Appleby Sending Advance Team for Spring Racing Carnival

[Wandering Eyes]

Godolphin’s G1SWs Jungle Cat (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) and Blair House (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) and 2017 G1 Cox Plate third Folkswood (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) will arrive three weeks earlier than normal to contest some September targets in advance of Victoria’s Spring Racing Carnival, Racing Victoria announced on Monday. The Charlie Appleby stablemates will be quarantined for the mandatory two-week period at Appleby’s Moulton Paddocks beginning on Aug. 23 and will arrive Down Under in Melbourne on Sept. 8. Jungle Cat’s first up target is the Sept. 22 G1 Sir Rupert Clarke S. over 1400 metres at Caulfield, while Folkswood will see action that same day in the 2000-metre G3 Naturalism S., with a ballot exemption for the Oct. 20 A$5-million G1 Caulfield Cup on the line in the latter. Blaire House is being pointed toward the 1800m G1 Underwood S. at Caulfield on Sept. 30, the same day the second shipment of European horses is slated to arrive in Melbourne.

“We’re delighted that Charlie Appleby and Godolphin are once again keen to compete during the Spring Racing Carnival, and pleased to announce that they’ll be arriving early to take on Australia’s best here in Melbourne,” said Racing Victoria’s General Manager-International and Racing Operations Paul Bloodworth.”

“I’m very fortunate to have the support of His Highness [Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum] in sending horses to Australia, and the main thing now is to keep the momentum going,” said Appleby. “They’re great races in the Spring Carnival, we’ve had a lot of fun and been very lucky to pinch them a couple of times.”

The early arrivals will be joined on AFL Grand Final Day by SW Emotionless (Ire) (Shamardal) and Hamada (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}), with the duo set to be nominated to both the Caulfield Cup and the A$7.3-million G1 Melbourne Cup on Nov. 6.

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