might just be the horse and importantly he's past the ballot for the Cup having won the Cesrewitch last year o I'm really keen to see how he performs.”
Another runner of interest this week is Huxley Stakes contender Junoob who was purchased recently by Australian Richard Pegum, the man who has tasted Group 1 success in Australia with imports December Draw and My Kingdom Of Fife.
• Chester (UK) - Chester Cup (3700m) – Broadcast live on SKY Racing 2 at 11.35pm (AET) tonight.
Leigh Jordon's Comment – Interested to see how Never Can Tell performs for Dr Koukash and Jamie Osborne, both of whom have had Melbourne Cup runners previously. Mark Johnston and Aidan O'Brien are other past visitors with runners within.• Chester (UK) - G3 Huxley Stakes (2050m) – Broadcast live on SKY Racing 2 at 11.05pm (AET) Thursday night.
Leigh Jordon's Comment – Dr Koukash also has Marcret in this race who is a stablemate to the Australian-owned Jakkalberry. Wigmore Hall is the key runner though and one that's been on our Cox Plate wish list for the past couple of years.
• Chester (UK) - G3 Ormonde Stakes (2650m) – Broadcast live on SKY Racing 2 & World at 11.35pm (AET) Friday night.
Leigh Jordon's Comment – Field yet to be finalised, but Brown Panther is the interesting one for mine. Finished second in the English St Leger and is owned by soccer star Michael Owen. Lost In The Moment, who ran 6th in last year's Melbourne Cup, is amongst the entries.
