A $1 million race … thirty-nine nominations … track currently rated a heavy 10 … field is down to seven runners, three from one trainer … prize-money from eighth to tenth place will be left unclaimed.
That’s the story … so far … of the 2026 Doomben Cup and, even if you allow that Group 1 racing should be all about quality and not quantity, sometimes even the presence of the likes of the Ciaron Maher trained excitement machine Pride Of Jenni is not enough to temper the disappointment of such a low turnout.
Chris Waller’s three horse acceptance with, Asterix, Birdman and Kovalica, arguably saved the race and perhaps even some embarrassment, but just where are other trainers … or, perhaps more specifically, where are the horses, the Group 1 staying pretenders?
While a horse’s well-being, both physical and mental, should never be compromised by taking on more than a runner can get through unscathed, you would have thought some trainers, particularly those amongst the local contingent racing at their ‘home’ track, could have had a throw at the stumps.
Having said that, there are two clear reasons that have to be acknowledged as to why the race has been impacted negatively number-wise.
Firstly, the heavy track has obviously been a big factor in the acceptance process, and it is fair to allow that those horses who have shown they don’t perform on a heavy surface will not run. On the up-side though, a heavy track can easily contribute to a big race upset in favour of someone prepared to take that chance.
Secondly, there is a strong case to be made that a particular runner, or runners, who have accepted, have chased many runners away.
Pride Of Jenni, who demolished her opposition with her trademark, scorching front-running effort in the A D Hollindale (which is usually a genuine form pointer to the Doomben Cup) … and last year’s Melbourne Cup winner Half Yours, fall into that category and they have quite possibly fostered a ‘we can’t beat them’ belief amongst those weighing up their options against what will be the races two main fancies.
Either way, it is what it is.
Seven runners … although it should be noted that no jockey was declared for all three of the Waller trained runners at first acceptances. Whether they all go on to face the starter remains to be seen.
If they do, with three runners out of seven, Waller will statistically have a forty-three percent chance of scoring that landmark Group1 victory which will take him to the magical total of two hundred Group 1 winners.
The field as it stands now is:
Half Yours (Jamie Melham), Vauban (Tim Clark) Asterix, Birdman, Kovalica, Pride Of Jenni (Declan Bates) and She’s A Hustler (Jordan Childs).
