Journalists Wandering Eyes Posted October 23, 2023 Journalists Share Posted October 23, 2023 First Immortal will line up in Wednesday’s Group 3 Geelong Cup. (Photo: George Sal/Racing Photos) Wednesday’s Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m) has attracted a strong field of 17 stayers vying for the $500,000 on offer in what shapes as one of the final Melbourne Cup (3200m) auditions. The Geelong Cup has often been used as a final run for horses heading towards the Melbourne Cup a fortnight later, with international runners holding a strong record in the race. Media Puzzle won the Geelong Cup on his way to claiming the 2002 Melbourne Cup, as did Americain in 2010 and Dunaden in 2021. Several runners in the 2023 edition of the Geelong Cup need to win it in order to make their way up the 2023 Melbourne Cup order of entry. One of those is Geelong Cup favourite First Immortal, who missed out on qualifying automatically for the Melbourne Cup when finishing second behind Future History in The Bart Cummings (2500m) on October 7. The four-year-old gelding sits 49th in the Melbourne Cup order of entry, and a win on Wednesday would push him well up the list. His chances were dealt a blow on Monday, with First Immortal – set to be ridden by Jamie Kah – drawing barrier 15 in the 17-horse field. Having finished third in the 2021 Melbourne Cup, Spanish Mission will use the Geelong feature as his final run heading into the first Tuesday in November. The Peter Moody & Katherine Coleman-trained stayer is already comfortably in the Melbourne Cup field and looks like he is building nicely to peak in the Melbourne Cup fourth-up. Blake Shinn will partner Spanish Mission from barrier 11 on Wednesday. Chris Waller will send five of his runners to the Geelong Cup, while the Ciaron Maher & David Eustace barn, along with Annabel Neasham, will have two representatives in the Cup. The 2023 Geelong Cup is race seven on a stacked nine-race program on Wednesday afternoon and is set to jump at 4pm AEDT. Geelong Cup 2023 field No. Silks Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight 1 Spanish Mission Peter Moody & Katherine Coleman Blake Shinn 11 60kg 2 Ashrun Ciaron Maher & David Eustace Mark Zahra 1 56.5kg 3 King Frankel Annabel Neasham Jamie Mott 3 56kg 4 Sheraz Chris Waller TBC 12 56kg 5 Magical Lagoon Chris Waller TBC 5 55kg 6 More Felons Chris Waller TBC 10 55kg 7 Virtuous Circle Liam Howley Damien Lane 4 55kg 8 Fancy Man Annabel Neasham John Allen 17 54.5kg 9 High Emocean Ciaron Maher & David Eustace Harry Coffey 16 54kg 10 Sir Lucan Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Linda Meech 2 54kg 11 Amade Phillip Stokes Zac Spain 13 54kg 12 Mount Popa Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes Jye McNeil 14 54kg 13 First Immortal Mark & Levi Kavanagh Jamie Kah 15 54kg 14 Timour Chris Waller TBC 9 54kg 15 Ferago Patrick F Ryan Jnr Harry Grace 6 54kg 16 Mr Waterville Chris Waller TBC 7 54kg 17 The Map Dan Clarken & Oopy MacGillivray Ben Price 8 54kg More racing news View the full article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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