The Philip Stokes trained Neodium will be looking to claim a slice of Birdsville Cup racing history by becoming only the fourth horse to win back-to-back editions of the Cup after Monee Lane, Snedden, and Brashleigh when he lines up for big Birdsville feature race on Saturday.
Monee Lane was the last to achieve that feat winning in 2005 and 2006. You have to go back a further ten years to find Snedden’s double in 1995 and 1996, and another twelve years to Brashleigh’s double success in 1982 and 1983 … statistics which emphasise just how rare back-to-back victories are in the race, particularly given that the Cup has been contested since 1882.
Amongst Neodium’s eleven rivals, another runner, the Philip Cole trained Saccharo, will also be attempting to land a second Birdsville Cup, having taken out the race in 2022.
By way of example of all of the participating trainer’s commitment to the Birdsville cause, Neodium will make the 1180km trip from Adelaide to be at Birdsville while Cole will travel Saccharo approximately 2280km from his Darwin base.
Neodium is currently the ruling race favourite, only being narrowly ahead of the Clinton Austin trained I Am Good At This in the betting, with the Ron Stokes trained Trumpsta, Neodium’s travelling companion, on the third line of betting. Saccharo is currently an $18 chance with bookmakers.
Senior riders Justin Potter and Chris Whiteley will ride Neodium and I Am Good At This respectively, while no less than six out of the twelve Cup runners will be ridden by apprentices, with the race likely to provide a memorable experience for all of these young riders involved.
For the record, Gary Geran was the last rider to score back-to-back wins in the Birdsville Cup, a record that will still be intact after Saturday as Emily Finnegan, who partnered Neodium to victory in 2023, is not involved this year.
